1984 Response To George Orwell's 1984

It’s scary to think that someday society’s government will run every aspect of one’s life. They could control the people, how they think, if they can love, when they will die, and even if they ever existed. George Orwell warned people of that possibility of that controlling government with the book ‘1984’. He used history to help show the people it’s possible for history to repeat itself. When ‘1984’ was published people had the right to be alarmed and they were. As the years go by society comes closer and closer to Orwell’s prediction, making people more aware of their government.
George Orwell wrote ‘1984’ because he felt even though every year we move closer and closer to Big Brother controlling society; the process is still reversible. If the course of history doesn’t change, we will end up like the citizens in Airstrip One. Orwell created Airstrip One as a warning of a

society where people’s individuality was taken from them. In Airstrip One their citizens had their thoughts banned, history vaporized and edited, as well as conformity of people by their government. Airstrip One was made to be similar to the time when Hitler and Stalin were once in power. He did this hoping people would see the similarities and possibly consider the idea of history repeating itself. Knowing what Orwell put in ‘1984’, such as labor camps, citizens spying on one another, and hundreds of people being killed already happened, makes it easier to believe the things Orwell predicted would come true. If we do not reverse our path towards his predictions repeating history is bound to happen. (“George Orwell’s Letter on Why He Wrote ‘1984’.”)
George Orwell mentioned history repeats itself when talking about his purpose behind writing ‘1984’.

He mentions there was a similarity between Big Brother, Hitler, and Stalin. In the book ‘1984’, Big Brother was known for vaporizing people for many reasons, one being when people would commit a thought crime. Big Brother also trained the children at an early age to honor their government and even turn against their parents if they were to go against the government themselves. This sounds familiar to when Hitler's youth who would tell on their parents if they kept Jews in hiding from the Nazis. While Hitler was in power, and people were not the appearance they preferred, people disappeared and the records that showed they existed, simply disappeared. Just like Big Brother Stalin had secret police as well, and wanted citizens to spy on one another and tell a higher authority so those people would be sent to be killed or sent to a labor camp, just like to mention in Orwell's ‘1984’. Since people know about our horrendous history, they know it is possible to happen again making it

terrifying.
When 1984 was first published, readers found Mr. Orwell's book to be frightening. It wasn't that the ideas told in the book were mad, but it was frightening because citizens believed it was possible. (“Books of the Times.”) Orwell’s ‘1984’ was read in schools even years before 1984. Teachers explained to the children that Orwell was inspired by the abuse in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and even the control in Britain he witnessed himself. After hearing this, it was a lot easier to believe if countries have gone through this type of control before, its possible for it to happen to other countries as well. Most of the students were teenagers while reading it in school, so they usually feared their privacy being taken away. In the article “Why Orwell’s ‘1984’ Matters so Much Now” Ron states “I first read ‘1984’ in school, long before 1984. I can remember worrying about how much of what Orwell described might come true by that year.” Now, years later it isn’t silly to think about what Orwell described could come true or the right of privacy being taken away since it is witnessed every day.
George Orwell talked about a government where history was changed, and thought and privacy was not imaginable. After ‘1984’ was published citizens felt Orwell’s predictions were possible. People may not realize our privacy is becoming just as unimaginable as it is in Airstrip One. Walking down the street it is nearly impossible to not be recorded by traffic lights, security cameras, police body and dashboard cameras that watch our every move. When police dash cams record they have a license plate and face- recognition software that stored in a database. Just as well as traffic cameras, some find this as an invasion of privacy. (“On a City Street, Big Brother is Watching.”) First, it’s getting watched on the streets, the next step could be in citizen’s houses. Today we don’t just see the steps moving towards no privacy, but we also see events that show the possibility of the government trying to reconstruct history. When Orwell wrote ‘1984’ he wrote about a government who controlled not only the present but the future as well. The government would lie by saying one thing is true, and start saying it so often they conditioned the people to believe what they were telling them. it only gets worse as it starts to become real to us as we watch it on our local news. Just this year when our president Donald Trump was elected the press secretary, the speaker for Donald Trump came out and told the press Trump had the largest audience to be witnessed at an inauguration. When later came out to say his facts were just alternative facts. (“Uneasy about the Future, Readers Turn to Dystopian Classics.”) It's hard for citizens to believe if this is just an accident or something more. 
Some citizens do believe it was more than an accident, so they are using Orwell’s ‘1984’ as a protest against Donald Trump. They believe what he’s doing as a president will lead us to that state of conformity that Orwell expressed in ‘1984’. People were seen holding signs with Quotes from the book showing examples of how Trump is correlated to big brother. Most mentioning the lie from Trumps intermediary about his inauguration, comparing it to Orwell’s prediction of the government changing history. After election day 47,000 copies were sold in just the first few weeks shooting to amazon’s top seller list. Orwell’s ‘1984’ is starting book clubs all throughout the country, making the young minds susceptible to the idea of what could happen, and the more people that are apprehensive or his ideas, the more hope for his predictions to not come true. (“A President Who Rarely Reads Has Launched a Book Club for All of America.”) Just like many people say, children are the future, which teachers try to show us.
Teachers give students these books to read to make them think and organize those thoughts. No matter what book it is the teacher’s aspiration is to make students think, rather if it is about society, their lives, or the life around them. In ‘1984’ nobody could think clearly, to comprehend that their society was in trouble. Their ability to think for themselves was taken away from them, so they did not see their government conformed them to not notice that they took away that right to think for themselves. Teachers give students these books to help them think clearly to be attentive of what is going around, them, and in their society. Students now are the future, to have them read ‘1984’ is a way to help educate these students to make sure Orwell's predictions do not come true. (“In Plain English, There’s a Reason”) Orwell shows what happens when citizens do not fight back, they just get controlled, spied on, and their whole lives might be a lie and they do not even know it. Citizens need to take his warning and understand Orwell was right when he said the process is still reversible if people wanted to make a difference.
If something does not happen, and society doesn’t make a difference and start paying attention to what the government is doing, society will come closer and closer to George Orwell warned people of with ‘1984’. First it’s little things like being recorded on the streets or lies being told, but what’s next? Thought police? Possibly even labor camps, since history is bound to repeat itself. Orwell’s ‘1984’ is causing awareness throughout the country even years later. Hopefully this awareness gives hope for the future. In ‘1984’ the hope might lie in the proles, but right now the hope lies in the present.