Big Brother Is Watching George Orwell Symbols

Orwell uses many symbols throughout the novel 1984 to represent the characters’ feelings. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Big Brother, The Glass Paperweight, and St. Clement’s Church are a few symbols that Orwell refers to often throughout the novel. Orwell’s symbols are a way for him to indirectly express the characters’ feelings. Big Brother is a symbol that comes about early on in the novel and sticks with us till the end. The posters of a man staring at you with the words “Big Brother is Watching You” symbolize the Party. As Winston made his way to the upstairs of his house, Orwell says “Pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it read” (Orwell 5). Big Brother is a warning to the citizens. The citizens are never quite sure of whether Big Brother
Clement’s Church is another symbol of the lost past. Winston makes his way up to a room above the little shop and remembers a song that goes, “Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement’s… How it goes on I don’t remember” (Orwell 83). Winston continues to sing a song that reminds him of the picture. He can never remember the lyrics which is a way of him showing that he cannot recollect the past. The song reoccurs many times during the course of the novel, because Winston is trying to find the past through the entire novel. He never fully understands the past and this is something that continues to irritate him. Quote Orwell’s symbols are a way for him to indirectly express the characters’ feelings. He uses Big Brother as a way to show that the Party is always watching them. The paperweight and St. Clement’s Church are a way of Winston trying to recover the forgotten past. The past is something that is completely absent in this novel. The symbols provide the readers with an enhanced understanding of Orwell’s judgements and the characters