1984 Telescreen

In 1984 George Orwell uses many symbolic objects such as the paperweight, the prole's, big brother, and telescreens to assist the readers in a deeper understanding of the book and its purpose. When Winston Smith, the main character, purchases the glass paperweight he represents the struggle in

Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a superb novel with outstanding themes. One of the most prominent themes found in this novel is psychological manipulation. Citizens in this society are subject to ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). Along with psychological manipulation, physical control takes place. The Party not only controls what people in Oceania think, but what they do as well. Technology is another important theme. Without the constant telescreens, microphones, and computers, the Party would be all but powerless. Big Brother is the main figure of the Party. The main symbol that drives these themes is the telescreens. It is representative of the party always watching and controlling

In 1984 the political manipulation of technology oppresses the people of Oceania and leads to the downfall of individuality and of the qualities that define humanity. Telescreens and the Internet are used not for entertainment purposes but to monitor people’s lives.

"War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." 1984 is a novel used as a warning to show what would happen to citizens if governments gained too much power. The Party uses different techniques to control every facet of life of the its citizens, or slaves. The citizens are much too afraid to revolt against the tyrannical government, because of the constant eye of the Party. The telescreens are used by the Party to instill fear into the citizens of Oceania.

By using the telescreen, a surveillance device located in the homes of all Party members, the Thought Police are able to keep everyone under scrutiny. Winston says, “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). This quotation shows how the intense observation efforts stifle the actions and thoughts of the people in Oceania. An essential component of being human is the ability to communicate freely. Communication has fostered developments in mathematics, literature, science, and every field of learning. The Party deprives their citizens of the human spirit of education by preventing uninhibited conversation. Stephen Ingle’s essay from The Abuse of Power in 1984 reads, “This lack of distinction between a private and public realm is precisely what gives life in Oceania its nightmare quality. Nobody has the recourse to a private world in which he or she may regain self esteem or attempt to control even the smallest part of their destiny: there is no escape from Big Brother” (_______, ____). This excerpt reveals that constant surveillance removes a portion of humanity. Humans need to have havens of refuge where they can lower their defenses against the outside world and have the safety to think and act as they wish. Of course there is the

In the novel 1984, George Orwell uses symbolism as a way to help develop plot parts. Throughout the novel various symbols recur which play major parts in developing themes. The glass paperweight, victory gin and Julia’s scarlet sash are all important symbols found in the novel.

Orwell describes, “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made above the level of a very low whisper would be picked up by it” (Orwell, 4). The telescreens are used as a form of surveillance, to ensure everyone's devotion to Big Brother.

Besides, in Huber’s article “Technologies If Freedom”, he writes about how the telescreens give power to the Oceania’s government so that they can control their society. Those telescreens makes Oceania’s government know what people do and say everyday and anytime. Still, in Gillett’s article “A psychologist explains 3 ways power messes with your head”, she explains why power would bother people’s

The inner party also exercises physical control with forcing citizens to watch broadcasts and to do specific tasks. Citizens are forced to participate in workout sessions that are podcast over the telescreens. The society has to involuntarily watch all the news about government and war and they project on the telescreens. The profound machinery obtained can also do as little as monitor one’s heart. During a television viewing, Winston described how the struggle of acting normal was an occurrence with no breaks. He explained that, “To keep your face expressionless was not difficult, and even your breathing could be controlled, with an effort: but you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up” (79). With this description, we are able to cohere that the Outer Party members had to become extremely talented at not only external appearance, but internal reaction. One blunder to how the Big Brother sought to have the people act with the government, and there would be painful torture. With this kind of technology, Oceania is able to watch every single second of all their citizens’ lives. Another way they take advantage of their radical machinery is the Inner Party’s service of police. Because of the Thought Police, the smallest things could give a commoner away. These things included habits like “a nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to

In 1984, Orwell makes excellent use of symbolism to further enhance the novel's theme and to reveal character. He wrote 1984 as a political message to warn future generations about the dangers of totalitarian societies. He relays this message through various themes and characters, in turn utilizes powerful symbols to give them further significance. His symbolism is very vast but it can be classified into three categories: characters, places and objects.

In Oceania the government uses multiple systems to perform surveillance on the citizens. One of the big systems used by the government are telescreens, and it could be used in multiple ways. The telescreen could see people through the screen as well as pick up and record any sound made by someone near it, and there is now way of knowing if it is recording (Orwell 3). This closely resemble the stingrays used by police that could be used at any time and there is now way for the Americans to know that it is being used. The posters of Big Brother can be related to NSA’s data collection.

In today's society the idea of watching a film about a specific group of people and trying to brainwash the people by the government would have a lot of people outraged and demand for our freedom from the government, but in the book 1984 that's exactly what the government is doing so everyone is against Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers. The people of Oceania express all the hate they have in a 2 minute film. The government uses there own way of techniques to try to brainwash the mass and the people who most really use reasoning or can't think on their own. The government also has there own way of making people stay quiet and not rebel like hiring thought police. Thought police are basicly cops undercover trying to go around and listen

Another aspect of Orwell's prophetic novel is the thought of technology. During the time that Orwell wrote 1984, the radio was more comment than the television and computers had not even been considered. Nonetheless, Orwell found a way to include these things in his story. The tele-screen could be related to the modern TV. Also, in the book, the control of machinery and sources of information are controlled by computers. Orwell uses technology in this book to

George Orwell’s novel 1984 introduces the complications of a totalitarian government through his use of symbolism in order to provide a deeper meaning to his readers. Symbolism is first presented in the novel through the imaginary character Big Brother. The citizens in Oceania are not allowed to believe in a religion, so “Big Brother… provides [as] a substitute for organized religion” (Celona 3). This example proves how Big Brother symbolizes as someone or something the party can worship in the place of an existent religion. Symbolism is also displayed through Orwell’s use of the glass paperweight that Winston had purchased from Mr. Charington. The glass paperweight in Winston’s hideaway “represents the past” and exactly how “the party has abolished beauty for its own sake” (Celona 4). This indication illustrates exactly how the party has destroyed everything beautiful and how something as

The Party naturalizes the dominance that it has in the way that it constantly conducts surveillance on its members. Through the use of devices called telescreens, the government is able to observe every movement and sound made in the homes of members, on the streets of Oceania, and in the workplace. These telescreens act as modern day webcams and make the government privy to all things going on in the city. The footage transmitted from these screens is monitored by the Thought Police, and it is this government body that determines whether or not one is guilty of a crime. Since the members of the Party are so accustomed to being constantly