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1984 is a novel which explores the life of a man living in a totalitarian society run by the Party (Big Brother). The Party is in control of every aspect of one’s life and it uses many devices to supervise and manipulate the citizens of Oceania. A big part of said devices is made up of technology. It is used to control people’s freedom to think and exist through use of propaganda, surveillance over the citizens, and to spread false information to control. Propaganda in 1984 was mostly deployed through technology in order to make the citizens obedient and to ascertain Big Brother’s control.
In both 1984 by George Orwell, and The Veldt by Ray Bradbury, the themes presented are both able to present a clear warning to the readers of the power of technology, and the damaging power it can have on our lives. In Part 1 of 1984, The Inner Party establishes a facade of protection to gain control over Oceania and the citizens. This is mainly achieved through the technological advances that gives The Party authority over people 's actions because of the 24/7 surveillance of their every move. At the beginning of the novel, protagonist Wilson says “the instrument (telescreens) could be dimmed but there was no way of shutting it off altogether” (8). These telescreens are used to minimise the amount of Thoughtcrime, which, in Oceania, violates
From Orwell’s novel, “1984”, it can be determined that his opinion on the most powerful means of control by the government would be the government’s use of fear to instill paranoia among the people. One powerful piece of corroboration for fear to paranoia would be Oceania’s obvious, and constant, use of technology to fulfill this goal. Take, for instance, the telescreens. Because of their existence in every buildings’ rooms and corners, they can be easily used to keep an eye on party members, and if need be, used to track their location and arrest them. Winston experiences the surveillance inflicted by the government during one of his daily workouts,as right when he stopped trying in order to ponder the conspiracies surrounding the party,
In the novel 1984, George Orwell talks about how privacy is scarce and how the government controls our lives in a totalitarian government. George Orwell in his novel, 1984, published in June 8, 1949 addresses the topic of what he thinks Oceania will look like in 1984, based on how things were back when he wrote it. Orwell's claim is supported in today's modern literature in the article “When Euphemism Disguises Truth: George Orwell’s Foresight” by Bernard A. Weisberger saying that when the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer and then later saying that the German, Russian and Italian languages have all deteriorated in the last 10 or 15 years, as a result of dictatorship. The surveillance capabilities used by Big Brother were that “any sound that winston made above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover , so long as he remained within the field of vision of the metal plaque commanded he could be seen as well as heard.” As you can see, surveillance has been a big issue and there have been technologies used to spy.
In the book 1984 show that privacy didn't exist in Oceania at all, anywhere you were Big Brother couldn't hear you and to you as the author States in chapter 1 “the telescreen received, transmitted simultaneous any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it moreover so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well” (orwell page 3). Another example would be “Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though as he will now even a back can be revealing”(Orwell page 3). This just shows how controlling bring big brother
The government and its effect on society is always a controversial and frequently discussed topic amongst today’s people. Whether it is how politicians swindle peoples’ money or the various ways that the government abuses its power, people always have criticism for what they believe to be flawed. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the author conveys his belief that limiting the privacy of the individual is the government’s ultimate means of controlling its citizens through the wall mounted devices called telescreens as well as the brutal, and ever present though police. The idea that the individual has no power because they have no privacy is conveyed through the existence of the telescreens.
These ploys are implemented by the Party with the telescreen
In George Orwell’s “1984” he discusses a horrible totalitarian government where everyone is being watched at all times and killed for breaking their harsh rules. Sure, our government hasn’t gone to that extent yet, but it has so many similarities to our present day society. In George Orwell 's 1984 he says “any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it;.... He could be seen as well as heard” (orwell, pg 4) .Orwell is talking about a telescreen a camera of some sort that is always watching the people of Oceania .
It was safer; though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing” (Orwell 3). Everyone has a telescreen in their place of work, house and almost every local store or restaurant. “But all the while, the line between private and public space is as porous as a tissue paper” (Drehle). This quote comes from the article The Surveillance Society written
In the book, 1984, when being monitored 24/7 the society is being held captive of the Party. The society are the prisoners because the Party controls their movements and actions. The Party wants all of Oceania or at least the Outer Party, to be loyal to the Party and Big Brother. To do that, they have telescreens in every place except where the proles live. ” The great majority of proles did not even have telescreens in their homes.
In many ways, a pen is much more powerful and much more threatening, than a bullet. George Orwell’s satire, 1984, demonstrates the threat posed to totalitarianism by a well-thought mind defying the system it is constricted by and sharing its new-found knowledge with the masses. The Party has various precautions in place to instill fear and guilt in their unsuspecting people. Raw human impulses and emotions are tainted by Big Brother fueled propaganda. The Party uses a variety of torture to break down the independent mind and recreate it using their own approved beliefs.
During Orwell’s time, both communism and totalitarianism were on the rise. Many critics have “hailed it (the novel) as an attack on a specific political system: Stalinist communism” (“Critical Reception” 12). In this sense, Big Brother was modeled after Stalin with aspects of Adolf Hitler to highlight the horrors that would await America should the amount of control allocated to the government continue to increase. As seen in 1984, the Party used telescreens to conduct constant surveillance. “The telescreens received and transmitted simultaneously…so long as he remained within the field of vision…he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell 3).
George Orwell’s novel “1984” is a powerful critique of totalitarianism and the ways in which governments can maintain power through surveillance and control. One of the novel’s central elements is the telescreen, a device that is ubiquitous in the novel’s society. The Telescreen serves as a constant reminder to citizens that they are being watched. The telescreen exemplifies the panopticon, a concept developed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1791 (Tatham, 2023).
Is amazing how it relates back to today's time. First off, Surveillance is a huge topic in the novel 1984. The main surveillance technology used in the novel was known as a telescreen. Orwell explains in detail,” The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely”(1984, pg.2).
Totalitarianism in 1984 and the Real World The concept of a totalitarian society is a major theme throughout the novel 1984. This theme of totalitarianism can also be applied to the world today. The definition of totalitarianism, a concept used by some political scientists, is a state which holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible. Totalitarianism can be related between the novel 1984 and current events in the real world. George Orwell incorporated the theme of totalitarianism into his novel 1984 to display the ever changing world around him during the time it was written.