What Is The Purpose Of 1984 By George Orwell

George Orwell nearly perfectly depicted the future in his work 1984, even having written the book 35 years prior to the setting of the book. His work was made as a warning to the present, and future, as to what the world might become if we allow the government to take full control over every aspect of life, while the main character Winston Smith walks through these horrors. From technology to a totalitarian government down to the supply shortages such as razor blades, a shortage Russia is facing in the present day, Orwell was able to predict the future in many different aspects. 1984’s similarities to the modern world are, at times, too accurate it becomes scary; most notably the use of facial recognition through telescreens and emotional manipulation

Aside from being a huge screen that reflects images of Big Brother watching or Goldstein’s face making an appearance for Two Minutes of Hate, the telescreens were also able to receive input from the room it was stationed in. The telescreens were able to pick up voices, even whispers, along with the ability of facial recognition to spot any expressions of disagreement. Winston explains his fear of the telescreens on page 62, “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen…A nervous tic, and unconscious look of anxiety…In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face…was itself a punishable offense.” Even a slight raise of an eyebrow was able to be detected through facial recognition, similar to how technology in modern times is starting to advance to the ability to identify facial features and expressions. Even in our smartphones most brands now have facial recognition as their mode of unlocking your device. The viral app Tik Tok is even starting to pick up on facial recognition features in their filters, ranging from activating the filter with a certain expression to rating on a scale of 1-10 how happy your expressions are. Facial recognition is popping up everywhere in our everyday lives, and Orwell was one of the first to spark this

In 1984, the government was able to shape the minds of most people by making them fear being sentenced to prison or even death just for having a thought that opposed the beliefs of the higher powers. Winston especially took note of the fact that this manipulation caused a lasting effect: that no emotion or words were real since everyone had to censor their speaking and even thoughts everywhere they went. He conveys his belief by stating, “No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred” (Orwell 126). Most politicians do this today, keeping their supporters on their side by inducing fear just by the thought of another party or country taking power. Even more powerful than fear is anger. Anger has the power to start revolutions, it has the power to start wars. The government is able to direct anger towards whatever it pleases; in the book, the anger is directed towards Goldstein, in modern times anger is often directed to an opposing party or country. George Marcus explains in his article “How Fear and Anger Impact Democracy” how fear and anger, though very different, are used together to create a weapon. When fear is produced, followers want something to look up to as guidance to feel safe, and that’s where the government takes advantage of that fear and newly bonded trust to then spark up anger. Authoritative figures have a lot of power