How Is 1984 Relevant Today

Today’s society is predicted as living in a world George Orwell envisioned in 1984. The system Orwell invented is compared to what the United States government is capable of doing. Government control of society is an essential subject due to the current mind set of the world today. In 1984, George Orwell represents how Big Brother is compared to today’s government, showing the consequences and dangers of a government with unlimited surveillance power.

Thirty-three years ago, the terrifying vision that novelist George Orwell dreamt of in 1949 never became the reality he foretold it would within the preceding ten decades or so. The year 1984 was presumed to plummet society into utter chaos, becoming a global dystopia in which everyone lived under the regulation and the dominance of one of three totalitarian superstates. Orwell poured out his predictions into the pages of his book, 1984, creating the fictional universe of Oceania in which the lives of Winston Smith and the other characters living in the superstate give the expression of being genuinely real, especially due to author’s the use of various literary devices. For instance, motifs such as the linguistic concept of Newspeak and the majority of society’s convergence of feelings towards the Party and Big Brother appear multiple times throughout the novel. At the hand of such persisting ideas, a major theme stands out - the lack of self-expression. Living under an authoritarian and oppressive government, party members such as Winston are compelled to pursue the socialist policies of Ingsoc. In the book it is written that, “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of dependent thought” (Orwell 193). If the general populace of Oceania were to submit the Party, self-expression would be entirely eliminated because everyone and everything would be censored. With such motives made clear,

Thought Police could be anyone, they can follow someone for months and arrest them without trial. They drive people to think dramatically, as in the case when Winston believes he is being followed by Julia. “He could keep on her track until till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a piece of cobblestone” (Orwell 101). This quote represents Winston’s fear of Julia, who he suspects is a member of the Thought Police. On the other hand, the seemingly overactive thought process of a suspect may seem completely justified in relation to the punishment they will receive if arrested. After being tortured for days or even weeks, a criminal may find themselves in the desolate “Room 101”. Simply the mention of Room 101 is enough to strike fear in the heart of any criminal, but being summoned to it is enough to make a man sacrifice his family to avoid his fate. “‘Do anything to me!’ he yelled. ‘You 've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years. Is there somebody else you want me to give away?’” (Orwell 237). Room 101 is individually tailored to every person who crosses its threshold, using their greatest fear against them. In Winston’s case, he has a cage of rats placed on his head and is forced to betray Julia. He loses his ability to love and retain his own ideas, key aspects of what makes him a human. Not only do the

The novel depicting a negative utopia, 1984, was written in relation to the events happening in the year 1948. The Second World War and the Holocaust were major events that this audience could relate to 1984. While readers of the novel today feel that it holds little relevance to the world in the 21st century, it contains many elements that compare to 2015. 1984 shows relevance today in 2015 through the telescreens, the news, and by the rationing systems. Although 1984 had a lot of relations to the year 1948, it still has a large impact on events happening in today’s world.

The 1984 community provided many ways to surveill its citizens, one being The Thought Police The Thought Police were undercover operatives who hid

No one can be trusted in fear that they might report to the Thought Police. This held true for families as well. Children are sometimes known to turn in their own parents to the thought police for such simple things as hoarding spices for food. One has to watch his or her facial expressions at all times, because "the smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself - anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide." (Orwell, p.65) Those who think for themselves are arrested by the Thought Police and sent to the Ministry of Love, where they are re-educated or killed. Sometimes both.

“1984” is an imaginary novel wrote by George Orwell in 1949. The novel takes place in a fictional country called Oceania. In 1984, the society is a mess in the control of the “big brother”, people are leveled by three three classes: the upper class party, the middle outer class party, and the lower class proles. But the lower class make up 85 per cent of the people in Oceania. Winston is a outer class party member working for the “big brother”. This novel uses Winston as an example to show how the “big brother” takes the control by mind, manipulation and technology.

Over seventy years after he lived and wrote, the works of English journalist and democratic socialist George Orwell, continue to fascinate, stimulate and enrage his readers concerning the structure of society and the organization of government. The controversial writer openly spoke out against the absolute power of any government, warning that a fascist government would deprive its people of their basic freedoms and liberties. Orwell’s novel, 1984, serves as a reminder of the danger of totalitarianism by depicting a future in which all citizens live under the constant surveillance of the “Big Brother.” Through the main character, Winston Smith, Orwell demonstrates the dangers of totalitarianism; writing of the consequences of absolute government in several essays and proposing socialism as an alternative. To Orwell, the role of government is to represent the common people rather than the old and the privileged.

Winston Smith is a typical example of vertebrae in the spine of any society. Hard working and keeps a rigid structure by absorbing impact, filling the spaces with his unknown desires. The bending of laws to avoid self-destruction in constant pressure from society and government. The idea of having every thought controlled, monitored and limited to what the elite deem as a necessary compromise to maintain peace and order in Oceania or any other Utopia in a general sense. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of their own choosing, to understand the concept is the true hell for Winston.

Imagine a world where the government, also called The Party, controls everything the citizens do. The Party monitors their every move by the telescreens that are in every home. Thoughtcrime is the act of thinking something that goes against Big Brother or threatens the Party’s power. If one does commit thoughtcrime, then they Thought Police will capture them and give them consequence. There is no essence of humanity in this world. Everyone is stripped of their own thoughts and told what to do and what to believe. This is the world portrayed in novel

The society of “1984” is a reminder to show us that the future may look like this, if nothing is being done to prevent it or change it. Also “1984” is portraying the possible effect and what the world may seem like in the future, if the government has absolute power and control of the people. Orwell needed to grab the attention of the audience, so therefore he distorted the world that we live in and shaped it into the world of “1984”. The encounter of the government is uncommon to be seen. We, the people of America, take the rights that are given to every citizen for granted. We take everything for granted until a change of where the wind blows and that is when we begin to realize the privileges that we are blessed with. Nonetheless, Orwell presents the use of distortion in order to portray to the people the consequences of a government that is constantly bird-watching the citizens and ensuring that they are enforcing absolute loyalty to the power and control over the entire society. Because The Party, is obsessed with absolute power

The novel 1984 Orwell is warning us against communism. He uses many ways to get the warning across. Orwell created this world where no one is their own individual. A communist nation would never really work. Countries have tried it but it turns out to be a dictatorship. Humans can not live in a nation where everyone is completely equal; it just doesn't work. Orwell illustrates that communism destroys individuality and humanity.

Imagine living in a world where you could not make your own choices, or be your own person. In the novel 1984, this is exactly what happened. In a place called Oceania where there is no such thing as privacy and personal freedom (Roelofs), the main character Winston Smith, is living a strict life under the demanding party known as Big Brother. Winston decides that he wants his life back to normal and tries to rebel against the Party. Meanwhile, he is thought to be a lunatic because he is living his life how a normal person would, but everyone else is now living under what is thought to be a utopia society. Throughout the book Winston strongly disagrees with the fact that every second he is being keep under surveillance. Though at some points he believes he is being discrete, in reality someone is always watching. In 1984, George Orwell depicts the lack of privacy and loss of individualism which affects the characters and the society as a whole.

“It is often said that literature is a voice for social commentary. How is this true of the novel 1984”?

The novel 1984 is a futuristic totalitarian society where everyone is kept under close surveillance and is forced to follow all rules and laws of the state. The novel 1984 was written by George Orwell and published in 1950. The main characters were Big Brother, Winston Smith, Julia, O’Brien, Syme and Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston Smith is a low man on the totem pole when it came to the ruling Party in London, Oceania. His every move is watched by the Party through devices called telescreens. Posted everywhere around the city is the face of their leader, “Big Brother” informing them that he is always watching. He works in the “Ministry of Truth” which is ironic seeing that they alter history to fit the liking of the Party. As this book continues Winston challenged the laws and skirts around the fact that he is always being watched. His shocking and rebellious act is “falling in love.” Throughout this novel George Orwell utilizes symbolism to further enhance the totalitarian features of the society. In many ways these symbols represent the things that this society hasn’t experienced and doesn’t understand.