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1984 : A Dystopian Novel By George Orwell

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Riley Shrode
Ms. Poarch
Honors English 12
11 December 2017

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1984 is a dystopian novel by George Orwell that shows an overreaching government and its use of technology to control citizens. It is perfectly normal to be wary of the expanding use of technology and not be painted as a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist, and 1984 shows that. In both 1984, by George Orwell, and the United States Government, surveillance techniques are used to monitor citizen’s movements, conversations, website, and phone data.
In 1984, the government, INGSOC, uses telescreens to invade the privacy of citizens, as they listen in on private conversations in the household and watch all the time. INGSOC can use the telescreens to watch and listen to anyone at any time. “You had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.” (Orwell 3). The Government plants telescreens, the device described in the quote above, in every house and in public places. This invasion of privacy is the government’s way of suppressing rebellion. This way literally no action can be hidden from INGSOC. People, including Winston and Julia, can be arrested solely based on what the telescreen heard. Even when there are no telescreens, INGSOC plants microphones randomly to overhear conversations. “ There were no telescreens, of course, but there was always the danger of concealed microphones by which your

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