George Orwell 1984 Comparison Essay

George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning to and vision of the future. Our society has many similarities with 1984. The United State government uses many similar tactics as the Party in 1984. They use brainwashing, surveillance, and lying to their people to keep their power. The U.S. government brainwashes everybody from a young age. In 1984, the Party brainwashes its citizens using many methods, including the Two Minutes Hate. Every day, there is a show displayed on every telescreen depicting Emmanuel Goldstein, the leader of the Brotherhood, the resistance against Big Brother, and causes a “hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces with a sledge hammer, [to flow] through the whole group of people

They have telescreens in people’s homes in their kitchens, living rooms, and even their bathrooms. They are always watching through the telescreens to make sure nobody is breaking any rules or committing any thoughtcrimes when they think nobody is watching. Most telescreens are not hidden, but sometimes there are hidden ones to catch people in places they shouldn’t be, just like the one behind the picture that captured Julia and Winston in Mr. Charrington’s shop. The people were forced to never break any laws because “it was even conceivable that [the Thought Police] watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live – did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (3). Nobody wanted to get caught so they always acted normal and never did anything to rebel against the party because they could never know if the Party was watching them. In current society, governments use their resources to spy on their citizens. They read e-mails and texts and listen to phone calls between ordinary citizens to make sure they aren’t a criminal. They also place security cameras at places like ATMs and traffic lights to catch people who are trying to steal or drive through a red light, for