Ear Trumpets In George Orwell's 1984

The novel, 1984 by George Orwell, portrays a narrative that features full-blown, corrupt totalitarian government. The main protagonist, Winston Smith, lives a life that has been completely set up for him by the government. A regular life in this universe consists of highly monitored security in all areas of civilization. In order for the government party to control their civilians, they possess rigorous security measures and abuse various technological methods of conforming one's mind. During the beginning sections of the book, Winston narrates his average life as a party member under the control of Big Brother. The Big Brother is deemed the upper echelon of the hierarchy presented in the story. Very few go against Big Brother, but those who

One of them being are ear trumpets. Parsons explains “What d'you think's the latest thing they’ve served them out with? Ear trumpets for listening through keyholes! My little girl brought one home the other night – tried it out on our sitting-room door, and reckoned she could hear twice as much as with her ear to the hole” (78). Parsons adds that the government is teaching adolescents the ways of spying. His own daughter is a byproduct of a soon-to-be spy for the government. Ear trumpets exist in real life aswell, but they are known as hearing aids. Hearing aids are mainly used by elderly people with hearing problems, but in the novel, they are used to hear conversations in longer proximities for the purpose of eavesdropping. Orwell slowly incorporates essential technological advances into the story by making them the government’s security weapons. Later on in the novel, the true power of the telescreens come into play. Winston in his mind, narrates “He took his scribbling pad on his knee and pushed back his chair so as to get as far away from the telescreen as possible. To keep your face expressionless was not difficult, and even your breathing could be controlled, with an effort: but you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up.”(92). Winston is seen minding his own business but he tries to avoid the telescreens. The telescreens monitor activity by behavior and expression, and it also monitors your heart rate. If the heart rate were to go up, it would be deemed abnormal to the government standards. Orwell conveys the element of conformity in this passage because the government party heavily monitors, and surveys people in order to pressure them to not mess up their expected perfect