When Euphemism Disguises Truth: George Orwell's Foresight?

In today's society most people feel that they are being watched by our government just like winston and the citizens of Oceania are being watched by Big Brother. The type of Technology being used in 1984 are, telescreens hidden to watch people. It is almost as similar to our government watching us, but instead our device is a cell phone. They can read our texts messages, hear conversations through phone calls, & possibly track you down if necessary. Many people argue that this is an invasion of privacy and many say it's for the safety of the communities.

Throughout the twentieth century, many authors wrote their perspectives on the world’s future. Novels such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley told of realities in which governments took extreme approaches to take control of its citizens’ lives, but a particularly alarming publication was George Orwell’s 1984. Written near the start of the Cold War in 1949, which saw the massive proliferation of nuclear arms and expansion of governments that polarized the globe into an East and a West, Orwell depicts what could happen if citizens allowed their governments to continue this power grab unchecked (Bossche). He uses rhetoric to recreate abstract concepts in the world’s dysfunctional political system as tangible entities in the plot.

The amount of effort that Winston went through just for the opportunity to have a non-restricted conversation with a coworker shows, through technology, a totalitarian government holds complete control over its citizens. 1984 later demonstrates the dangers of technology by showing the reader Winston being brutally tortured because of things he said when he believed he was safe from being recorded. The use of recording devises and monitors to hold every citizen hostage exhibits the dangers of a totalitarian government through advancing

In this book they talk about some capabilities of Big Brother. “Winston kept his back to the telescreen … it was over though , as he well knew even a back can be revealing.” They surveillance members of the organization 24/7, so Any little move they made was known. Winston’s job was to change the past. “Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past”.

On September 11, 2001 terrorists attacked our country. Immediately after these attacks our US congress had to do something. They passed two major pieces of legislature. The first being authorization for use of military force, which gave George W Bush permission to use military force against terrorists, which he used to wage a full war. The second legislature was Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, or the patriot act, which allowed government to use loopholes in the fourth amendment to keep surveillance on their citizens to stop terrorism.

Cellphones are everywhere, with everyone at all time that it has become a danger to our privacy. During the last decade, technology has been evolving at a speedy rate. As predicted by George Orwell the parallel elements between his novel and our present day are significant. We have similar technology, similar tracking, similar invasion of privacy, and similar over reaches. The present has become an updated version of George Orwell’s 1984 novel.

Language: “The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall.” (2) “Day and night the telescreens bruised your ears with statistics proving that people today had more food, more clothes, better houses, better recreations... Not a word of it could be proved or disproved... It was like a single equation with two unknowns” (74) L(1) George Orwell, the author of 1984, uses figurative language within this quote with a perfectly crafted simile.

Government Manipulation in 1984 People generally rely on the government as a source of protection and stability. However, the government does not always have the citizens’ best interests in mind, as shown in 1984. The government has the power to distort realities and the ability to detect the truth. They can manipulate, or influence people’s minds without them even knowing. George Orwell’s 1984 uses a futuristic dystopia to show how the government is able to manipulate human values through the use of fear.

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).

As Winston overhears the man attempting to speak, he realizes that “from the stream of sound that poured out of [the man’s] mouth, it was almost impossible to distinguish a single word” (55). Here, the author’s description of it being “impossible” to understand speech suggests the further destruction of human traits. This becomes another clear example of how the Party takes full control and deletes relics from the past, as well as normal traits that characterize a human, such as speech. The use of the metaphor “stream of sound” does not portray human characteristics since people usually talk with spaces between words. Taking away communication between others displays the everlasting reign of a totalitarian government, and how much havoc it can cause with the rest of society.

(Orwell 3-4). In 1984, telescreens are everywhere, they speak, record, and scan all areas within its reach. These are designed to spy on people, never allowing anyone to ever be alone, lessening the number of people that will rebel against Big Brother. Society is constantly around technology (not much of a choice), people are thought police that will see that you are guilty of committing a thought crime (thinking any bad thought against Big Brother). In this novel, thoughts are not private anymore.

Imagine being followed everywhere by a government agent. They’re watching your every move, and they’ll report you if you even make a wrong facial movement. This is essentially the case in George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Run by an English socialist government called the Party, the people’s every move is watched through telescreens. Citizens are not individual, but rather an extension of the Party.

In 1984, Orwell paints a nightmarish picture of a totalitarian system gone to the absolute extreme. He believed that totalitarianism and the corruption of language were connected and he integrated it into the novel by using language as the ultimate weapon of destruction. Big Brother uses the power of language to oppress, persuade and control the people of Oceania. The official language of Oceania is Newspeak, which the party use to control its subjects and outlaw subversive thoughts.

In 1984, George Orwell writes about a dystopian society called Oceania with a totalitarian government. Winston, the main character, is an Outer Party member and works for the government who is under the rule of “Big Brother” and the Inner Party. The Party’s purpose is to rule Oceania with absolutism and have control over its citizens by using propaganda, censorship, and the brainwashing of children. Today, many modern-day countries use these techniques to maintain their power including: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Nazi Germany. First, North Korea and Oceania use propaganda to encourage patriotism to make themselves look better to citizens in order to keep a totalitarian rule.

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, A theme of violation of human rights is thoroughly present, from violation of privacy, violation of the freedom of speech and religion, and the loss of humanity in general from the ever present form of Big Brother. As the villain of the novel, Big Brother- who represents the government -has absolute control over the citizens’ lives. While 1984 effectively conveys the dangers of a totalitarian government, Orwell’s predicted society is not present in today’s world. Comparatively speaking, the United States of America has more rights and freedoms than Orwell’s Oceania, but in some cases the rights of the citizens must be violated for safety reasons and other justifiable causes. Orwell’s novel 1984 paints a picture