Is Big Brother Watching You? George Orwell's 1984

1137 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How is censorship impacting society today

Is Big Brother watching you? Who is to say for sure and to what extent; although in present day, the potential existence of Big Brother, as showed in George Orwell's 1984, brings across a truly unforgettable and thought provoking moral and mystery puzzle. In today's society, citizens around the world struggle to understand and come to terms with the reality of 1984's real-world effects. Overall, I believe that the idea of government officials monitoring its citizens' movements and conversations without probable cause frightens people the most; it is certainly what concerns me. While I do worry about how we are being monitored; I am more concerned with the idea of being examined at all. This concern is understandable considering that the United States of America is probably the most "free" country in the world, but with the coming of the technology boom, combined with acts of terrorism on domestic soil, as so many people are asking today, is the possibility of Big Brother's invasion present in today's society? Just how far does "his" reach extend? The thinking that this country was founded upon; life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, are slowly being taken back, though mostly with no obvious notification to our country's citizens. Is the United States government being truthful regarding privacy issues? If we suspect an invasion of our privacy, would it seem logical that this invasion reaches far beyond our suspicions? These thoughts definitely fuel the fire in the guess that is arising regarding our society's change into 1984. In 1982, Paul Haack published the article, "Is Big Brother watching you?" The reason for doing or saying something of the report focuses on the potential for a 1984 world to become a reality. Can t... ... middle of paper ... ...ernment's invasion and bad mistreatment. Additionally, all thoughts of fighting against authority were stopped/quieted through any means necessary. Torture and mind control were far from "extreme" in that world. Personally, I refuse to allow my privacy to be invaded in this manner. My family chooses to live in the United States because it is a "free" country. Unfortunately, the ideal having to do with the 'blanket of freedom' that we have lived under is slowly becoming unrelated/unimportant due to both the government's as well as corporate America's rule over its citizens. As time passes, laws conveniently become ignored or have been quietly changed without notification to America's citizens. The lines between privacy and protection become more blurred. At this point, the real question remains, how much of our privacy are we willing to give things up for our freedom?

Show More
Related

  • Takeover of Technology in 1984 by George Orewell

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a world filled with technology we must ask ourselves, is technology taking us closer to the world of Big Brother? In the novel 1984 by George Orewell, Orwell has generated this unbelievable world in which no one would ever think to be possible, but then again pondering upon it our worlds are quite similar, it is slightly alarming. It was not noticed till recently that perhaps our technology is pulling us closer to the world of Big Brother. The technology used in the novel 1984 are correlated to the technology we use currently.

    Read More

  • Americans Are Now Living In a Society That Rivals Orwell's 1984

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    Today it is possible for the government to monitor anything and everything we do or say, and even to track the places we go. In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith lives in the dystopian society called Oceana. This book was written by George Orwell, and thus gave way to the term an Orwellian society (a society that can be compared to the societies of both 1984 and "Animal Farm"). This society is usually the result of an attempt to become a utopia which ultimately has gone terribly wrong. With the advancement of modern technology, America is being turned into an Orwellian society. While the technology we have is more advanced than what was seen in 1984, it can be reasoned that the services and devices, not present in 1984, would be heavily monitored (like they are today) or nonexistent due to the furthering of rules and regulations in comparison to what we use today. One of the first questions rising from this idea is "What aspects make America an Orwellian society?" In my research I have condensed the answer into three different groups: cellphones/tablets concerning the NSA and IPhone tracking, computer tracking/ history, and fourteen new devices or policies being used or preparing to be being used among public. If America continues on the path that it is currently on, our current conception of the idea of privacy will be obliterated. All of the concerns can be directly linked to actual events in 1984, and almost all are also occurring directly under the noses of the American people. (George Orwell)

    Read More

  • Big Brother in George Orwell's Novel 1984 and All Around Us

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Oxford Dictionary, Big Brother is “A person or organization exercising total control over people's lives.” Not only is Big Brother featured in George Orwell's 1984 novel, the concept of a “Big Brother” is also seen everywhere around us in our everyday lives. Our modern-day form of Big Brother is our own government and the way it keeps surveillance over us. The way the United States and many other modern-day countries govern these days, with all their new advanced technology, we citizens are never truly alone. Our every move is constantly being watched.

    Read More

  • Big Brother Misuse Of Power In 1984 By George Orwell

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1984 Big Brother and Modern totalitarian uses power to pose threat to people’s freedom because it diminishes the control an individual has over information in

    Read More

  • Technology and Society in 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Ender's Game, and America in 2004

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    We face the same conflict today, almost fifty years later. Our government uses all kinds of surveillance to keep track of its citizens, from satellites in space to cameras mounted on telephone poles. Although it's highly unlikely that total privacy has been taken from us, the concept is possible. When Orwell wrote 1984, he wrote of a foreign idea, not realizing that we are experiencing excerpts of his book in 1999. It's almost sad, in a way, that our government has taken a piece of one man's imagination and applied it to everyday life. Who's Big Brother now?

    Read More

  • Constitutional Law and its Contemporary Challenges: Speech, Search and Warrants

    2532 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...merican soil, the question remains as to how much privacy Americans really possess. Yes, security in the person and home is still at the discretion of law enforcement, but how far will the government reach in what seems to be an elaborate effort to gain total control over what the Constitution defines as a free society? This, and many other questions remain unanswered today, but it must be remembered that this is a government of, for, and by the people, not a dictatorship that it has come to be in today’s world.

    Read More

  • The Fear Of Conformity In George Orwell's Big Brother

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Your home alone in your bed, the T.V. playing in the background and sleep has its grip on you. As you feel your eyes start to fall something else has its eyes on you, Big Brother. For the people in 1984 this is how every night ends, and every day begins. You would think being watched everyday would drive one mad but not for this society. They have all been conditioned to think this is a normal way of life, and to question is as bad as thought itself. To grow up and always have eyes watching your every move, ears listening to your every word, and unknown figures lurking in the night. Ready at a moments notice to erase your very existence if you dare question the nature of your reality not brought to you by Big Brother himself. All of this surveillance

    Read More

  • We Cannot Permit Infringements on Privacy

    3921 Words  | 8 Pages

    George Orwell foresees a nightmarish-future for the world in his book 1984, where individualism loses precedence to "the good of society," and with it goes the individual's private life. "The [controlling] Party" in the socialist government knows the intimate details of all citizens, and prosecutes those who violate social orders through threatening speech, behavior or thoughts. The omnipresent visual warning "Big Brother is Watching You,” reminds citizens that no personal information is safe from the "Thought Police." While this may seem far-fetched to some, Orwell envisioned technology facilitating government's abuse of power in 1950; in the twenty-first century, progress has left one's private life susceptible to interested parties in both the public and private sectors. In 1997, Ralph Nader cautioned, "The people are not organized not equipped with the knowledge, tools or skills to confront the invasions of the self they can see, let alone the far greater, more subterranean kinds of surveillance" (viii). With the rise of computers to their current capabilities, collecting, storing, accessing and sharing personal data has become easier than ever before: governments and companies no longer keep files of paper records on individuals, which accessing, stealing or sharing would be too arduous a task, but rather electronic databases that they can easily create, access and link. Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy note in their book The Right to Privacy, "From a privacy point of view, we are in the midst of the most unsettling period in [the computer] revolution" (326). Computers do not threaten personal privacy, though, nor violate any right granted to Americans: the word 'privacy' does not appear in the Constitution, nor does the p...

    Read More

  • Freedom And Security In George Orwell's 1984

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    George Orwell’s Famous book 1984 is about a man who struggles to live under the superintendence of Big Brother. Throughout the novel, Winston struggles with constantly being surveilled and the lack of freedom. Similarly, in our world today, there are government agencies that have the power to listen to phone calls, track people's movements, and watch them through cameras. Winston’s world of surveillance and inadequate confidentiality both privately and publicly is in many aspects much the same as in our world today and the people should demand regulations to be set in place to protect their privacy.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Big Brother Control In The Book 1984

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine living under a complete totalitarianism government, where everything is controlled by the government, all political, social and economic activities. The movements by the people in the society will be monitored by telescreens, people who have thoughts against or who are speaking out against the party or government will be prosecuted by the thought police. In George Orwell’s book 1984, the party has multiple methods of how to control the people using big brother to create fear, the telescreens to watch the movement of the people in the society and lastly the thought police to prosecute anyone who is against/speaking out against Big brother and the party. In the book 1984, the author uses the futuristic setting to craft the theme that

    Read More

  • Government Control and Privacy Issues in 1984 by George Orwell

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today’s modern world may not be exactly like 1984, but there are some issues that are very similar to it. Some of the biggest issues that is becoming compromised today is the issue of privacy, which in the book 1984 was something that the people did not have much of because of things like telescreens. Not only is our privacy compromised but the government is also being too controlling. Ways today’s privacy is being compromised are through things like game consoles, phones, social media, and drones and not only is our being compromised through these things but the government is also gaining too much control by compromising our privacy.

    Read More

  • George Orwell's 1984 and Today

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.

    Read More

  • In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    Taylor, James Stacey. "In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance." Public Affairs Quarterly July 2005: 227-246.

    Read More

  • 1984 vs Today

    871 Words  | 2 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.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Fear In George Orwell's Big Brother

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    What drives fear in people? Maybe it’s a depraved person, death, heights, or the spider on the wall. Either way, everyone is afraid of something. In the book 1984 by George Orwell, the characters fear someone whom they don’t know the existence of called Big Brother. He is the symbol of fear, torture, and persecution in the eyes of the citizens of Oceania. In the following paragraphs, Big Brother’s impact of fear on people’s lives will be discussed. Also, a great leader of Germany by the name of Adolf Hitler will also be gone over.

    Read More

More about Is Big Brother Watching You? George Orwell's 1984

Open Document