George Orwell's novel 1984 is an accurate description of today's society. It is widely known that the government watches us. They can watch through our computer screens even when they are off. Anything that listens is always watching us 24-7 such as Alexa. In fact I could be watched as I type this. Our laptops are like the the screens that Big Brother watches us on. Like the novel no one has actually met Big Brother we do not know what those in the NSA look like. We do not know how often the watch us. The NSA watches for terrorism, but they collect others just in case. This is in case you commit a crime then they will have all your data. This makes sense, but as in 1984 with their corrupt government. It begs the question of how much you trust that the government does exactly what they say they do? 1984 has a dictatorship. In 1984 the characters are brainwashed to love Big Brother, the figure head. Their media is all biased. Our media is all biased as well. The media is all in favor of one political party or the other. AKA...CNN vs FOX. Some people may regard, our countries figurehead, the President how we see 1984's Big Brother.
Emily, it many ways it does feel as if 1984 is almost too timely right now. The notion of surveillance is one I find fascinating and, honestly, it is difficult to not be paranoid given Edward Snowden's revelations and the latest CIA document dump. However, you do need to focus on the text (1984) and use some specific concepts from a particular type of analysis (in this case psychoanalytic) for these posts. In your final two posts, keep this in mind.
ReplyDeleteI've never read that book but have always wanted to. I knew it was a dystopian view of the United States based around surveillance, and I do think you make some really great points about trust in you post. There is a lot of animosity with our new President, but even if there wasn't and the President had widespread popularity - we have to always keep a critical eye to how they 'handle' their public. How does the government establish popularity and control? Just as the government might feel the imperative to watch its populace, so too should the populace watch the government back and hold them accountable.
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