1984 And Modern Technology Essay

1984 and Modern Technology In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, technology is used by the Party throughout the novel as a means to control the citizens of Oceania. In 1984, every room in every building has a device referred to as a telescreen. It is a television screen that is used by Big Brother and the Party to control citizens by spying on every move that they make. Big Brother, the Party leader, can see every person and watch everything that they do. For example, Winston and Julia are arrested because of what was seen on the telescreen. “To run for life, to get out of the house before it was too late—no such thought occurred to them. Unthinkable to disobey the iron voice from the wall” (Orwell 221). The fact that the citizens of Oceania were …show more content…
The telescreen is additionally used to control and spy on what people say and think. Anything that is said or thought about against the Party is punishable by death. “His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals—DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER over and over again, filling half a page” (Orwell 18). That writing in Winston’s journal is thoughtcrime, and eventually Winston is punished. In today’s society, there is the Patriot Act, which was signed into law after the September 11th attacks in 2001. This is similar to the telescreen because it allows government officials to use technology to spy on people. There have been numerous recordings, wiretappings, and other methods of spying on law abiding citizens in order to help prevent domestic terrorism. Recently, it was revealed that government officials have been frequently eavesdropping on numerous citizens. “The leaks revealed blanket collection of domestic phone records, warrantless capture of emails from U.S. internet companies, and wiretaps on offices of friendly foreign governments and the European Union, among other