In the Novel 1984 “Big Brother” is an imaginary person who is suppose to represent the power and control that the ruling government has over its citizens. “Big Brother” is really the ruling government who used this symbol of a brother to place fear and total dominance to the people. It acts as the surveillance over the people so that if people do don’t obey the laws they will be arrested by the police and punished. Everywhere the citizens are reminded of “Big Brother” whether it’s on signs that say Big Brother is watching you, coins, and cigarette boxes. The “Big Brother” even has The Junior Spies which are children who watch over adults to make sure that they are not disobeying the rules.
I feel that a smaller version of the “Big Brother” has taken place in the United States today. I believe this because the government enacts laws that they say are to help better protect our freedoms but really they are talking away from them. After the 9/11 terrorists attacks President Bush made wire tapping laws which made it legal for the government to listen into phone conversations. This had reminded me of the “Big Brother” in the novel because he is constantly watching and listening over all of the citizens. I also believe that the police force acts as a “Big Brother” over our society today. This is because they police are always making sure that all of the citizens are obeying the laws and will arrest them if they are not. Police also strike fear in people’s heads for getting in trouble and have power to control the citizens. I believe that we have lost some of our privacy due to the fact that the government wants to attempt to protect us from harm. However the government keeps on taking our freedoms away in order to insure this protection. The real question is how much is this protection worth in terms of losing our basic freedoms? I personally believe that the government should not interfere with our everyday activities because it is taking away from our privacy that you may not want the whole world knowing about.
