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Technology In 1984

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"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." This quote from the book 1984, by George Orwell, portrays a theme that is consistent throughout the novel: freedom. Imagine a world where you have no freedoms; you cannot state your opinion and even having your own thoughts could be detrimental. Well, George Orwell decided to take this idea and create a story out of it called 1984. This novel is definitely worth the read and deserves to be discussed. First, I will assess the importance of reading this novel. Then, I will compare Orwell's vision of the future to our reality by looking at the government's power, our civil rights, and how technology advancements have affected our freedoms. Although …show more content…
I think that almost everyone can agree that technological advancements have affected our freedoms in both positive and negative ways. It allows us to connect with others and receive information faster while giving the government a way to monitor us, but how does today's technology compare with 1984's? One major piece of equipment introduced in this story is the telescreen. The telescreen is a device that operates as both a television and a monitor, which means that the Oceania government was capable of observing each of its members while controlling what television programs they see. In reality, nearly every person owns at least one television. Unlike telescreens, our TVs cannot be used as surveillance cameras, but some may argue that they can play a role on how we view the world and ourselves. Almost all of media is controlled by six corporations. These corporations have the power to choose which news stories we see and from what aspect we see those stories. Likewise, the executives of these corporations get to decide who we promote in media. The stories and people we see on TV sort of become a part of our ideology and soon we form our opinions and values based on them. For instance, if all we see in the media are slim attractive people, then we are going to begin to believe that in order to be beautiful we, too, must be skinny. My point in all of this is that the television, along with phones, computers, and other technology, affects our beliefs which consequently affects our behaviors. Therefore, if the government ever becomes more powerful and gains more control over media and technology, our world could become more like Orwell's

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