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Examples Of Dystopia In Oceania By George Orwell

865 Words4 Pages

Meilani Parks
Johnson
ERWC 3
19 March 2018
The United States of America… Or Oceania?
Society is based upon millennials that are growing up in a world relying on technology in order to function. One of the most important devices would be the Apple iPhone. The iPhone has many features that exceed people’s expectations. However, people do not realize what others can do with their phone. For example, skilled hackers can take an image and copy your fingerprint using the iPhone’s security. It is questionable how the iPhone and other devices are so easily invasive towards future generations privacy and everyday life. Technology’s hidden power and the constant abuse of it, makes a similar dystopian society that relates to George Orwell’s novel, …show more content…

The world of Big Brother depends upon total control and surveillance on its citizens. For example, Orwell gives detail of devices the Party, which is Oceania’s government, uses in order to maintain structure. He writes, “...an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall...The instrument could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.” (Orwell 2). The telescreen is a device, similar to a television, that is a tool the government uses to keep watch on its citizens and remain in control. This device makes it difficult for the people of Oceania to have any privacy in there home and daily lives. The totalitarian government in 1984 wishes to control all. Orwell lists the ideas of party when he says, “The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them.” Oceania’s authoritarian government – called Big Brother, controls its people. All throughout Oceania, there are concealed microphones that have voice recognition and can easily identify who and what a person said. Winston, the protagonist of 1984, would have a secret love affair with a woman thirteen years younger than him. It was very hard for Winston and his mistress, Julia, to continue their love affair without suspicion from others. “As …show more content…

Time Magazine states, “A surveillance society is taking root. Video cameras peer constantly from lamp poles and storefronts. Satellites and drones float hawkeyed through the skies. Smartphones relay a dizzying barrage of information about their owners to sentinel towers dotting cities and punctuating pasture-land… Meanwhile, on the information superhighway, every stop by every traveler is noted and stored by Internet service providers like Google, Verizon and Comcast. Smart TVs know what we’re watching—soon they will have eyes to watch us watching them—and smart meters know if we’ve turned out the lights”. Although it is said to believe that modern day surveillance technology is used for good purposes, people need to realize what consequences follow when it is not used for good purposes. “The power of today’s surveillance goes beyond sharp visuals. The most sophisticated surveillance networks in the country – in places like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Seattle – combine multiple cameras with intelligent software that collects and stores detailed information on potential suspects and everyday citizens alike. Some software can be programmed to analyze and identify a specific activity, such as leaving a package in a public area. Old photo and videotape storage systems had limited capacity for how much surveillance data police could retain. But digital storage and the growth of cloud computing now enables

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In both 1984 by George Orwell, and The Veldt by Ray Bradbury, the themes presented are both able to present a clear warning to the readers of the power of technology, and the damaging power it can have on our lives. In Part 1 of 1984, The Inner Party establishes a facade of protection to gain control over Oceania and the citizens. This is mainly achieved through the technological advances that gives The Party authority over people 's actions because of the 24/7 surveillance of their every move. At the beginning of the novel, protagonist Wilson says “the instrument (telescreens) could be dimmed but there was no way of shutting it off altogether” (8). These telescreens are used to minimise the amount of Thoughtcrime, which, in Oceania, violates

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Technology is a significant part of daily life. Everyone makes use of some form of technology every day. As technology evolves and its quality is made better, it is taking us closer to the world of Big Brother. In his book, 1984, George Orwell describes a world in which society is constantly being watched by “Big Brother,” or their leaders. With current technologies such as GPS and smartphones, our world is not far from the heavy surveillance experienced by people in 1984.

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Through the forms of manipulation and modernization, the Party manages to ensure and ascertain control, especially involving technology. Oceanians cannot expect privacy due to the Party’s use of advanced surveillance by placing telescreens and covert microphones all across Oceania. The image and slogan, “… BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” is a constant reminder that the citizens of Oceania are being observed and their actions can be potentially exposed following penalizing actions (pg.2). With Big Brother’s face publicized on posters, telescreens and even coins, it often becomes difficult for citizens to dissent the rules of the Party as most are soon willing to believe what the Party informs them. Oceanians are used to living in a constant state of supervision with invasive machinery, which is so advanced that even the “smallest” sign of “abnormality” “could give you away” (pg.62).

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From Orwell’s novel, “1984”, it can be determined that his opinion on the most powerful means of control by the government would be the government’s use of fear to instill paranoia among the people. One powerful piece of corroboration for fear to paranoia would be Oceania’s obvious, and constant, use of technology to fulfill this goal. Take, for instance, the telescreens. Because of their existence in every buildings’ rooms and corners, they can be easily used to keep an eye on party members, and if need be, used to track their location and arrest them. Winston experiences the surveillance inflicted by the government during one of his daily workouts,as right when he stopped trying in order to ponder the conspiracies surrounding the party,

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Big Brother is powerful enough to change his nations, but what if he was powerful enough to change the whole world? Within Oceania the controlling of minds and changing Oceanias view is seen perfectly. In order to do so, Big Brother uses forms of Propaganda, he uses telescreens to control what

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The U.S. government is invading the privacy of its’ citizens through the use of mobile devices such as phones and laptops. This use of privacy invasion is similar to the technology used in George Orwell’s novel 1984. What makes today relate to 1984 is how the government tracks us through location, voice, and messaging. George Orwell’s 1984 has a totalitarian government that can track its’ citizens through location with the use of telescreens. In the novel, telescreens can track your location in a room through a telescreen, which is demonstrated by Winston´s thought ¨so long as you remained within the field of vision … you could be seen¨ (Orwell, page 3).

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With each upcoming day, a new technological advancement is found and limits our people 's ability due to government control. There’s constantly new ideas being thought out; as shown in 1984 by George Orwell, many of the new ideas are being used by the government to overwatch each of its citizens. As seen in 1984, many people disagree with using newer “technology,” as the government can always watch over the users with the technology; due to that, many people are using inventions that were thought of prior of the government being able to keep track of the user. As seen in 1984 it was a rare thing to see a notebook and was a scarce item, yet many people wanted one as it wouldn 't allow the government to over watch them, it 's also seen in

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