How Technology is Used for Evil in George Orwell’s 1984

From telephones and computers to digital cameras and GPS systems, it is clear that the expansion of technology has developed rapidly throughout the years. Every year there seems to be new and appealing innovations taking over the market. Whether it is a new camera model or a cell phone that fits in the palm of your hand, we notice how much technology can advance in only a couple of years - sometimes even months. It has always been a question if perhaps these new forms of technology are rotting our brains and making us become more dependent on them; it is hard to think where technology will take us years from now. At times, especially with the modern generation, it seems like people do not use technology for its potential for moral goodness; instead, it is being used to destroy. In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, this abuse of technology is illustrated by the Party’s use of its power to control and manipulate the citizens of Oceania.

In essence, technology would be nothing without humans. We create and make any possible advancements in the industry of technology. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Party uses both technology and humans to control the information relayed to the citizens of Oceania. The Party forbids individuals to keep old belongings that may relate to their past or the past of the society.

This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs — to every kind of literature or documentation which might

conceivably hold any political or ideological significance (Orwell 42).

This rule helps control the people to not look back at previous situations and blame the Party for any...

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...ility to watch over each and every citizen is a clear indication that the Party takes full advantage of the technology they have. Instead of using technology for moral good, it is used for evil. The potential for charitable things that could be done with the technology they have is endless. However, the Party’s strong desire for power and lust for control clouds their judgment and poisons their rule.

As technology advances, humans find new ways to use and take advantage of what is being offered. Through the use of technology one can help create and achieve almost everything. In addition Orwell uses technology as a way for the Party to gain full control of the citizens. Through the sense of physical, psychological manipulation and the control of history, George Orwell shows how technology helps the party control the citizens in order to receive power and authority.