Common Threads in George Orwell's 1984 and Today's Society Essay

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.

Though the consequences of citizen’s actions through technology today are not as severe or are non punishable, they do not take the government’s surveillance as seriously as the citizens of Oceania did in 1984. One NSA system can reach about 75% of all US Internet traffic, communications by foreigners and Americans (Gorman n. pag.). The US government's defense to surveillance claims is that the justification is National Security (Calamur n. pag.)., and this may be true, but the question of the freedom to privacy ratio, as a free nation, is still undecided. One way surveillance is now even more accessible is due to Google Glass. "With Google Glass, nobody's pointing a camera... phone. You no longer know if you're being filmed... an unspoken social rule is being violated" (Brown 42). and gives the government the ability to see from the point of view of anyone. With most every person you meet having quick access to some sort of recordable technology, it is easy to have your actions recorded or documented without your knowledge. The information can be easily spread around the world without your knowing or permission with just a simple touch. As said before, “.....an unspoken social rule is being violated” (Brown 42), taking away the sense of privacy and security felt by many Americans. Another form of surveillance, used by specifically the NYPD, is the use of undercover cops. Since The Occupy Wall Street

George Orwell's 1984 What look on humanity and human nature, if any, can be seen through this book, 1984?

In the novel 1984 George Orwell demonstrates how the government maintains power through mind control and manipulation of the masses. Orwell hints that when the government (Big Brother), holds too much power they become crooked and devious towards the rest of the population. In a nutshell Orwell is conveying that a corrupt government destroys all chances for an ideal society. Collectively, George Orwell made a prediction of what was going to happen, and it has become a reality to some extent. Overall this is a great book for the current political state.

Orwell’s novel of 1984 depicts a dystopian society in which people are brainwashed with propaganda and bound to the chains of a strong dictatorship, also known as the Inner Party. Humanity has been filled with lies, as not a single person knows the truth that lies beneath the dictatorship. History is constantly being rewritten to mask their true identity. Any skeptical thoughts may make you disappear."Big Brother" is constantly observing you along with a telescreen watching every facial expression and recording any abnormal body language. However, two citizens called Winston and Julia rebel against "Big Brother's" totalitarian rule which triggers an astonishing warning towards future generations. Orwell is warning future generations of a society

George Orwell's fantasy novel “1984” predicts the future in terms “Big Brother” is watching you!” His book, “1984”, was considered a visionary and futuristic novel that presents itself in an imminent society. Many people believe that a society like the one in 1984 is authentically impossible. However, the world has transformed over the years and become more controlled by the regime which is precisely what was transpiring in the book. With big brother overlooking us, and vast advertisements all over our technology that has influenced our society, and the crazy surveillance technology that is implemented into our everyday lives, a society like 1984 is not far from impossible. Our present world is commencing to become 1984 by our world control, mass surveillance, and propaganda

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, Big Brother was a character of fiction. He was able to oversee everything and virtually controlled the daily lives of millions of people via numerous types of technology. Through telescreens, microphones, cameras, and ‘thought police’, the government was able to keep complete dominance over the people. Now, as we advance technologically the thought of Big Brother watching over us isn’t so far-fetched. If put into the wrong hands, information and technology can be very dangerous, as shown in 1984. Even though the government claim they use social media to keep us safe, Orwell’s vision could be slowly coming true. Big Brother no longer has to work hard to monitor us, for we’re inadvertently

In the midst of a world completely blind to the truth, there was a man who’s seditious thoughts opened our eyes to a destructive future. Eric Blair, most commonly known as George Orwell, was born in Bengal and brought up in a society divided by social classes. Orwell graduated from Eton and decided to drop out of college to join the Indian Imperial police in Burma, where he experienced the cruelty of the world. He had an epiphany after returning back to England and was suddenly consumed in translating his fervent emotions of hatred and anger into words. World War II has just ended after a long period of constant war over land, minerals and weapons when Orwell began

Attention Getter: As the George Orwell writes in his book 1984, “Big Brother is watching you.”

As human beings, there are distinct characteristics that separate us from feral animals; the ability to create, to appreciate art, to curiously question the world and most importantly to sympathize for our kind. However, when that exact nature is stripped from us, we tend to become mindless, restricted, cold, and degraded as an entire race. This is the setting of George Orwell’s last book, 1984. A world where human thought is limited, war and poverty lie on every street corner, and one cannot trust nobody or nothing. It is all due to the one reigning political entity, the Ingsoc Party, who imposes complete power over all aspects of life for all citizens. There is no creative or intellectual thought, no art, culture or history, and no

"To say 'I accept' in an age like our own is to say that you accept concentration-camps, rubber truncheons, Hitler, Stalin, bombs, aeroplanes, tinned food, machine guns, putsches, purges, slogans, Bedaux belts, gas-masks, submarines, spies, provocateurs, press-censorship, secret prisons, aspirins, Hollywood films and political murder" (Bookshelf I).

The Book 1984 was written by George Orwell shortly after W.W.II. I think this book really shows us what would happen if the government gets too powerful. It was written long ago and set in the future, but I feel like the message is still very relevant today.

War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. The party slogan of Ingsoc illustrates the sense of contradiction which characterizes the novel 1984. That the book was taken by many as a condemnation of socialism would have troubled Orwell greatly, had he lived to see the aftermath of his work. 1984 was a warning against totalitarianism and state sponsored brutality driven by excess technology. Socialist idealism in 1984 had turned to a total loss of individual freedom in exchange for false security and obedience to a totalitarian government, a dysutopia. 1984 was more than a simple warning to the socialists of Orwell's time. There are many complex philosophical issues buried deep within

Individuals claim that the states throughout our country are always being watched by the Government; our every move, our every purchase, and even our every commute to and from work are being monitored. Welsh and Farrington(2004) both agree in explaining that the closed-circuit television(CCTV) is doing the exact same thing. "America is on the verge of becoming a 'surveillance society' (Stanley and Steinhardt, 2003:1)" (Welsh, 2004: 2). George Orwell discusses that “Every single technical device that has been invented, restored, or refurbished in the last ten years is becoming an increasing negative towards individuals freedom of interference”, but Welsh and Farrington seem to disagree. "Fact is, there are no longer any barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell" (Welsh, 2004:2).

Hopelessness, deep and gaping ever lasting hopelessness. If the course of humanity fails to change, to this everyone will succumb. That is the message that George Orwell has left for the future, and it would be in humanity's best interest to heed. Winston Smith of 1984 lived in a world that had been consumed by the everlasting abyss of injustice. Eventually this world became too much for our hopeful protagonist and thus, like the future that is bound to a horrific fate, he succumbed. “It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it” (Orwell 248). No one in this world is any different than Winston, they will follow his path like all of those before them, following the five stages of Kübler-Ross. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance make up the cycle that every feeble life will follow and that Winston grew to know all too well.