The Downfall of Big Brother 1984

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Maximiliano Nino Mrs. Davis English Expository 3 March 2015 The Downfall of Big Brother The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, leaves the reader with an important question in mind. How did the government of Big Brother come to an end? Many will have theories of how such thing happened, but all theories can easily be narrowed down to four possibilities. In the novel, Emmanuel Goldstein explains with his book that the downfall of a government can be due to either: the takeover by a more powerful force, the inefficiency of the government to rule which causes the masses to revolt, the rising of the middle class which overthrows the higher classes and takes over, or the government losing interest in ruling and leaving power. However, the most ideal theory for how Big Brother came to an end is that the middle class, also known as the Outer Party, overthrew the government themselves and took over the power. Goldstein describes how Big Brother came to power and holds control of it; he explains which possibility for the downfall of a government is the most accurate. The book also discusses the geographic division of the world in between three major regions: Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. Goldstein argues that “each of the three powers… is in fact unconquerable, and could only become conquerable through slow demographic changes which a government with wide powers can easily avert” (pg 207). Therefore it is assumed that Big Brother’s downfall could not have happened because of a more powerful government took over, since all three nations are equal in power and cannot take over the other. This possibility is then discarded and cannot be valid. Oceania is controlled by the government. They provide the masses with “accurate and updated” news about the never-ending war against Eastasia or Eurasia — as how Big Brother and The Party see more fit to be at war with at
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