Research Paper On 1984 By George Orwell

Tyler Notah

Mr. Magnesi

English 1A

Jan. 29th, 2023

Essay 3 Rough Draft

Throughout our lives, we’ve seen society adapt, seen it grow, seen it change so everyone can live a perfect life. Yet there are many aspects of life that are seen to be little off to many. Also could be said that a novel written by George Orwell could’ve predicted it all but no one noticed until now. This seen throughout the novel titled, ‘1984’ written by George Orwell, that many argue have several topics, themes, and key points that can be seen or related to today’s society. Some topics he touches upon like surveillance or sense of zero privacy, thought crime relating to Cancel Culture, and use of censorship can be seen throughout our world today. George Orwell’s novel

This can be seen with Winston going into detail about various topics like the Two Minutes Hate on telescreens that appear essentially everywhere. Adding onto the fact these telescreens display propaganda, with a man’s face on it titling itself, “Big Brother is watching you.” Also with that slogan in mind, it’s providing the sense of surveillance by giving citizens of Oceania a sense of protection and security that someone is watching over them. When really it’s stating how much surveillance they have on everyone, as they watch your every move. Another description of the telescreen Winston provides is his opinion about it stating, “He thought of the telescreen with its never-ending sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if they kept your head you could still outwit them.” (210) A similar object can be seen everywhere in the modern world, as technology advances, every individual essentially has a telescreen in their pockets. Phones, televisions,

Our protagonist Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, a place where history is being covered up, rewritten, or changed. Covering or censoring anything that goes against the party’s view or will affect the citizens way of life, either or going against the party. If this ever happens, the individual is vaporized, erased from history as if they never existed. A slogan that is said around Oceania backs it up stating, “Who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present, controls the past.” (44) Implying that the party controls the majority of history, they have the power to erase anything from society. This can be seen today with ‘Cancel Culture’ where the public has the ability to look into the past, or present of individuals lives, if they find something that themselves don’t like they’ll be removed from social media, called-out upon, as they fade as people start to forget about them. One example of this comes from an article by Michael Powell, a scientist Dorian Abbot was set to lecture a class at MIT, but was later canceled, due to him not complying with the class; opposing for a particular race-based class. MIT followed up with a statement saying, “Words matter and have consequences.” (Robert van der hilst) This of course showing similarities between thought police and ‘Cancel Culture’by displaying a sense of being wiped from society, leaving no trace of