The Dystopian World Of George Orwell's Big Brother

Technology has great benefits, one could listen to music anywhere at anytime, one could search anything in their pocket. However, people who use technology blindly agree to give up their privacy. Without knowing, the technological world is advancing and adapting to newer methods that define humanity. For example, 1984 by George Orwell describe a dystopian world controlled by one authoritative figure, Big Brother. In this world, everyone is monitored by telescreens, giving them no privacy, relationships are strictly for the purpose of procreation, and are only to love Big Brother. Based on 1984, our modern, advanced technology is taking our world closer and becoming identical to the world of Big Brother such as artificial relationships, governmental

control on technology, and diminishing our English language.
An indicator that our technology is creating a world similar to the world of Big Brother is that today, society has become less and less socially interactive. For example, Sharon Johnson shows the many indicators of how the modern world today has become less and less socially interactive in dating. Sharon Johnson describes Drew Johnson’s social life that consists mostly of instant text messaging over face-to-face interaction. Johnson also points out that technology has given technological people a “safer way to flirt” and “hiding behind the technology” to avoid the live awkwardness. She says that “we really see this generation as having a huge handicap in communication. We have our heads down in our smartphones a lot. We don't know how to express our emotions and we tend to hide behind technology, computers and social media” (Johnson, par. 20). With technology rapidly advancing more than human beings can keep up, our humanity diminishes. Humans are social beings, it’s how we are able to create such inventions like technology and make most things possible. However, as we adapt to the world of technology, we lose the social interaction. People lose the meaning of true love. Johnson does point out the fact that finding relationships through the internet is a “safer way to flirt,” but only to lose the best experiences. Although many believe that younger generation still has the social interaction, just a different way of expressing it, the generation still is lost in personal socialization. A person may express their true feelings on through means of technology, but how about to those who don’t have access to technology? How can one express their passion and their true emotions to someone in person? So many relationships today were made through dating apps and randomization. And many of those relationships were not made from love or made from trust or human connection.

It was only appealed to what was presented and skipped the bonding to truly know the person that is about to become the committed partner for life. With technology this advanced, the world today we have is very much alike to the Oceania. Winston’s feeble relationship with his wife, Katharine, is one of the many couples that demonstrate how technology is bridging our world closer to their world in Oceania. In Oceania, the Party’s rules were that no couple shall love each other, only for the purpose to bear children. Winston had been arranged with Katharine for the sole purpose to “serve their duty to the Party” by creating children. However, because the relationship existed not out of love, both Winston and Katharine mutually felt dejected and agonizing awkwardness. Winston felt indifferent “as soon as he touched [Katharine] she seemed to wince and stiffen. To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image. And what was strange was that even when she was clasping him against her he had the feeling that she was simultaneously pushing him away with all her strength. The rigidity of her muscles managed to convey that

impression. She would lie there with shut eyes, neither resisting nor co-operating but submitting” (Orwell, 66). In Oceania, the Party is to rule that no relationship shall be based on love. Although it is not exactly like our dating culture, it is certainly getting closer to the idea. With technology this advanced, we are progressing to unable to express our feelings, and instead to be committed without knowing. In this situation, Winston had sexual intercourse with Katharine when both do not have mutual feelings for each other. The same can be witnessed in many of today’s relationships. They were formed from just with a click on a screen. The technology we have today shapes the world we have similar to Oceania’s world because in their world, relationships are formed without the socialization and mutual feelings. The same thing could be identified in the relationships that were formed over the Internet; society peer pressure them into expectations when feelings aren’t mutual. Technology in both the modern world and the world of Oceania create artificial relationships and demonstrate the similarities the society today is becoming closer like Winston and Katharine, fake and live in a lie.
In the world of modern technology, almost all tech users have instant messaging to connect with people anywhere in the world. As a result, the creation of short language, or slang, has brought the modern world to be almost identical to the world of Big Brother. Oceania’s language, Newspeak, is an example of how our world is closer to Big Brother’s world. In Oceania, the outer Party members, like Winston and Syme, are held responsible for altering the facts of history and diminishing the English language. Although many don’t understand why must Newspeak consist of a couple of words, Syme explains to Winston its purpose. Syme tells Winston, “Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten” (Orwell, 52). Ever since the Internet was created, people are commonly using slang more often. In Oceania, the members are adapting to their form of language called Newspeak. Newspeak is to diminish words to express the same thought. However, according to Syme, Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought so that no person would be able to express any of their emotions or desires because there would be no words. No person in Oceania would able to have control in anything, they’re not able to rebel against their government, choose who they want to love, or think for who they are. Similar to the technology that today’s world has, the “Newspeak” that technological users use are such like “LOL” (laugh out loud) or shorten “you are” for “u r.” In society, many use slang to conserve time, but it also indicates the person’s level of intelligence. So when the citizens Oceania use Newspeak, many of them are diminishing their intelligence and oblivious to the Party’s totalitarian rule over them. In comparison to our world, when tech users are becoming more adaptive to slang, we are curtailing our expansion of knowledge and our thinking to become who we are, and as a result, we let ourselves become ignorant from who rules over us, our government, and we allow them to take advantage. Although the slang culture is not exactly like Oceania’s Newspeak, society is progressing towards the dystopian world.
Lastly, the most important indicator that conveys how our technology creates similarity in both our world and the world of 1984 is that the government always has total authority over most uses of technology for the desire of power. For example, O’Brien arresting Winston by secretly monitoring him, and explaining Winston the Party’s principle, Ingsoc, shows how today’s government is closer to Big Brother. After breaking the Party’s law, Winston gets caught for having intimacy and forming a bond with Julia, a fellow outer party member. O’Brien, an inner party member, tries to “fix” Winston’s “insanity” for believing in such democratic values like the Party ruling over Oceania’s citizens because, according to Winston, “human beings are not fit to govern themselves.” However, O’Brien believes otherwise. O’Brien explains to Winston that “the Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently” (Orwell, 263). O’Brien is a Party member who explains to Winston the purpose of the Party. Although Winston believes in such democratic values, O’Brien states that its sole purpose of the Party was just for power. It had no interest in the people. On the other hand, in today’s society, Edward Snowden is one of the prime examples of demonstrating the government control over technology by exposing confidential, yet disturbing information of invading people’s privacy. Edward Snowden worked under the United States government only to discover that the National Security Agency runs global surveillance into people’s privacy without them knowing. Snowden leaked this information to the public and has been seeking asylum ever since because the United States Justice Department pressed charges against Snowden for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. Ever “since Snowden's leak, intelligence agencies have continued and even increased their surveillance -- doubling their warrantless searches for information on Americans in an NSA database from 2013 to 2015, for example -- with little backlash” (Sendik, par. 5). Snowden and Winston are alike. Both believe of the democratic values of government representing and leading in the interest of the people. However, both discover the truth about their own government. Winston discovered that the Party’s principles had no interest in ruling for the people, but instead, existing for its selfish purpose of power. Alike to Snowden, he believed in America’s most basic rights and democratic principles to only find out our own National Security Agency to be violating their own laws. He discovered that the government implemented surveillance globally, spying into people’s private life without them knowing. The reason behind is because the government desires for total control over our technological uses; although they state it’s for “our safety” reasonings, it also gives them total power over society, just as the inner Party could control all of the telescreens that monitor every member. With both the Party and our government having total control over our technological uses, it brings us closer to become one and live in a dystopian world.
Technology has bridged the world we live in and Oceania to become similar over time and almost be identical.

The fabricated relationships like Winston and Katharine live in as to Internet dates, is an example of how the modern world is like the world of Big Brother. The diminishing English language is also how our world is similar to Oceania because society is narrowing their expression of freedom of control. This ties into how government has totalitarian control over the people through surveillance in all forms of technology. Society must be aware of what other factors are played into the technology we use. When we sign the Terms and Conditions without truly knowing what the conditions are and believe the world is safe, society lets the government have totalitarian power in their selfishness. Society must live in a world to be aware of their government and their decisions to make a difference to avoid the dystopian world Orwell predicts us to

be.