1984 vs Today

871 Words2 Pages

1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.
The 1984 community provided many ways to surveill its citizens, one being The Thought Police The Thought Police were undercover operatives who hid amongst everyday citizens, and could be found at any given time or place, to monitor people for thoughtcrimes against the party. The problem with this was the fact that “A few among of the Thought Police moved always among them, spreading false rumors and marking down and eliminating the few individuals who were judged capable of being dangerous” (Orwell 62). The people of Oceania knew that Thought Police were always around, but could never know which certain individual or individuals were actually one of them. This caused them to be suspicious of everyone and focus on not committing any violations. Along with telescreens, “You had to live - did live from habitat that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (Orwell 6). Although not every single citizen can be watched at every moment, they never know exactly when they are being watched. Therefore causing most of them to always follow the rules especially when every...

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...illing to sacrifice our freedoms just because were too lazy to make ourselves aware, and too submissive to take a stand. If we continue this we could end up with the same amount of freedom and privacy as all the citizens from 1984.

Works Cited

Brown, Michael. "IP Cameras Keep Watch." PC World 30.10 (2012): 42. MAS Ultra -
School Edition. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

Calamur, Krishnadev. "5 Things To Know About The NSA's Surveillance Activities." NPR.
NPR, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013

Dwyer, Jim. "Undercover Police, Just About Everywhere." Undercover Police, Just
About Everywhere. Nytimes.com, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.

Gorman, Siobhan, and Jennifer Valentino-Deveries. "New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance
Reach." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

Orwell, George. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Published by Signet Classic, 1977. Print.

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