Surveillance In 1984 By George Orwell

Do you feel like your every thought and action is being controlled and monitored? Do you ever feel like you’re constantly at war with someone? Throughout this novel the characters are under constant surveillance, via the telescreens that watch their every move. They also constantly talk about the war between Oceania and Eastasia. And lastly, they never actually say it, but the entire book is depicting what would happen if society was entirely communist, controlled by the government. 1984 by George Orwell has topics relevant today that society still has to worry about such as surveillance, war, and communism.

People are under constant surveillance in both the book 1984 and in today’s modern society. One example of this is when Winston is exercising and a voice comes from the telescreen saying, “6079 Smith W! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that…That’s better, comrade…” (Orwell,1949, p.36). This shows that people on both sides of the telescreen can see what’s happening on the other side, proving that people in the book are under constant surveillance. A second example that we are under surveillance is in an article by VICE that says,” You are being watched.. Your smartphone is logging your location. And if you’re

In the book Oceania is at war with Eastasia, as is said by O’Brien, ”Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Since the beginning of your life, since the beginning of the Party, since the beginning of history.” (Orwell, 1949, p.??). This shows that even before the beginning of the book Oceania and Eastasia have been at war. An example of war in our lives is stated by an article by the New York Times which says, “Russian forces began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Western officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed…”. This shows that there is a war not only in the novel, but also in our lives