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How would you deal with the constant thought that you are always being observed and judged for every movement you make and every thought you have? Would the destruction of your privacy be too much to handle? Nobody deserves to live with no private thought or action. In 1984, by George Orwell, every movement that people make in this society is the exactly what the government wants so nobody is an individual. The government produces a bunch of perfect clones to live under its rule. They are always watching their citizens and using advanced technology to keep them in line. The fear the government strikes inside every person in Oceania is almost enough alone to control them. The methods of which the government uses to control its citizens …show more content…
Big Brother is the great, overarching power that controls citizens in this society. The pure thought of Big Brother is enough to scare most people away from doing anything against the government. “The phrase ‘Big Brother is Watching You’ can be interpreted as either protective or menacing, but it is clear that personal freedom of action and thought is not allowed” (Hacht). Big Brother is always watching every citizen and cannot be stopped. They are forced to live their lives in a constant state of fear. When many people live too paranoid to speak out, some attempt to think against the government. The problem with thinking against the government is that they can monitor people’s thoughts with the thought police. There are even children who are designated spies to catch thought criminals. Parsons says, “Thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing, old man. It’s insidious. It can get a hold of you without your even knowing it. Do you know how it got hold of me? In my sleep!” (Orwell 233). Parsons explains to Winston how terrible his thought-crime was. This society is so oppressive that it watches and listens to its citizens when they sleep to see if they talk against the party. The oppression is overwhelming, yet Parsons completely agrees that he is guilty. By victimizing people who are not even consciously going against the party, they consequently prove that their method of surveillance is extremely efficient in organizing and restraining its citizens. These methods of control are extreme ways to suppress the citizens of Oceania and take their right to
The government changes the way that reality looks like by altering the past, use of pure power and propaganda. People really think that the government is there to help them from their enemies, they get happy with the increasing food rations announcement and really think the Big Brother exist. Therefore, the citizens of Oceania, especially the proles prevent rebellion against the party because they admit that they have an ideal society. The winners in this type of society, are all the members of the inner party and higher ranks members whom steal away the rights of living from the lower class in order to create a lavish lifestyle for
Deception and a blatant contradiction of facts in the spirit of impunity form the foundation of the construct of modern dictatorship and draconian governance. Leaders with this attitude treat the public office and nation as personal property and deploy the state resources at their disposal for selfish use. Their behavior takes the form of frivolous “surveillances, monitoring, and other control structures founded on lies and ambiguities” (Dean and Orwell 23). The same scenario is exactly what happens at Oceania. The nation is governed by the party headed by the big brother (“Gordon State College” n.p.).
It is clear that the government of Oceania in 1984 is self-serving, existing not to benefit its citizens or the elite Party members, but existing purely to exist and grow. Perhaps the most clear indication of this was O’Brien explaining the Party’s motives while torturing Winston. O’Brien explains that “the Party seeks power only for its own sake” and that “the object of power is power.” (185) This clearly indicates that the government of Oceania, a totalitarian state, seeks power not to improve the lives of citizens, but for power
Orwell explores the social impact of government through the means of Big Brother and how it affects social conformity. Big Brother is a character presented in the novel which exercises restriction and maximum control of the mass. Winston writes, “Down with the Big Brother” (Orwell 19). From the beginning of the novel, readers see Winston’s extreme disgust with the government.
The constant eye of Big Brother invades the privacy of its members. The inevitable, looming screens at every turn, in every room, serve as a reminder that every move one makes is watched. Then when it is least expected, the voice behind the screen singles out a person and screams at them; the results lead to jumpiness and high levels of stress. A study shows that being watched “can change your behaviour and choices without you realising it.” (Goldman, “How Being Watched Changes You- Without You Knowing) insomuch, the telescreens work as a deterrent against breaking the rules. Everyone is far less likely to commit crimes since subconsciously they know that Big Brother is observant and they will have very little success in escaping should they be found guilty. This guarantees that the people will be wary of their speech, behaviour and facial expressions at all times. In fact the telescreens cannot be turned off, save for some special privileges given to the Inner Party which, turn into the catalysts for arrests for nothing but supposed delusions against the government. Taking away the privacy, makes the members feel vulnerable and therefore, easier to mold to Party
It is not an easy feat to control an entire population such as Oceania. They must monitor their people through the use of telescreens, microphones, and cameras 24 hours, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, to prevent the spread of “false” information, that is not part of the party’s strategy. Not only do they monitor their people, they control the media, control their emotions, control their feelings, and they instil fear into the people; who do not conform to the Party’s beliefs. The people of Oceania believe that they will be taken, tortured, and/or vaporized by
Rebellion, protests and freedom is a thing of the present day and to a certain extent is a given right, but what would society be like without control of the people and with a Gruesome leader such as Big Brother? In 1984 by George Orwell, Big Brother cuts of all sense of privacy and puts in secret police in their lives to keep control of order and construction in Oceania. False memories influence the way of life and creates three kinds of people, those who believe and honor Big Brother himself, those who go on with life day by day doing what their told and people like Winston and Julia who want freedom and happiness.
During Winston’s interrogation, the narrator says, “He confessed that he had murdered his wife, although he knew, and his questioners must have known, that his wife was still alive” (Orwell 242). The telescreen is always watching Winston, which gives them the ability to know what he has and has not done. This not only infringes on his right to privacy, but it also shows how they illegally detained and obtained a false confession from Winston despite knowing that he did not kill his wife. The dismissal of the telescreen surveillance proves that the government’s control of security gives them the capability of taking away citizens rights. When Winston commits thoughtcrime in Mr.Charrington’s store by reading a book by The Party’s enemy, Goldstein, he is arrested because Mr. Charrington caught him doing so by secretly putting a telescreen in the room without Winston’s knowledge (Orwell 221-224).
Telescreens are used everywhere in Oceania to monitor the behavior and conversation of everyone in the Outer Party. The idea of always being watched invokes fear in everyone to always act the way Big Brother wants you too and to not speak ill of the Party behind closed doors. Another form of surveillance is children. Children are used to spy on their parents to ensure complete loyalty to the Party at all times. The creation of the Junior Spy League encourages children to turn in their parents to the ThoughtPolice if they notice any signs of rebellion.
These Youth camps were designed to make soldiers that were ready to risk their lives for Big Brother; a symbolic figurehead that they will never meet. Thought Police is a group of people from the country Oceania. They are the secret police that work for Big Brother and use telescreens, microphones, informers to search for citizens who would commit thoughtcrime. All letters sent by mail are inspected and checked by the mail service. There is no such thing as private mail.
In 1984, thought police existed so that no formation of rebellion or no questioning of the inner party would occur. If the thought police had suspension or had hard evidence of thought crime, those involved in the crime would meet death. Here Winston fully acknowledges how dangerous thought crime is,"He was already dead, he reflected. It seemed to him that it was only now, when he had begun to be able to formulate his thoughts, that he had taken the decisive step. The consequences of every act are included in the act itself.
The government makes it known that if people commit thoughtcrime they will be vaporized. In the world where Oceania lies, it is impossible to be one’s own self, to express thought, and to have privacy which proves why the citizens are living in a
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 being 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 conditions seem 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.
For Big Brother to stay in control there cannot be individual identity. The ‘Party’ strives to strip away people's identities to have power over a group of emotionless individuals. Big Brother believes that the past must be controlled in order to regulate the present. Since Big Brother “is in control of the present” ( 20 ), they decide how everyone lives their everyday lives. The reason why the Party breaks links between the past from the present is clear. Therefore, citizens will fail to remember their individual identities from the past, and way of life was far better than is it now. “Oceania” lacks diversity, all their citizens are thought to be like emotionless robots. They all live in the same style apartment buildings, wear plain clothes, and eat stale food, everyone has to be uniform. This uniformity causes their citizens to act how they are told to which is the reason for their uniqueness and lack of personal identity. All over Oceania are posters reminding their citizens “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING [THEM]” ( ). This is the ‘Party's’ way of telling citizens there is never a time they can be alone or be by themselves. They always have to act in accordance to how the party expects them to. To make sure of this, the government is constantly monitoring their citizen via ‘telescreens’ that are found in every room. Big Brothers obsession of complete control leads to the destruction of individual's
In the novel 1984 by Orwell, an extremely controlling totalitarian government called The Party, rules the society. They have introduced Telescreens which monitor your every movement, conversations and any other action. The citizens of Oceania, located on Air Strip One, are psychologically manipulated to believe in the three main slogans of the party: ‘War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength’ (1948, Orwell). The citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed that they don’t question anything the party tells them or any new law they make. Thought crime occurs when someone does not fully agree and follow what the Party has said. People who commit crimes become unpersons; therefore, they stop existing, and any record of their existence is erased or they can be sent to the ministry of truth, where The Party will try to break them, and force them to love Big Brother. This is very relevant because in order to serve justice which according to them is having everyone love the Party and nothing else, everyone else must be eliminated or brainwashed. The use of technology in this novel is very important because it is the main way in which justice is carried out. Telescreens, microphones and cameras cover the whole nation. Every conversation is recorded and every action is taken note of. The government will make anything to keep their power.