How did the expression 'big brother' originate?
'''Before we were bombarded with the Television reality series,
"Big Brother" described any overly-inquisitive or
overly-controlling authority figure, or attempts by government to
increase surveillance. So where did the term originate?''' "Big
Brother" is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel
"Nineteen Eighty-Four" (penned in 1948). Big Brother is the
enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its
utmost logical consequence.
In the society described by Orwell, everybody is under total
surveillance by the authorities via telescreens (combined
camera/screens) and spies. The people are constantly reminded of
this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core
"truth" of the propaganda system in this state. The physical
description of "Big Brother" is reminiscent of Joseph Stalin or
Lord Kitchener.
In Orwell's novel, it is not clear if he actually exists as a
person, or is an image crafted by the state - a personification of
the totalitarian Party ruling Oceania. It is stated in the book
that "nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the
hoardings, a voice on the telescreen… Big Brother is the guise in
which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world. His
function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and
reverence, emotions which are more easily felt towards an
individual than towards an organization."
In the essay section of his novel 1985, Anthony Burgess states
that Orwell got the idea for Big Brother from advertising hoardings
current during World War II for educational correspondence courses
run by a company called Bennett's.
The original posters are claimed to have shown Bennett himself -
a kindly looking old man offering guidance and support to would-be
students, with the slogan: "Let me be your father."
When Bennett died, his company was inherited by his son, whose
rather aggressive-looking face appeared on the posters instead,
accompanied by the unappealing slogan: "Let me be your big
brother."
The ideological basis for Big Brother likely comes from Leo
Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, particularly the discussion of the
science of history in part two of that book's epilogue. Napoleon
Bonaparte and various other military and political figures
traditionally revered as geniuses, are presented in the theory of
history Tolstoy opposes as the cause of the movement of humanity
and nations. Orwell appears to call upon this previous work by his
invention of just such a patriarchal figure.
The historical background during which Orwell wrote his work
included several national leaders who had held considerable power,
including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, German chancellor Adolf Hitler, and Soviet
premier Joseph Stalin. Stalin, among other leaders, is often cited
to have developed a cult of personality around himself.
Additionally, Big Brother's omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, and
non-verifiable nature (as well as his demand for absolute
obedience) have led some to suggest that Big Brother may have been
a parody of God.
