What is big brother?

The book 1984 was written at a time
when America was always in fear of the Soviets and the control of communism.  Big
Brother in the book is the agency that is responsible for controlling the people through
whatever means they feel necessary.  The idea behind it is that they are always watching
and knowing.

The goal of Big Brother is to keep people the
same.  The people are assigned their jobs, not allowed to keep any personal diaries or
information, and must be visible to the television screen at all times.  Everywhere they
go the agency is watching them.  In the event that a person does not conform they are
brought in and interrogated and modified so they function in cohesion once
again.

Big brother controls everything.  The people see war
as a constant around them and hear the messages that are transmitted to them to
essentially brainwash them.