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The Totalitarian Society In 1984 And George Orwell's 1984

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George Orwell 's classic novel, 1984, portrays a look into the future. Set in Oceania (supposedly Britain), it emcompasses the life of an outlying civilian, Winston Smith, who stood against the dictatorial society that he lived in, dodging the many obstacles that piled before him. Despite the fact that Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949 and centers around a tyrannical future controlled by a totalitarian regime, both the strict authoritarian society ruled by the omnipresent Big Brother and today’s modern world contain several similarities.
“The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (2). In 1984, almost all public and private places harbor large TV screens, announcing the newest government propaganda, news and entertainment. They seem harmless, but in truth telescreens are two-way monitors--cameras--collecting information, watching and brainwashing citizens. They are one of the few tools that the government uses to control its people by manipulating everything they watch and keeping track of their daily lives. Winston Smith emphasizes his fear of getting caught, stating the following: “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away” (62). Telescreens pick up everything, they never stop working nor recording and they are constantly being watched by Big Brother. In today’s world telescreens

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