BOOK REVIEW
AN ORWELLIAN PRESENT
December 2016
Orwell’s Prediction and Comparison in 1984
BY DAVIS HEDRICK
The rotting village on the outskirts of Airstrip
One provides a stark contrast with the inner city.
Smoke and ashes rise from the streets as people
scramble over rubble. The smell of gunpowder
reaches the noses of the proletariat on their way
to work. Then, almost instinctively, the people
scatter like rats. An explosion erupts near a
discombobulated neighborhood. The people
casually rise off the ground, dust off their shirts,
and ignore the ringing in their ears as they
continue on their way.
for news for a large number of people.
Advertisers have capitalized on this by
strategically placing their ads throughout people’s
personal feeds. Society today is constantly being
influenced by the posts, videos, and pictures in
our feed. This has become our own personal
location for propaganda.
Not only has social media been contaminated,
but something more frightening has been
implemented: true and unadulterated
surveillance. Edward Snowden discovered that
the government has been surveilling the country
without our knowledge. The fact that little to
nothing has been done about this draws
similarities to how the society of the dystopian
novel accepts the government’s constant
surveillance through the telescreens.
That is daily morning of the “proles,” as George
Orwell calls them in his novel 1984. Even though
this aspect is starkly different in today’s society,
there are some frightening similarities between
Orwell’s fictional world and our real world that
can be found in its pocket sized pages.
Telescreens
Doublethink
Telescreens in 1984 are the way that Big Brother,
an omnipresent government, watches its citizens.
The outer party (the middle class) works for Big
Brother, and they need a way to control the
people to make sure that there will never be a
rebellion. Telescreens can be used to ensure that
the will of the government is carried out.
Doublethink is one of the most powerful and
confusing aspects of the 1984 society. “Reality
control,” they called it in Newspeak, is the
Telescreens are mounted in almost every room,
whether it be in the community library or the
people’s own houses. They are always on and
pumping out propaganda. Not only do they
dispense propaganda, but also watch the citizens
of Airstrip One, which makes the plotting of any
crime virtually impossible.
A Russian
communist
party
propaganda
poster
describing
how it can
brainwash
anyone to
believe
anything
In today’s society, we have computers and
phones. Phones and computers are extremely
versatile and are used for work, games, pictures,
videos, movies, television, and social media.
Today’s social media has greatly shaped our
society and has become one of the main sources
Photo
Courtesy of
Wikipedia
Commons
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