Essay about The Means of Having Power

Everyone has always wondered if people were ever watching them. Our technology today is capable to eavesdrop in on anyone’s conversations even if their phones are turned off. In the novel, “1984”, the party INGSOC uses telescreens to watch over the people and always know what they are up to. This denies the people’s rights and privileges to go about their business as they please. The technology we have today is almost exact to what big brother uses in George Orwell’s novel by taking over the public and private parts of our lives.

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

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”(Orwell 2), is a saying that surrounds society in the classic novel 1984. The author, George Orwell provides his audience with an abundant amount of themes throughout his writing. One very prominent one is Orwell’s psychological manipulation of his characters. As characters within this society are constantly surrounded by sayings such as, “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”, and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”(Orwell 4), Orwell shows the ultimate type of control within his characters. Orwell is able to achieve such psychological manipulation in his characters through physical control and the abundance of technology. Without Orwell’s use of telescreens, his characters would be able to have their

In the book, Orwell shows how people are affected by the telescreens when Winston says “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen.” (Orwell ) This suggests that the Party’s surveillance tactics are so advanced that even your thoughts might betray you and get you into trouble. It also shows that people have lost any sense of freedom that they previously had. The implications of this are that the government is forcefully manipulating the people so as to avoid any rebellious behavior but in the process, it has also taken away their privacy. The idea of being heard or watched by something when you think that you have privacy is something that has traveled through time and still exists today. An example in modern American society could be how the brand-new Alexa is said to “record snippets of what you say in the privacy of your home and store it on Amazon servers.” (Tsukayama) This shows how even in modern times that there are means that might be used to spy on people and keep track of what they say and do. This is important because an American society that is said to be democratic and free still has a sense of secrecy and loss of privacy. The people in this society should find it troubling that they don’t have privacy the same way that people in a totalitarian regime had lost their freedom.

Also seen in 1984, faith in the government creates an oppressed society by means of extreme surveillance. The government, which is known as the Party, watches its citizens in many different ways to make sure no laws are broken. An example of this is

George Orwell’s novel 1984 reflects on the society of dystopian city Airstrip 1 where main character Winston Smith lives. Along with the many other citizens, Winston is controlled by the Inner Party by constantly being monitored via telescreens that keep sight of everybody and their actions. Besides using telescreens the government also easily arrests people in any case of “thoughtcrime” which consists of any thoughts that regard disobedience towards the government. Thoughtcrime and telescreens are two of the several factors that reflect the extreme surveillance in 1984. Orwell uses surveillance as the central theme of the novel to spread his idea that the usage of more extreme surveillance could eventually lead to a totalitarian society. On a less extreme scale, today’s society also has a significant amount of surveillance but many question whether or not more surveillance is necessary. With the many current text sources, it is certain that we need less surveillance in order to keep a stable society that does not take away the individualism of people.

In 1984, Inner and Outer Party members have to change the way they behave in front of telescreens by hiding their emotions and facial expressions to avoid getting in trouble, just the way people portray themselves differently for social media to avoid offending others and as a result being judged and harassed. The telescreens are used by the Police to monitor the Inner and Outer Party members and detect if they are breaking the rules and as a result getting vaporized. Therefore, Party members change their actions

Individual power is the control held within the hierarchy of ascendancy over others. Although it does take into account the ability to have command over one’s self, with regard to the freedom of influence and authority. In George Orwell’s didactic Nineteen Eighty Four¸ the autonomy of the individual is suppressed. His dystopic, totalitarian society depicts a world where the supremacy of the corporation is maintained through the deprivation of self-expression and the ever present threat of violent coercion. The Party aims to achieve a social order that consists of no relationships, no desire, “no art, no literature, no science” in order that ultimately “no enjoyment in the process of life” be found. This ensures a civilisation where the

Telescreens: A wall mounted electronic device that doubles as a television and a surveillance camera, used to monitor the citizens of 1984. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, these telescreens play the most critical part in keeping Oceania’s citizens under control. With telescreens, it’s almost impossible to have any freedom. People are constantly being watched, the slightest act of rebellion can be easily caught, restricting people from being able to truly express themselves. Other techniques the party use may contribute to the control of its citizens, but nothing keeps everybody’s back straight quite like the telescreens of Oceania. Due to the unbelievable amount of telescreens there is no privacy what so ever. Without privacy, no one can think of rebellion, much less act upon those thoughts. Because of this, it is clear that telescreens are the most affective method the party can use to keep the citizens of Oceania under its control.

I believe the technology is the best way that Party uses to control its citizens. It does this by using technology for record people’s life and control people’s thought. As I mentioned in the previous essay, the most powerful technology used to control the people in 1984 is the telescreen. The Government place telescreens in each home and that allow the government to continually record citizens' activities. Because those screens are two-way things that allow party to watch everyone who has a screen all the time. The government also employs miniature microphones throughout the country that listen to people's private conversations. The telescreens and the microphones represent Big Brother’s invisible eye and ear on all the citizens who are

People want power because it gives them control and dominance over others. Power gives the person who has it the ability to do whatever they want, say whatever they want and make people do what they want. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller the whole plot revolves around the theme of power. There is a never ending conflict of characters to keep, assert and acquire power. The most prominent characters that ultimately hurt the community the most due to their greed and lust for power are Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams. Although their relationship with power is different from one another they all have one thing in common. Parris, Danforth and Abigail all contribute to the demise of Salem because of their

In the past no government had the power to keep its citizens under constant surveillance. The invention of technology, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further. With the development of television, and the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end. (Orwell 205)

The government in 1984 maintains power by using constant surveillance and suppression of citizens. Unlike the modern era, all citizens know they are being watched and are cautious about their actions. Winston says of the telescreen, the Party’s method of espionage: “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it [the telescreen], moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as

Power means to be on top, that there is no competition against you. I personally believe power gets you respect. People follow a powerful person. A powerful person is someone who does anything that they please in any particular way without any restraints. Another the way of having power to be financially successful. Having financial power in my world is another way of being powerful because money has a huge value in today's society and can affect people’s decisions. Having power is important to me not only for the respect factor but because by being powerful I would have less financial worries.

The concept of power is present within various realms of all organizations. Power, however, is not something that should necessarily be looked at negatively. There are justifiable types of power that may be important to criminal justice organizations. The main role of power in criminal justice administration should be to gain compliance from subordinates of all types, and turn that power over time into acceptable forms of authority (Stojkovic et al., 2008). It is for this reason that power is an important attribute in criminal justice agencies.