TECHNOLOGY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE ON THE PUBLIC
- Welson Wei
- Jul 26, 2015
- 3 min read
Hello again! Today I'm making another post about the dangers that are exhibited in the society of the novel 1984.
THEME: Technology and Surveillance
"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called"(Orwell 65).
Does the word surveillance ring a bell? Ever heard of this word on the internet or many types of media? Well if you did, you should take into consideration of just how significant this is in our society today. Through a close examination of the novel 1984, we can see how technology directly contributes to control of the people. The concept of telescreens and hidden microphones were to maintain control over the Oceanic society. The party utilizes this technology as a tool to distinguish between either one was a supporter of Big Brother, or one who are against the party and want to rebel. In addition, they can use it to manipulate and proclaim false information to brain wash the public. Ultimately, it functions as a form of surveillance to ensure that people are not able to escape from the reign of the party.
Looking at this quote from the book, we can see just how advanced and complex the telescreen machine is, as the smallest action you take can essentially lead you to be arrested. Any type of abnormal action like talking to yourself and looking different from others when a victory is announced get you arrested, or even vaporized by the police (Orwell 65). This shows just how dangerous this type of technology is. People have close to zero privacy of what they do, and limiting people's personal space doesn't sound too great right? Imagine people staring at every action you take, and anything suspicious can potentially get you jailed. Who would want to live in such a time? The dystopian society in this novel greatly portrays the idea of manipulation, and the telescreen furthers this concept by showing propaganda. Things such as war victories, speeches, and television shows can influence the way an individual acts and thinks. For example, the government can display shows to children to educate them about how to live in society. They can essentially mold them from the very beginning of their lives to see the "truths" of how the world works. An example from the text that shows how even children were controlled was when Parsons stated, “All they ever think of is about the spies and the war, of course…My kid made sure he was some kind of enemy agent…He was wearing a funny kind of shoes” (Orwell 60). This shows just how children were made to be tool of war to fight the enemy. The government manipulates them into embracing the idea that war and fighting is good, unlike the morals in our society today where violence is deemed bad and children should reform to peace instead. Additionally, we see that they were thought to not even trust their own parents! Parsons eventually got turned in to the police for thoughtcrime by his own child (Orwell 245).
Relating this concept of surveillance to our real world, the technology today is essentially just as advanced as George Orwell has explained in his novel. Inventions such as the "Xbox One" can see what you are doing and tracks the motions of individuals while they are playing a game. It also has extremely optimal voice recognition, which can catch the exact words you are saying. From looking at a Xbox One review, they exclaimed that the "Kinect voice commands work with 90-95 percent accuracy, and at absurd distances, quiet volumes, even with pretty poor enunciation" (Limer 1). Moreover, further in the article it explains about the camera and how "The single best thing the Kinect camera does is recognize and sign in players. Automatically. In the background. All the time. With a pretty good success rate, though sometimes with a 10-15 second delay" (Limer 1). With evidence like these, it is inevitable that technology is becoming just like the horrifying descriptions of the telescreens. Thus, if fallen in the wrong hands such as a corrupt government, the situations described in 1984 will undoubtedly become a reality.
Further reading on the details of the Xbox One: http://gizmodo.com/xbox-one-review-absolutely-amazing-when-it-works-1467466379
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