Running Head: The Novel -1984 1

Assuming a core similarity, how is our culture--‐industry (e.g., media, government,

entertainment, etc.) different from that depicted in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty--‐Four?

Running Head: The Novel -1984 2

The culture of entertainment media and government is totally different from what is depicted in

the Orwell's 1984. George Orwell has created a thought provoking and an interesting scenario for

the readers in the novel 1984. In this novel, the Orwell has presented an advanced and a

technological culture of a factious world in which the fear and misery is used for controlling and

manipulating the individual who are not aware of this technological advancement and who do not

conform to the prevailing political standards. The Orwell has made an attempt to educate the

readers about the impact of particular philosophies of politics. This novel is fictional and the

fictional life of the people in the novel is extremely worst because of terror, operation and

deprivation. Orwell has described a culture and a world where the people do not have any control

over their life. People are living in the misery, oppression and fear in this novel (George Orwell,

2016).

The novel is a criticism on the time in which the author is living. Some of the practices were

actually existing in the Orwell’s time but in this novel, he has demonstrated that this kind of culture

will never come in future. The author has described a culture of dictatorship in the Germany and

Spain where the government was controlling the lives of people and where mass execution, forced

labor and hunger were common. In the novel, the totalitarian government is ruling over the

oppressive world by controlling each and every aspect of the citizens who were living there. People

had limited freedom of expression. This type of life is not enjoyable for them (McCrum, 2017).

There is an “Inner Party” established by government which is controlling the personal beliefs,

communication channels and individual loyalty to the government. The actions, speech and

thoughts, everything was monitored by the political official. In the novel the media and

entertainment industry is all monitored by the government through cameras and other technologies.

Newspeak is a particular language which is enforced on the people so that their expression is
Running Head: The Novel -1984 3

limited. The main purpose of the newspeak is to narrow down the range of thoughts. There is a

group of the devout follower which is called a thought police which is spying on the people to

determine whether or not they have any negative thoughts in the mind or whether they had desires

to conduct a negative act which is not in accordance with the laws (Berridge, 2017).

The thought police were monitoring people who are criminal minded and their punishment is

death. The Hanging of the criminal minded people was displayed in the public so that the

population become afraid of doing such acts. Although about the outcome of the strict monitoring

is not positive, in fact the inner party is considered as suppressing. The inner party also used

electronical devices to monitor the inhabitants of their state. The Telescreen was called a camera

that were watching every move of every person at all times. The general assumption was that yes

you are being watched. The media and entertainment industry was playing its role to display all

the crimes conducted by criminals and punished by the government. The media and entertainment

industry was also telecasting that the government is strictly monitoring each and every aspect of

an individual life to create fears among the population (Hidaka, 2017).

Our real cultural industry is somewhat different from what is presented in the novel. The people

in reality have freedom of expression and they have privacy of their lives. Mostly people shares

their life stories on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Although the social

media platforms are exposed to the general public but they are secured by passwords. However,

the privacy is only limited to the home, today. When we go outside we are being watched by the

public cameras that are placed on every corner of the street and road. These cameras are controlled

by the government officials who are monitoring whether anyone is suspected to conduct the

criminal activity (Schwartz, 2014).

Running Head: The Novel -1984 4

The purpose of these cameras and electronical devices is to monitor every aspect of human life, so

that terrorism activities and criminal activities are prevented and the criminals are caught red

handed. So that no innocent is punished instead the actual criminal is punished. Much of the real

life culture is similar to the culture presented in the novel but it is not same at all because the

private lives at homes are not monitored even today. But every communication on the social media

applications such as WhatsApp, Skype Facebook, Twitter and emails are being recorded by the

government for each and every individual to track the criminal and terrorist activity. The purpose

of this monitoring is to create peaceful and terrorism free country. The government has established

monitoring department that can watch the entire data of the social media applications. But the

people are afraid of being watched and they consider themselves as victim of government

dictatorship (CALL, 2017).

Every day, the aircraft of the US government goes up in the sky and they move around over the

cities of America. The planes have high resolution video cameras and software that can capture

the video images and everything from the street such as the business names and the names of the

owners of individual homes. Some planes can also track the cell phone number of people below.

These aircrafts mute their engines. This monitoring is called the government surveillance. The FBI

uses planes and aircrafts to follow the serious criminals, spies and terrorists. The government says

that it has an obligation to follow the people whose aim is to hurt the country and its citizens.

Moreover, the supreme court is scrutinizing the data collected by the government surveillance

programs get to know what information the surveillance programs are collecting and what are they

doing with this collected information.

Google is very well known to collect the information from the Google search engine. The cookies

are stored in the Google Chrome browser which can track every website that people visit. This is
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the reason why people are suggested to clear out the cookies cache. It is also discovered that

Google has been using it street view cars to gain access and download the personal emails and

information from the Wi-Fi routers. In this way, the spying tactics of the companies and

governments are becoming harmful and more personal.

People dislike the fact that their private life is monitored. It is not only the Google which is

intruding into the privacy of people. The Huffington Post has posted an article on its website last

year which uncovered the reality that the televisions, traffic cameras, Smartphones and

transportation are also being spied on which means the government is watching 24/7. Collecting

and storing information is becoming easier for the government. Although, it is illegal for the

government to listen to the private cell phone conversations but the government can still collect

data such as phone number, location, time and date of each and every party. This culture is similar

to the culture depicted in the novel but it is somehow different with each other.
Running Head: The Novel -1984 6

References

1. Berridge, M. J. a. R. F. I., 2017. The Traits of Society in 1984. [Online]

Available at: http://www.123helpme.com/assets/15559.html

[Accessed 18 4 2017].

2. CALL, K., 2017. Connected Big Brother: Are We Being Spied On Online?. [Online]

Available at: https://www.business.com/articles/connected-big-brother-are-we-being-

spied-on-online/

[Accessed 22 2 2017].

3. George Orwell, E. F., 2016. 1984. [Online]

Available at: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5470.1984

[Accessed 3 2 2016].

4. Hidaka, H. M. I. S. K. a. Y. S., 2017. About 1984. [Online]

Available at: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/n/1984/about-1984

[Accessed 18 4 2017].

5. McCrum, R., 2017. The masterpiece that killed George Orwell. [Online]

Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/10/1984-george-orwell

[Accessed 18 4 2017].

6. Schwartz, S., 2014. 9 Ways You’re Being Spied On Every Day. [Online]

Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/03/government-

surveillance_n_5084623.html

[Accessed 4 3 2014].