...“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” -George Orwell. The renouncement of personal privacy displayed in George Orwell’s 1984 is exponentially exploited. No one is ever granted the simple right we ought to have, which is privacy. Telescreens and police patrol see all while going unnoticed. George Orwell’s assumption of the future was not far from expected or at least has yet to come. The similarities between 1984 and present day is a lack of privacy, abuse of technology and Newspeak. In George Orwell’s 1984, he talks a lot about privacy and how it is valued and perceived. Privacy is essentially a figment of one’s imagination or simply a reminisce of a memory from long ago when the world was right. “In the far...
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...George Orwell’s ideas about the advancement of technology and predictions cannot go unnoticed and under appreciated. His prediction of technology ruling a country’s behavior may be accurate in the near future because much of his technology closely resembles today’s technology. His illustration of the telescreen and microphones had kept Oceania on their heels. A telescreen is a device in which it is used by Oceania’s government (Big Brother) to provide propaganda and detecting conspiracy. This perceiving instrument has long affected the behavior of Oceania’s citizens.“The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. 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...
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...Eureka! The cure for cancer has been found. The holy grail of modern medicine has been discovered. But there is one problem – it is locked up inside a top secret government facility restricted to the public. Why so? Because there is far more money to be made in treating a disease than curing it. Why cure someone of cancer in a day if they can be treated for it their entire life and bill them every step along the way? This is modern day society. It is the vivid reality of the dystopian world portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984 – In a world where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength, the government has full control of society; dictatorship and communism are rampant (p. xx). Every action you take, every word you say, and every person you interact with is monitored closely by the government as represented by Big Brother in the novel. An Orwellian existence is staring at us directly in the face;...
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...Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Though integrity is subjective, most can agree that it is admirable to have a strong moral code. The abstract concept of integrity contributes a great sum to the underlying message in George Orwell's 1984. The book follows, Winston Smith, who attempts (and fails) to rebel against his totalianist country, Oceania. Because the novel was written under heavy influence of World War II, it served as a warning against totalitarianism. By exhibiting the disestablishment of integrity through the set up of Oceanic government, the social structure of Oceanic society and most importantly the experiences of his characters in his book, Orwell proves that integrity is vital for democratic socialism. The Oceanic government is set up to to suppress all that would promote integrity. The government wants all members to adhere to Oceanic principals not ethical or moral ones. To assure that members’ loyalty lies with them, the party...
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...England, collapsed due to communism and retitled Airstrip One, is governed by an oppressive, dictatorial government. Orwell describes how, with suitable expertise, a government could dominate the masses through constant surveillance; for which thought-crime and rebellion is seen as the foremost threat. Following the political uprisings and struggle for power after the Second World War, George Orwell’s 1984 describe the nightmares experienced in a totalitarian state and further exemplify the momentous downfall of the near future. Different mechanisms of these various methods of surveillances remain a prevalent consistency in the novel. Liberty of movement, sentiments, words and actions are all inhibited by the ruling party “Big Brother” [1]....
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...I see more comparisons with George Orwell’s 1984. In both of these environments, one elite person leads them. Their leader is looked up to as a god. In 1984, the leader is Big Brother and the community has a ton of propaganda that makes everyone look up to him. It is the same in North Korea with Kim Jong Un. There are rallies and everyone sees the leader as above all. The people in the communities are scared of making mistakes or stepping the wrong way because of the potential consequences. The lives in both North Korea and Oceania in 1984 are completely controlled by the governments. The people aren’t allowed to think about the outside world. The people are supposed to just believe in the government and listen to what they say at all times. Another parallel is that the leader is looked at as a good thing. The people are wanted to believe that without their leader, they would not be living as well as they are. The parallels are large between these communities. Both of these places are isolated and alone. The communities think of themselves as all the world has. Nothing really goes in or out of North Korea and Oceania. We think to ourselves that George Orwell’s 1984 setting in Oceania as fiction. Is that necessarily true? There might be more truth to the book in some parts of the world than we want to believe. It is scary that this might...
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...If ‘1984’ by George Orwell had been written in a different time and place, how and why might it differ? The novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell, written in 1948, is a tragic illustration of what the world would be without the freedom to think independently. The internal context of the novel, which is set in London in 1984, whose protagonist is a rebellious low ranking party member called Winston Smith, is meant to portray a world of government domination defined by fear, hatred and ultimate control. The mode of the novel is written and the tenor is close as the story is told in limited third person. The target audience of the novel is people interested in reading and politics. Orwell wrote ‘1984’ as a warning against totalitarian tendencies and...
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...It is often easy to become comfortable with our personal truths and develop a closed minded approach to any other alternatives presented, but “1984” by George Orwell has provided me with inspiration to consider an alternative to my values and realize the possibility that the only propaganda we recognize is poorly constructed propaganda and that, even with proper research and thorough considerations of ideas, we can still hold personal truths that are incorrect or perceived as immoral by other individuals. By human nature, we are inclined to accept the information that is the status quo that is provided to us by authoritative figures but it can be a very important step for humans to reanalyze their strongly held truths and consider alternatives that they may have been...
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...George Orwell’s dystopian novel, “1984”, depicts a society of which the fictional symbol, Big Brother, is the totalitarian leader, and the single party controls everything. Big Brother and the party have instilled the idea that, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past”, meaning that the past can be altered to one's desire, in this case to Big Brother’s. Winston, the protagonist of the novel, works at the Ministry of truth in the records department, where he, with many others, has to alter information from the past, in magazines and newspapers, so it always supports the party line, as Big Brother and the party must never be wrong. Unlike everyone else, brainwashed by the party, Winston realises...
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...police”. This is the greatest fear of Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984, the concept of the government tracking him down and keeping him as a thought criminal due to his rampant thoughts and uncontrollable subconscious is his one fear day in and day out. Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1948, this was his idea of how civilization would turn into a dystopia completely under the control of the government where even thoughts are monitored, it was his fear of how WW II would affect the world and communism would take over. Winston becomes paranoid of his subconscious leading to his demise but soon realizes that there is no need because the government has a weak structure that relies heavily on the obedience of its...
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...Winston Smith, the very exception of total control, is continually on the verge of rebelling and conforming in a society of like minded, broken people. Winston has exactly the kind of inquisitive mind that the Party fears the most. Although he is revolted by their methods of control and contemptuous of the people that adhere blindly to it, he clearly understands the expectations of the Party and his duties as a citizen. He fully well knows that the stakes are high and the consequences are extremely dire, as he has first handedly witnessed the destruction of those who fight back. Throughout 1984, there are many instances where Winston struggles with the desire to break free against his responsibility to survive. Winston writes in a diary knowing that it is an inexcusable crime - an act of self-expression. Although it starts off with random entries about war films, he goes on deeper to talk about history, his cluttered feelings over the dark- haired girl and even more major things like his hatred of Party oppression as openly exposed when he subconsciously wrote “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER. This first blatant act of rebellion illustrates Winston’s desire, however slight, to break free of control. However, despite whatever release he felt, he realizes that writing in the diary has made him into a thought-criminal, leading him to believe...
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...There is no set definition of reality and because of its flexibility, reality can be warped. Reality itself is defined by O’Brien in the book as something that “exists within the human mind, and nowhere else” and “is not external” (Orwell 205). O'Brien believes that reality does not exist until the mind perceives it, and the mind should not perceive it without the Party’s permission. O'Brien attempts to convince Winston that he sees five fingers, when his senses, aware of a reality independent of Big Brother, actually sees four. Seeing five fingers instead of four is only possible if the person's reality allows for the possibility and existence of such things. Winston is able to see the five fingers instead of four after going through immense pain and as a result his outside reality is warped by the pain and drugs. Briefly, he shares the reality of the Party and felt a “luminous certainty” before “everything was normal again” (Orwell 213). After these disciplining sessions, Winston stops believing in an independent, external reality and willingly believes the structured reality made possible by the Party's simulacra. The Party uses many examples of simulacrum to control its citizens. Big Brother himself is a simulacrum, the idea and image of a leader instead of a living person, given to the people as a symbol of the Party. Winston asks if Big Brother truly exists and O'Brien answers “of course he exists” (Orwell 214). He exists “within the human mind” of the Party's reality...
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...I am not sure if I am willing to go with hatred being more powerful than love in the book. I will say that the book shows fear being more powerful. In either case, I can go with love as being secondary in the book. I think that part of this comes from the fact that Orwell is dying as he is writing the book. Certainly, this aspect of knowing one’s reality and one’s fate that cannot be avoided and is inevitable is something that looms over the reading of the novel and Orwell’s writing of it. We can see this in how the love affair between Winston and Julia is shown. The initial hope and expectation of the reader is to hope that there might be some level of liberation and some level of freedom expressed in their union. Perhaps, we can view...
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...To avoid defending oneself against any accusations made towards them, a skilled liar will deflect the situation towards either a different topic or another person, diverting themselves away from the truth. Reflecting on Oceania’s history, Winston wonders about their relationship with other countries such as Eastasia and Eurasia. Though Winston remembers who exactly the country is currently at war with, he explains how the enemy is always changing every few years and how the Party forces its people to believe they have always had the same enemy. According to the beliefs of the Party, Winston states that the Party wants everyone to believe “the change of partners had never happened. Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia” (Orwell 34). The Party believes that if they can create fear among society about the war, then they can continue to retain their power and maintain the structure of society. If people begin to question the components of the war or Oceania’s reign over its citizens, the Party then deflects the situation by drawing attention to their enemies. By creating fear among society, the Party is able to avoid questions about Oceania’s existence in the world since everyone focuses on the war and trusts the Party to keep them safe. As one of their main sources of power, the Party uses society’s fear of the war to maintain control over the social structure, and in order to do so, the Party must continually change which country...
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...THE MESSAGE "1984" emphasized the internal frustration of Winston Smith in trying to make a change in Oceania. The absence of freedom of expression in Oceania is extreme, but it is a lesson that we can learn on how much the government can control its citizens. While Oceania has telecasts, we have television. Even though we have more control with ours, there are still powerful authority that may decide what the citizens should know and what they should not know. On the extreme side, the telecasts in Oceania always talks about wars and only positive increases in the economy. Even though our society would question a continuously positive news, we are consumed by what is told on shows and advertisement. In conclusion, we can think that our society is controlled by a less powerful Big Brother. We may be fine with the condition we are currently in, but if we are not being critical, the...
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