Big Brother, Best Friend

Big Brother, Best Friend Oceania: a society where people are completely unified against the treachery of one Emmanuel Goldstein. In rejection of Goldstein, they fully accept Big Brother, their eternal guardian and savior. While citizens are strongly bound together by these shared views, little emotional connection exists between individuals. Isolation and alienation of is a tool used by the government to regulate emotions and thought of citizens. As a primary characteristic of dystopian literature, isolation is prominent throughout the novel.

Oceania is a society based on keeping people apart, both physically and emotionally. Citizens are expected to "... not have friends, [but] comrades," which places a neutral connotation on all relationships, as opposed to the close, trusting connotation of friend'' (48). The strict use of the word ''comrade'' is a simple form of control that has a powerful impact; in eliminating the trust from relationships, people are forced to keep their thoughts private. By keeping communications to a minimum, the Party is eliminating the ability to organize, to plan, and to rebel.

Although the citizens of Oceania are kept detached from others, they unite for one thing; the Two Minutes Hate. The Party only allows for homogeneity in hate, which completely restricts people''s ability to form loving relationships. As the Party forbids fornication simply for pleasure, they are once again denying the citizens of passion (67). Instead, the Party gives citizens Big Brother as an outlet for their adoration, therefore fueling the fondness of the government.

While the people of Oceania are being isolated from other human beings, they are elcomed warmly into the arms of Big Brother. Alienation is a useful tool to the Party in emphasizing the disaffection between citizens. "Not to let one''s feelings appear in one''s face [is] a habit that [has] acquired the status of an instinct... " in Oceania (106). Such habits are now standard in this dystopian society, but when viewed by an outsider, such as the reader, all of the citizens seem to be plagued by paranoia.

Such remoteness is not abnormal in this society as it is taught from an early age with the Youth League. In training children to spy on adults, the Party has pushed adults to become secretive and automatically shy away from communication with their children and even their spouses. Another benefit of the Youth League is that citizens are raised with the notion that lack of conversation is a standard. The only type of conversation which is allowed is that which places Big Brother and the government in a positive light, once again eliminating possibility of revolution.

As people lose communication with their loved ones, Big Brother becomes their only ally. Big Brother is also considered to be a protector who watches everyone, creating a sense of security for individual citizens. This endless cycle of isolation creates a society of people who place all trust in their government. Living in a state of paranoia would force anyone into solitude. Unfortunately for the people of Oceania, this is how they live. While this system is beneficial to the government and the Party, it comes at the cost of personal expression.

While all governments must take some rights from the itizens, this is typically under a social contract system; citizens of Oceania have no choice, but the majority of them do not mind, and those who do are easily taken care deceitful regime under which they live, and therefore have no objection. Quite a few people in todays society are ignorant of their own government and how it functions, despite how democratic our world has become. People must question the environment in which they live in order to comprehend reality, so who is to say we aren''t living in our own version of Oceania?