Contrast of surveillance techniques between 1984 and the modern world.
We live in the world of constant surveillance by our government, they spy on us through computers, phones and even telescreens. They say it is in the name of safety, but should we sacrifice our liberty in return for security. George Orwell writes in his book 1984, where a totalitarian government takes over and creates an environment where they not only have physical control over their citizens, but have though control as well. One of the ways that the party holds such a tight grip on its population is by using surveillance. In the novel, we see Orwell showcasing many different surveillance methods used by the government, and how diseased the society has become, as a result
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The most mentioned surveillance device in the book is the infamous telescreen, it is used by the government to surveille people mostly in their homes. One of the most insane ideas that George Orwell presents in his book is thoughtcrime, thoughtcrime is anything that the Thought Police and the party consider illegal. Technically there are no laws in Oceania which allows the party to dominate the population much easier. The party designed the telescreens in a way that it detects if a person is committing thought crime, it has cameras installed that checks the facial expression of a person and identifies if that person is thinking something unacceptable to the party or the Thought Police. Winston faces this problem as he lives with a telescreen in his apartment, Orwell narrates: “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it” (Book 1, p.5). He then unfolds more details about the level of control the Though Police has by revealing that:” It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.” (Book 1, p. 5). In the