Surveillance In 1984 By George Orwell

George Orwell’s political parable, 1984, portrays an oppressive and dictatorial government, which thereby presents to the reader a palpable sense of danger and malevolence born out of the creation of a counter utopic totalitarian regime. Orwell’s nihilistic creation of Oceania, presents a world wherein every aspect of private and public life is abhorrently regimented and regulated by the autocratic ‘Big Brother’. The whole population at large is forced to conform to the ideals and beliefs of the tyrannical ‘party’ as a means of not only survival but also a means of being able to live an unabated existence. The party opposes all forms of individuality and

There are rules everywhere in this world. When you drive, you must wear your seatbelt. When you go down to the public beach, you cannot swim too far into the ocean. When in a certain country, you have to follow their own rules. These rules are there to control you whether the government wants you to be safe or anything the government wanted. But, have you ever noticed that most of laws, even in different places, are very similar? In the book 1984 by George Orwell, the methods of control used by Big Brother are very like the methods used by chairman Mao Zedong of China. Both governments controlled their citizens through education, through censorship and even through advertisements. The methods of manipulation used by the chairman Mao and Big

Technology is apart of mostly everyone’s life and daily schedule, but often people fail to realize the fact that the government has the ability to monitor everything someone does through these devices. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, a futuristic government spies on their citizens through technology found all throughout their homes. The government used secret microphones, telescreens, and the thought police, a group in charge of finding rebels against the party, in order to monitor what people say and think. There are many examples of this in today’s society: Amazon’s Alexa, Samsung Smart televisions, and social media apps. Amazon’s Alexa and Samsung Smart Televisions are voice recognition systems

The NSA has been proven to be spying on United States citizens without proof of those citizens being labeled as a threat to the United States or anyone. Just like in the book 1984 by George Orwell, the government was spying on their citizens for no reason. There are many similarities between the book 1984 and the NSA. Many individuals either succeeded or tried to show the terrible things that their government was doing. The NSA has been known in the past to protect the United States but since Edward Snowden exposed the NSA the United States citizens put less trust in their government in fear their rights will be taken away.

The juxtaposition of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 with our present day government and social media presence in the United States demonstrates the imminent danger of imposing figures who control both the actions and thoughts of its citizens. Throughout the novel, the narrator depicts Big Brother as a controlling force that takes technology and surveillance of the citizens of Oceania too far. Similarly, in today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with new technology by the government and social media that demands and records our actions as well as our inner thoughts. As Winston navigates his dangerous and dilapidated world, one can uncover parallels between his relationship with Big Brother and our relationship with the government

Paranoia an uncontrollable emotion that refers to the suspicion or perception that one has against a hostile or aggressive figure or horror. It can often lead to the point of delusion or irrationality in the person. This emotion is catastrophic, it takes over people's minds and bodies, making their “true” self disappear. Once the fear is inside of a person it is hard to overcome. 1984, is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell. He writes about what he imagines the year 1984 will be like, based off of his knowledge about war, fear, and totalitarian governments in the 1940s and 50s. George Orwell, has personal experience of innocent people that were haunted by paranoia, and is one of the key reasons he decided to become an author and write this book. Paranoia is a frequent recurring topic in this novel, that many citizens in the city of Oceania experience, most importantly, the main character, Winston. People in Airstrip one are haunted by Big brother and the Party, because of their cruel ways of order. Big Brother is a real life representation of dictators from World War Ⅱ, but mostly portrays qualities like Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union. The party ruled under Big Brother, making policies, claims, and decisions for Oceania. Paranoia always has been an analytical part of governments, and is so influential in 1984. This feeling exhibits the true meaning of fear and the alterations that come along with the power a certain group or figure holds above a

It has been more than seventy years since the release of George Orwell’s 1984, a novel that imparts a lesson on the consequences of government overreach. However, today that novel reads like an exposé of government surveillance. Privacy and national security are two ideas competing for value on a balance; if one is more highly valued, the other carries less weight. Government desire to bolster national security by spying on its own citizens-- even the law abiding ones-- is what leads to the inverse relationship between civil liberties and security. In times of a perceived threat to the nation, national security becomes highly prized and people lose privacy. One case is terrorist attacks. 9/11 caused an understandable kneejerk reaction in Americans to bolster protection. Some of the the measures taken were observable, like greater security at airports, but others attempted to increase national security in a more intrusive way. Privacy should be more highly valued than national security, and America has reached a point where that is no longer true.

Winston Churchill once said, “History is written by the victors.” This means that victors ultimately document history and have jurisdiction over it. They control the past, present, and the future, establishing their accounts of “history”. In 1984 by George Orwell, Oceania and the Party is the victor and have absolute power over history. The totalitarian government authorizes practically everything and manipulates the citizens to the most extreme level. From psychological manipulation to Newspeak to altering historical records by the Ministry of Truth, the Party is the victor, and will use its maximum power to transform even the most rebellious citizens into loyal ones in seek of attaining complete control of the past, present, and future. They attempt to suppress language and communication, sexual desires, rebellion, and memory both physically and mentally by the means of utilizing technology, Party members, propaganda (Big Brother), and altering history. Doing so grants them power and jurisdiction over the people and brings them closer to their perspective of a “perfect” society.

No one likes being overly supervised and watched. Whether it is a teenager with protective parents or an adult in the workplace with an ever-watching boss the feeling of continuously being watched is unnerving. Throughout history the levels of government supervision have fluctuated from lows to extremes but sometimes the future seems to hold even more watchful governments. These were the feelings when George Orwell wrote the novel 1984. George Orwell showed a world without the freedoms that citizens in the United States live with every day. From looking at the text of 1984 it is obvious how scary a world it is, however this would never be possible in the United States, where inhabitants are

society, which is what the totalitarian leadership of Big Brother stated against society in the

Is this the war that we've almost lost or where actually is your privacy today?

As mentioned, in Oceania, citizens lack privacy, have little control over their daily lives, and learn only the information that the Party chooses to tell them. In today’s world everything is in front of an individual’s eye because of technology and the power of media. Media is a great source of information and a way to connect in today’s society. On the other hand, media can always work against people and not be a good source at all. In 1984, the party is in full control of the citizens leading to the fact that they have no privacy what so ever. It is mentioned, “And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth” (18). The party would control the

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.

A world beyond what George Orwell could imagine has been created in modern society through the use of not only government surveillance, but also corporate and consumer spying where users are often unaware of spying.. 1984 is set in a neo-communist society where the government controls production of goods and spies on its citizens in order to maintain power. In the modern era, surveillance takes a different form. Often the methods for spying on citizens in the US do not involve a direct line from the NSA to the citizen’s home, it usually takes a detour through a commercial setting. By partnering with major companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, government surveillance programs are able to collect far more information than could be gained by simply tapping telephone lines. This is more disturbing since many companies including Verizon, AT&T, Apple, and Amazon do not require a warrant to supply information to investigators, and do not notify users of data requests.

In Orwell’s 1984, he displays psychological manipulation through Oceania’s government which it uses to control its citizens. This includes the use of propaganda, control of content, and ethnocentrism. The Party’s methods of control relates to real life events repeated in history such as the Nazi Regime from 1933 to 1945 headed by Adolf Hitler and common patterns in cultural history.