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General statements on government surveillance
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Big Brother’s main focus is to maintain power of the citizens. Big Brother is so power hungry that he uses the Thought Police, citizens who can “read their minds” and know if other citizens are thinking of rebelling, to control the citizens. Telescreens, a television with a camera in it, are set up throughout the town and in the homes of the citizens. This way, Big Brother has total control over their lives. Sometimes, Big Brother hides telescreens in the house to spy on people more.
Through the forms of manipulation and modernization, the Party manages to ensure and ascertain control, especially involving technology. Oceanians cannot expect privacy due to the Party’s use of advanced surveillance by placing telescreens and covert microphones all across Oceania. The image and slogan, “… BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” is a constant reminder that the citizens of Oceania are being observed and their actions can be potentially exposed following penalizing actions (pg.2). With Big Brother’s face publicized on posters, telescreens and even coins, it often becomes difficult for citizens to dissent the rules of the Party as most are soon willing to believe what the Party informs them. Oceanians are used to living in a constant state of supervision with invasive machinery, which is so advanced that even the “smallest” sign of “abnormality” “could give you away” (pg.62).
The takeaways from the story 1984 shows how a government should not function, and how one should stand up for their beliefs. Also, 1984 demonstrates an example of an unfair and terrible government. This government is led by their leader Big Brother, who controls everyone’s thoughts in Oceania. The government also has telescreens everywhere to record every single conversation of the citizens. If the citizens say anything, and Big Brother does not like the thought, the police will come and arrest them.
In the book, 1948, the Party is the reigning power over Oceania with the Big Brother as the head of state in a totalitarian manner. Big Brother’s political system recognizes no limits to his authority and controls every aspect of public and private life of the Party members, with, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” (2) as a recurring Party slogan that emphasizes the lack of privacy in the Party. Every aspect of privacy is removed through hidden cameras, telescreens and secret agents of the Though Police prowling around. The reason for the lack of privacy is to prevent thoughtcrime which is a taboo for Party members. Thoughtcrime is anything that creates individuality, like feelings, as it could cause problems to the Party.
In the book, all of the citizens of Oceania have telescreens that record their activities. Big Brother, the government, wants the citizens to be loyal to them. In order to make sure, they plant telescreens in every residents’ home so that they can track their activities. After Winston returns back to his house, he recalls, “The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (2). The second clause suggests that people are constantly being watched because they cannot turn it off.
In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the overbearing government of Oceania, Big Brother, controls and monitors everything its citizens sees, hears, and believes. In order to gain absolute loyalty from its citizens, Big Brother has control over every aspect of their lives, prohibiting them from using their own minds and causing them to fully depend on Big Brother. Through the use of manipulation and fear, Big Brother and the Party are able to decide what is real and what is not real. Big Brother believes that in order to gain absolute loyalty from its citizens, it must control everything, from the spread of information to media.
(Orwell 3-4). In 1984, telescreens are everywhere, they speak, record, and scan all areas within its reach. These are designed to spy on people, never allowing anyone to ever be alone, lessening the number of people that will rebel against Big Brother. Society is constantly around technology (not much of a choice), people are thought police that will see that you are guilty of committing a thought crime (thinking any bad thought against Big Brother). In this novel, thoughts are not private anymore.
In 1984, the telescreens are being used to monitor the citizens actions and hear their conversations. In Oceania, Big Brother has a specific language being spoken, called Newspeak. These telescreens
Throughout the history of mankind there have been significant events where people have had to choose whether to live up to the ‘status quo’ or decide to go against it based upon their own conscience. To maintain a functioning society, there are laws and social norms set in place to maintain a working and effective system. Laws and customs have been designed by people for many different reasons; some may not have been designed in benevolence to their fellow human beings. Because of this, there is an extent to which these laws, regulations and norms should be followed. When determining whether to break a law or norm, someone should consider if it’s moral or immoral.
That exact issue sparks the question of why we would ever break the rules. We break rules because we think that the benefits outweigh the costs in the situation we are in. Our mind believes that it’s worth taking the consequences for the satisfaction we are achieving. In today’s society, people break rules for the very reason that they seem unreasonable, deter us
If you wouldn’t break the rules for anything, you aren’t a normal person, because if breaking the rules can save someone’s life, most people would do it. While breaking the rules will probably have a penalty if you get caught, if you have a good reason, it will be worth it. Sometimes when people do break the rules, they have a purpose, and for them, it will be worth breaking the rules for. To answer this, I used the book Lady Midnight by Cassandra
Imagine being followed everywhere by a government agent. They’re watching your every move, and they’ll report you if you even make a wrong facial movement. This is essentially the case in George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Run by an English socialist government called the Party, the people’s every move is watched through telescreens. Citizens are not individual, but rather an extension of the Party.
George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.
Many people have trust issues, which is understandable because many people are not trustworthy. In order to “be at home,” or to be peaceful, one must find at least one person to confide in. To tell them the secrets that are burdening and don’t allow someone to live their life to the fullest. This is the theme of this poem. In this poem, the author uses different literary devices to help the reader understand the poem’s theme.
A lot of people don’t care at all about laws, believing that these laws are getting in the way of their freedom and rights to live however they want, so they think that breaking rules is the right way to live. Frank Trippett in his passage “A Red Light for Scofflaws” states that the foundations of social order are going to be profoundly shaken if ordinary law-abiding citizens take to skirting the law, by first explaining that Americans are taking increasing liberties with all sorts of minor laws. He continues by stating that americans seem to think that law and order is for violent crimes only. The author’s purpose is to make people think about following the rules and orders, and to stop people from being scofflaws. The author establishes an
