George Orwell's 1984 and Today
TV rots the senses in the head!
It kills the imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind.
He can no longer understand a fantasy,
A fairyland!
His brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His powers of thinking rust and freeze!
An excerpt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
By Roald Dahl, 1964
When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.
In 1949 when Orwell’s novel was published, television was a relatively new invention. Fewer than 10% of the United States households had a television set in them and at this time programming was limited to mainly news-oriented shows. Many people believed that television would never surpass radio as the chief means of mass communication; they could not have been more incorrect.
Presently 98% of the households in the United States have one or more televisions in them. What once was regarded as a luxury item has become a staple appliance of the American household. Gone are the days of the three channel black and white programming of the early years; that has been replaced by digital flat screen televisions connected to satellite programming capable of receiving thousands of channels from around the world. Although televisions and television programming today differ from those of the telescreens in Orwell’s 1984, we are beginning to realize that the effects of television viewing may be the same as those of the telescreens.
The telescreens in 1984 served two purposes, surveillance and mind control. Unlike the televisions of our present day, the telescreens in 1984 also served as a device constantly monitoring the citizen’s actions by means of an integrated camera and microphone in addition to broadcasting continuous p...
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...her say to us “No, I’m sorry I can’t do that right now, I’m watching my show.” Americans have ceased to live their own lives and have practically become slaves to their televisions and the corporations that stand behind them.
Unlike the citizens of Oceania, we are able to make our own decisions. We can turn off our televisions; we can live our own lives and make our own experiences. We can learn about and do practically anything we want. Most of us do not take advantage of this freedom. In fifty years when my generation has become grandparents, what stories will we have to tell our grandkids? Will they really want to hear about that episode of Friends that we loved so much? Will we really have any knowledge or experiences worthwhile to tell them? Perhaps it won’t even matter. Perhaps our grandkids will be too interested in what they are watching on television to even want to listen to us. Yes we live in the “Land of the Free,” but until we really start taking advantage our freedom to the fullest and pull ourselves away from the television we are no better off than the citizens of Oceania and the telescreens that surround them as they toil on in their non-eventful lives.
In Barbara Ehrenreich’s “The Worst Years of Our Lives,” Ehrenreich denounces the American population’s obsession with television and the resulting decline of activity in the 1950s. Although Ehrenreich is correct that the popularity of television causes the American public to spend more hours in front of the television, what she fails to mention is that television goes beyond cheesy sitcoms and spicy dramas, and serves a greater purpose in society by educating the public and exposing them to new experiences. Television does not turn the American public into “couch potatoes” or “root vegetables,” but rather educates and inspires the public.
1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are being watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s conditions seem to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times. The 1984 community provided many ways to surveill its citizens, one being The Thought Police.
Before the criticism on Jason Caminiti's critical essay, "It's Like 1984 All Over Again" can be distributed, a few unclear terms must be defined. A telescreen is a technological advancement, allowing "Big Brother" to peer into the homes of those who have them (And in 1984, they are mandatory.) The telescreen watches, day and night, and can never be shut off, and can also communicate back. Big Brother is the elusive government in 1984, never seen, only heard of. The Ministry of Truth is the office where Winston, an Outer-Party member works. Ministry of Truth is an ironic title, for all that the Ministry of Truth does is lie to people, changing facts and hiding facts. That's not truth at all, but deceit instead. A prole is another term from 1984, and is short for "prolitariat" or "prolitarian". Proles are pleasure-seeking human beings, representing the lower class of society. The government rarely concerns themselves with prolish matters. Lastly, the V-Chip is not a term from 1984, but a modern day invention. Advocated by former United States president, Bill Clinton, the v-chip is supposed to be used by parents to help block out any questionable material on television.
I strongly agree with Fromm’s viewpoints and interpretations of Orwell’s 1984 text. He warns that the future federal powers will dehumanize society and leave everyone alienated. Thus, I agree with Fromm to the extent that he acknowledges the fact that humanity can indeed cease to exist as a result of our own self-destruction as well as the effect of our actions. Many of his opinions and warnings expressed by Orwell to an extent appear in contemporary society.
Capital punishment has been a hot topic debate the past years, especially now that it is slowly dying out throughout the states. In this paper I have brought out four people’s opinion on their views about capital punishment. With these people ideals, I wanted to bring forth a small sample of people’s ideals to leave the you, the reader, with some perspective on others
War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. The party slogan of Ingsoc illustrates the sense of contradiction which characterizes the novel 1984. That the book was taken by many as a condemnation of socialism would have troubled Orwell greatly, had he lived to see the aftermath of his work. 1984 was a warning against totalitarianism and state sponsored brutality driven by excess technology. Socialist idealism in 1984 had turned to a total loss of individual freedom in exchange for false security and obedience to a totalitarian government, a dysutopia. 1984 was more than a simple warning to the socialists of Orwell's time. There are many complex philosophical issues buried deep within Orwell's satire and fiction. It was an essay on personal freedom, identity, language and thought, technology, religion, and the social class system. 1984 is more than a work of fiction. It is a prediction and a warning, clothed in the guise of science fiction, not so much about what could happen as it is about the implications of what has already happened. Rather than simply discoursing his views on the social and political issues of his day, Orwell chose to narrate them into a work of fiction which is timeless in interpretation. This is the reason that 1984 remains a relevant work of social and philosophical commentary more than fifty years after its completion.
To begin, Mother Teresa stands as a strong activist from India, who deserves recognition for her tremendous actions. Mother Teresa, founder of a religious group of nuns in Calcutta, India, devoted her life to aiding sick and poor people throughout the world. I see Mother Teresa as an important figure to depict, since she dedicated her life to helping other and even inspired others to do the same. Born in war-torn Albania, Mother Teresa survived her childhood and at 19 joined the Sisters of Loreto in India. She served with missionary order of nuns for 20 years, until she had a realization of her life’s mission. She found that she needed to help the poor and sick. So, Mother Teresa descended into the slums of Calcutta and began the Sisters of Charity. From there, she led the Sisters of Charity in ministering to the sick and hungry by giving them much needed food and live. Mother Teresa received local reconviction; but in 1969, after a documentary on her work, she became a celebrity and was deemed a modern day saint. Mother Teresa used this to increase awareness of her work, thus benefiting the poor and sick further. She gave speeches all over the world emphasizing the struggle of the poor. Before her death, Mother Teresa had met a large number of world l...
In conclusion, capital punishment is an unjustifiable act used to punish criminals. The death penalty is not only expensive, but it also lowers our morality. Desmond Tutu once said, "To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." America is meant to be a country that symbolizes justice and the act of the government killing people, regardless of whatever reason, contradicts that. Therefore, the United States should outlaw capital punishment and convert to an alternative punishment, such as life imprisonment without parole, where the criminal can spend the rest of his life locked in a cell and living with what they did, to become the justifiable country it’s known as.
Enforcing death penalty in itself deters people from getting suitable opportunity to ensure that rehabilitation is enhanced. It is necessary to note that many individuals who have been charged with capital punishment have been emotionally and psychologically unstable. Enforcing the death penalty therefore denies them room for rehabilitation. There is a need to advance towards rehabilitation as opposed to advocating for execution. If individuals know that upon committing a capital offence they will be sentenced to death, they will hardly consider reform programs. It is also crucial to note that there is no concrete evidence on advantages derived from the death penalty. The truth is that it only aids in perpetuating death and chains of violence. Prisons should serve as centers to rehabilitate violent fellows, and then return them to the community as fully reformed and responsible individuals. It is therefore not justifiable that a death penalty should be enforced to them at all
Capital Punishment has been a controversial issue in society for centuries. It stands as a significant topic in our community due to its ambiguity in creating and maintaining a less vulnerable society. Skeptics of Capital Punishment are against it in the case of supposedly moral grounds such as wrongfully accusing the subject of the crime as well as the suggestion that human life should be a right for everyone and no one should have the capability to deprive anyone of it. Others argue that it is a highly justifiable method of punishment in serious criminal cases and that society would become a more guarded place if it were more prominently enforced. As a result of the controversy revolving around Capital Punishment, it has been abolished in many countries but remains intact in some. In regards to the positive effects of Capital Punishment, it should be the preferred method of penalizing murderers compared to a lifetime jail sentence, as it protects society, is the most justifiable manner of punishment and warns potential murderers.
Dystopian novels are written to reflect the fears a population has about its government and they are successful because they capture that fright and display what can happen if it is ignored. George Orwell wrote 1984 with this fear of government in mind and used it to portray his opinion of the current government discretely. Along with fear, dystopian novels have many other elements that make them characteristic of their genre. The dystopian society in Orwell’s novel became an achievement because he utilized a large devastated city, a shattered family system, life in fear, a theme of oppression, and a lone hero.
“Nowadays in the modern world, society if affected by more things we can think of. Society is affected by movies, TV shows, TV reality shows, magazines, and books. A report was recorded over a six-month period about Television shows and daily news broadcasts. From September 1, 1999 through February 29, 2000; The Grand Rapid Institute recorded and viewed a few programs and at the end of the month the Institute tallied up the number of letters sent after a recorded program and it showed how unfair the programs were and how people became a democracy to let them know” (TV News 1).
“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” These words fully sum up the essence of Mother Teresa. Having left the world 17 years ago in 1997, her life continues to inspire many. So many lives touched by her. The story of her life inspires an awe of how someone could live such a life starting from her childhood, through adulthood, and ending with her later years and legacy.
Mother Teresa laid her life down for love, making a dent in the society around her by serving the poorest of the poor, leaving a mark in history for her radical abandonment, and raising the standard to all beleivers by challenging the church to a higher calling of loving “Jesus in disguise. “Malcom Muggeridge attempts to capture her life and ministry in his book “Something Beautiful for God.” However, her ministry cannot be described merely through logistics or numbers, because it had greater purpose than to serve. Mother Teresa and her fellow nuns loved God and loved others. Through Mother Teresa is much wisdom to learn, she was a leader whether she intended to be or not, and through her life God was glorified and His love was made known.
In America, you can often find a TV in every room (and sometimes in the bathroom), and various family members can spend hours and hours watching their own programming preferences on their own TV sets and not interacting with each other at all except during meals. Even the dinner hour cannot guarantee family communication. Too often, after-school activities such as sports and other outside interests draw people away from a shared meal. Those who eat alone often do so with a television for company, thereby replacing two-way conversations with the toxins of modern television programming. Television unifies the poor and separates the rich. It is both an anesthetic and a pacifier but it is never a reliable source for the truth.