Contrast the rulers of Oceania with rulers in historical totalitarian states.

Many
readers have noted the similarities between 's Big Brother and twentieth century dictators like
Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Like these real totalitarian authority figures, Big Brother is
worshipped by his followers and rules absolutely all aspects of his subjects' lives. Also like
Hitler and Stalin, Big Brother skillfully uses propaganda and paranoia in order to control the
populace and maintain a firm grip on power, and he relies upon constant surveillance and cruelty
to instantly squash any sign of disobedience. In creating Big Brother,is clearly commenting on
the very real totalitarian regimes of the modern era.

However, there is one
major difference between Big Brother and his real-life counterparts. While both Stalin and
Hitler cultivated personal mythologies to strengthen their claim on legitimacy, they were still
actual people who really created policies and interacted with their subordinates. In contrast,
Orwell suggests that Big Brother isn't actually a real person. Rather, he's an idea, a symbol
created by political elites to control the masses. As such, if one were to contrast Big Brother
with actual totalitarian rulers, then one should definitely acknowledge that, while people like
Hitler and Stalin existed, Big Brother is a construct created by the ruling political party to
maintain power.