1984 - Journal #1

"The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and rag mats. At one end of it a colored poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. Big Brother Is Watching You, the caption beneath it ran." (Orwell 1)

Well, let's go through this one line at at time.

"The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and rag mats" is not only olfactory imagery. I interpreted the hallways as possible being humid because of the word 'boiled'.

"A colored poster too large for indoor display". This line does mention the word color, but not which ones. For the most part, the entire selection is devoid of vibrant colors making the world of 1984 seem bland.

"It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features."
Not exactly that massive of a poster. I don't know why, but I always thought of Stalin when I heard this description. I did some research, and it turns out Big Brother may have been based off a man name Herbert Kitchener. An Irish Earl who played an important part in World War One. He had recruitment posters that had his face on it, but said "Your Country Needs You!" written on them.

"It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week."
Hate Week? When I first started reading the book I was rather lost as to what this could mean. Winston almost expects you to understand all the terminology right away!

"The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way."
A varicose ulcer are wounds caused by increased pressure in veins due to malfunctioning venous valves. You get it because of bad circulation of blood. Reflection of Winston's hard work perhaps?

"On each landing opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. Big Brother Is Watching You, the caption beneath it ran."

The exact methods the Party uses to spy on everyone is mostly left unknown, but I think it's fair to say the posters are designed to constantly remind people that although the poster is not watching you (or maybe it is), something else probably is. At the same time, it can be interpreted a different way by characters in the novel. Maybe some of them like Big Brother and it comforts them to think someone is watching out for them all the time. Like a big brother!