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Is 1984 Still Relevant Today

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1984 was written after World War II by George Orwell as a warning against totalitarian communism.1984 serves as a warning to future generations about the future that may result from a totalitarian government's tyranny. 1984’s protagonist Winston Smith is a rebellious Party member who hopes to uncover the corrupt activities of the Party and undermine their transactions with a vigilante group led by Goldstein. The book is based on his rebellious actions that strictly go against the Party’s ideals and beliefs. Despite being written in 1949, 1984 is still relevant to our world through the use of constant surveillance, censorship of the truth, and manipulation of the masses. The world of 1984 is enveloped in big posters with the phrase “Big Brother …show more content…

This may be reflected in real life with the Patriot Act passed in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks. This act was justified to prevent future terroristic events from impacting the USA. The Patriot Act allowed the US government to listen in on private phone conversations and emails. This expanded the US government's power over the citizens' privacy. Putting the government over its people is the first step to the end of privacy, even if it is justified at first. The protagonist of the book, Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, which serves the purpose of informing the people of the latest news. Instead of being accurate, the Ministry of Truth is extremely biased towards the government and constantly prompts propaganda to fit its agenda. The sayings of Big Brother are shifted so they have the effect of predicting the future and false news is reported to benefit the oligarchical government. Winston’s job is to dispose of any materials that threaten the oligarchy. The lies portrayed by the Ministry of Truth serve to show how easily news can be corrupted. Many people have different political opinions. Even for us, news outlets are …show more content…

This is through the expansion of doublethink. With doublethink, people don’t think about ideas against the oligarchy, even if it is true. The government of Oceania is given the power to say “2 + 2 = 5” and although 2 + 2 must equal 4 for all advancements in science, engineering, and daily use, the citizens don’t doubt it at all. The government has also invaded daily life through the invention of newspeak. Newspeak does not allow for one to express dissatisfaction with the government, so even if they could feel it, their feelings would be alone and amount to nothing. These two ideas go hand in hand to create subservient citizens who hate the brotherhood, which values freedom and democracy. The government has power over education. It is through the Department of Education of the federal government that the curriculum, which is taught to every child and adolescent, is created. In the early years of our lives, we are most influenced by our surroundings. The government's influence on us is integrated into our daily lives as well through our years of

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This individual mindset allows the lack of organized resistance to the government’s plans and wishes. While this plan could work, the way the government went about it doomed it in a way.

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From a young age, humans learn that truth comes from authority. This concept is addressed in the dystopian novels 1984 by George Orwell and Anthem by Ayn Rand when they convey the possibilities of a totalitarian society. The controlling governmental figure in 1984, Big Brother, uses psychological torture to convince his citizens that life is better when he is in charge. In Anthem, the society has reverted to times before electricity and everyone is convinced through their loss of information that individual thought, even if it is to advance society, is dangerous. Regardless of both novels differing, they are unified through their author’s warning that the destruction of individualism by the government can quell the growth and progress of humankind.

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In his informative article from The New York Times, the author Edmond van Den Bossche discusses his thoughts about the year 1984 and the novel, 1984. Bossche begins his article by quoting Montesquieu, “It is not always important that individuals reason well, it is sufficient that they reason; from their individual thought, freedom is born” (Bossche). Long after Montesquieu’s time, George Orwell published his dystopian novel 1984. The novel is centered around Winston Smith who lives in a world, ruled by the totalitarian leader Big Brother. Without freedom of thought, Winston struggles being the only man to detest Big Brother and is eventually converted into liking him.

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Ignorance is strength.” The citizens of Oceania cannot rebel against something they cannot even define, or try to replace their government with another one that their language cannot define. Even if they decided that they hated how they are being controlled, the people of Oceania are unable to act because they would be committing a crime by doing so. But in our world today, just the opposite is true. We are encouraged to speak our mind, to express who we are, what we want, and what changes we think are necessary.

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For instance, when Winston was talking about their government it says, “This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least twenty-five years in a forced labor camp”(Orwell 3). No laws in their society,which makes everything “legal” but if you do something the government does not like there is no judicial system to prevent you from being in a work camp for five years. Technology is used to watch everything that you do so if the government sees something they don’t like then they can vaporize you. In the world of Oceania, if there were laws, everything would be different but since there are no laws people have a sense of freedom. The people should feel like they are free, but having no laws keeps them captive, making them unable to do anything that the government would not like.

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By the end of the book the government has completely taken over Winston’s mind and brainwashed him to fit standards set by the party. After everything, they ended up killing him for what he had done. If the government were like this today, we would probably be in either a complete dictatorship or our world would find ourselves slowly fading into anarchy. Our own social freedom, our freedom of press, speech, and ability to stand up for what we believe in is important to remain a stable society. Our own opinions and morals make us who we are, and if we don't speak up or take part in any of our governments actions as simple as voting for our next president, our world may fall into one such as

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525 Words | 3 Pages

Published in 1949, the book “1984” by George Orwell continues to relate to our current world in a number of ways. The book depicts a dystopian society ruled by a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of their citizens' lives by using surveillance, power, and manipulation. We can relate to this book in a number of ways. “Who controls the past’, ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell p. 34). This quote explains that the party knows changing the events in the past and controlling history will help them maintain a position of power.

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1984 - Writing Unit 3 In London, in the year 1984, Big Brother watching every corner of the world in his own whiteblack dystopian world. 1984 by George Orwell, is a dystopian novel written in 1949 to predict the future if totalitarianism took over society as we know today. George Orwell, wasn’t right with his prediction as we all know; although it is important to remember that something such as the horrible of the events taking place in 1984 could happen today or in the near future. In 1984, the wrath of Big Brother, a huge screen that watches everyone’s move and sees all in what he controls.

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In this book they talk about some capabilities of Big Brother. “Winston kept his back to the telescreen … it was over though , as he well knew even a back can be revealing.” They surveillance members of the organization 24/7, so Any little move they made was known. Winston’s job was to change the past. “Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past”.

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This is a literary analysis on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a more recent classic dystopian novel. Written in 1949, it's based in the future year of what is presumed to be 1984. It focuses on the life of Winston Smith, a member of the newly established Party that rules over a territory called Oceania and that is led by a man called Big Brother. This novel provides a rather frightening insight into a dystopian socialist environment.

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The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached.

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It is no surprise that it is difficult for anyone to break free of or try to oppose the government as they have so many safeguards in place to protect against betrayal. This is linked to the setting as without the control and support of the people, the government would never have been able to enact so many defenses to stop potential enemies from dismantling the

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Growing up as a first-generation American I am blessed to have many opportunities because of my parents’ sacrifice. Ghana does not offer quality education for everyone, therefore, I have always wanted to take the luxuries I have in America and bring it to my home country to help it improve. I want Ghana to grow in the ranks and become a fully developed nation, strong enough to compete on the level of the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. Ghana needs young people who have endless opportunities for an education to learn and come back to their country to improve areas in technology, education and medicine. In my chosen major of computer science, I dream of going to Ghana and having an influence in software development, teaching the

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Another well-known revolution started because of oppression was the North American Revolution. The North American Revolution started in 1774 and ended in 1783. Basically, the North American Revolution was triggered by the Declaration of Independence announced in 1776. The Declaration of Independence was a declaratory document to announce the separation of thirteen colonies from the Great Britain. The thirteen states strongly believed that they had “unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” .

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This character was employed by Orwell as an unexceptional man in the setting of the novel. Him being who he is allows readers to consociate with instead of having a character un-relatable. Winston is the anti-hero the dystopian protagonist a common man expect he sees the trouble that and struggle that he lives in and shares it with his experience throughout the book. At the start it is already been said that Winston has an ulcer above his ankle making him seem weak and vulnerable but his true potentiality comes from the mental state his finds himself in, the will to overcome the government and their conventional dystopian contrivance. Winston feels ambushed by the regulations that have been enforced by the party through their assets being the thought police and technology which would be referring to the telescreens both of these tools used to keep the people under surveillance in conclusion Winston doesn’t follow the parties ways and he attends hate week which is a session that happens once a week where people express their feelings towards the party, towards big brother.

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