1984 is a novel written by George Orwell about Winston Smith’s life under the totalitarian rule of Big Brother. This is Winston’s story, which uses the third person limited omniscient narrative technique so we can get information through his eyes and mind. In Winston’s eyes, Oceana is a totalitarian society where they dress shabbily, eat poorly, and live, as well as work, in drab-grey surroundings. The most omnipresent reality is “Big Brother is Watching You” no matter who or where you are. Among this imagined world of Oceania, lack of privacy and individuality are major and important themes. 1984 demonstrates the effects of a lack of privacy in terms of governmental intrusion upon their citizen’s physical space as well as their private affairs. The government of Oceana uses this invasion of privacy as a tool to control independent thought, action and goals. …show more content…
The influential children acted as an extension of the thought police and began to spy on both adults and their own parents to see if they were doing anything improper. “Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it.”(Chapter 1 Page 17, Line 5-7). The children watched every action made by their parents or any adult. This inclusion of in home spies removed any notion of privacy for parents even in their homes.
The third way citizens were monitored is microphones. If there were no telescreens around, their voice could still be overheard by microphones. Even in the countryside where there are only trees, people could still be monitored by hidden microphones. At all times, wherever they were, people needed be very cautious about simply talking to each