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1984 Technology Analysis

Decent Essays

In 1984 the use of technology dominates the world similar to the society we live in today. In the novel technology is actually used to spy on the citizens of Oceania, the government uses telescreens and microphones to keep track of what the citizens are saying and doing; the government is also making sure that the citizens are not showing any signs of emotion so as they do not create an uprising against the government. The United States however is a free country that allows its citizens to freely think and act as they please as long as it is inside the confines of the law. However, in the United States there is also a lot of use of technology. Technology in modern society is used freely to keep up with friends and family on social media, but …show more content…

With the type of government in 1984”you could not assume that you were much safer in the country than in London. There were no telescreens of course, but there was always the danger of concealed microphones by which your voice might be picked up and recognized” (Orwell 104). This quote is stating that as a citizen, you may think that the technology is not around, but in the end even the smallest bit of technology can be there watching or listening to you. The Government in 1984 even trains little kids to spy on people and use “ear trumpets for listening through keyholes! My little girl brought one home the other night- tried it out on our sitting room door, and reckoned she could hear twice as much as with her ear to the hole” (Orwell 55). In the U.S. the government does not train little kids to spy on people but in a way there is a similar situation going on, the government has been secretly monitoring the technology that is being used in our daily lives, and is using the technology against us. In today’s world “every day the U.S. government intercepts and stores nearly 2 billion emails, phone calls and other forms of communication, NSA members have come forward and described what exactly is going on” (The U.S. government is monitoring us). One of the NSA members that came forward and stated that “You are being watched, the government has a secret system- a machine- that spies on you every hour of the day” (The U.S. government is monitoring us). These quotes of what is going on in modern day society point out how, and describe slightly why the government watches us and takes advantage of the technology that is readily available to us. Clearly the novel and the current day U.S. are similar in a couple of ways, however the most obvious way that 1984 and the modern day society is

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