1984 Modern Technology Essay

Modern media is a great danger to us all, and the people it concerns are everywhere with no hiding available from the monster that is Media. Annalee Newitz said, “With technology tracking us everywhere we go, ‘cosplay’ might become our best defense against surveillance”(Newitz). The dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell contains within it some great examples of the dangers of modern technology and media. In the novel the population is monitored at all times by their government. By using the telescreens the government can watch their people and listen to everything they say and watch their every move. Orwell being influenced by the modern era's new technology, such as computers, surveillance cameras, and the internet, wrote his novel 1984 in

Although modern medias are used as a mass system of unification, they can also reduce individual freedoms by influencing large groups of people, controlling individual thought, and limiting one's access to provocative information. One of the Modern Medias in 1984 that drives home Orwell's point to be fearful of technology is the telescreen. The telescreen has the capability to influence the whole population of Oceania, which is a massive amount of people. The telescreen works as a two way transmitter, so it is also used as a surveillance system. This means that the people of Oceania are always receiving propaganda, and are always being watched. Orwell describes the telescreen saying “any sound Winston made above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up and moreover any movement he made while within the field of vision which it commanded would be seen as well”(4). The telescreen being able to watch the whole of the population influenced the people to follow the party as they were in constant fear of being watched and recorded. Much like the telescreen, the modern day television can also be used to influence a mass amount of people. Although modern day televisions