The Rules of Big Brother and Their Parallels with Stalin’s Soviet Union

A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Literature is an artistic expression that often mirrors the social and political realities of its era. It does not exist in isolation but arises from the interaction between human consciousness and historical experience. The central problem of this research lies in the lack of comparative academic studies that examine how George Orwell’s portrayal of dictatorship in Nineteen Eighty-Four reflects and parallels the real-world totalitarian system of Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. Both leaders—fictional and historical—constructed societies based on fear, surveillance, and ideological manipulation. This study therefore, aims to analyze the similarities and differences between Big Brother’s authoritarian control and Stalin’s political domination, revealing how literature can function as a mirror of power and oppression. This study employs a qualitative descriptive research design under the framework of Lucien Goldmann’s genetic structuralism. The primary data are drawn from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, while the secondary data include scholarly articles, historical documents, and critical essays on Stalinism and totalitarian regimes. The method involves textual interpretation, comparative analysis, and sociological contextualization to uncover the ideological structure embedded in Orwell’s narrative. The findings reveal that both Big Brother and Stalin maintained absolute control through propaganda, censorship, historical revisionism, and psychological coercion. Big Brother’s Two Minutes Hate, Thought Police, and Room 101 reflect Stalin’s repressive tactics such as political purges, the NKVD’s surveillance, and forced confessions. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four serves not only as a dystopian fiction but also as a literary reflection of historical totalitarianism.