Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Literary Analysis

When living in a society engrossed by technology, it is important to remember that such luxury has faults. As humans, we are not perfect, and neither is anything that humans create. Technology and the advancements of media are no exception. It can be easily manipulated and changed, and can be used to do such to others. With such a power over every creature on this planet, it must be understood and analyzed, which is why dystopian works such as George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four are so critical. The novel peeks into the potential future of technology turning into a tool of manipulation and destruction. While haunting, the novel is growing to be comparable to reality, as our world is slowly forming into one much like Orwell’s prediction. It …show more content…
Given the nature of a dystopian novel, Orwell has heightened and exaggerated the world to a degree where society is a nightmare and struggle for individuality and privacy. Yet, the exaggeration isn’t too out of sorts for our modern day world. Privacy is extremely difficult to locate. Surrounding individuals every day are security cameras, cell phones, recording devices, social media, the internet, video records and televisions. While we look at Orwell’s world and see an unrealistic depiction of the technology evolution gone wrong, it is far from being inaccurate in regards to society today. In regards to assigning blame in the healthcare system, it is stated that “The trend toward accuracy continues, however, with information systems that rely on biometrics (fingerprints, iris scans, etc.) to authenticate user access” and that “These generate, by definition, an irrefutable record of who did what and when” (Simpson). In his article, Simpson speaks on how with a slew of new technologies, determining fault and blame is growing far easier. Therefore, it is far easier to find the guilty party, as health care providers are made well aware that errors can be traced back to them. This holds quite prominent similarities to the world in Nineteen Eighty-Four, where even thinking out of the ordinary can be traced back to you. In Orwell’s world, it …show more content…
We’re progressing at a rate in which our world is shaping to be the one of which Orwell created in Nineteen Eighty-Four; a world in which absolute freedom gives no freedom at all, and an absence of law and crime allows fear to be even more prevalent. An absolute of both of these allows only more chaos. The simplicity of removing such major functions only allows a society to be more chaotic. While reading a novel, especially one of the dystopian genre, facts such as these are important to keep in mind. Asking oneself about the relevance it has to the modern day world or how such ideas could sink into society in the 21st century are what the genre was made for. Dystopia was made to be analyzed and to allow individuals to be critical of the world that is continually being built, and forces society to ask if our age of progression is progressing in a way we are confident in. However, why is being critical of the modern day world so important? The generation building the future needs to be able to understand if the direction we’re progressing in truly is “progressive” and for the better. Being surrounded by technology, being ripped away from the luxury of privacy in day-to-day life, being monitored and tracked consistently through grocery store purchases and banking tracking which includes where one shops and how much money they spent. It is important to be critical and see the flaws of our world and acknowledge