1984 Surveilance
...ged and shortened every year because the Party believes that if there are no words in a language that are capable of expressing independent and rebellious thoughts, no one will be able to rebel or even conceive the idea of rebelling. Sex, in Oceania, is considered a duty and nothing else. Sex, which is an act of individualism from its emotional and physical pleasure, is prohibited. As the novel progresses, the timid but rebellious Winston Smith rises to challenge this authority. He dislikes the whole notion of this totalitarian government, which forbids him from doing things that he enjoys and desires. Winston longs to write in his diary freely, have sex whenever he wants to, and think and feel independently. During his attempt to fight the Party and its totalitarian government, he meets Julia, who possesses and supports Winston’s attack on the Party, and he immediately falls in love with her. By falling in love, Winston and Julia position themselves in a dangerous position, for love is prohibited in Oceania. These two attempt to replace totalitarianism with democracy, but fail when both are captured by the Thought Police and are taken to jail. And during this time, the Party inflicts Winston with tremendous beating and starvation to have him become one of the Party members again. Although he knows that his determination to maintain his hate for the Party will lead the Party to torture him even more, he realizes that it is his deep desire to continue rebelling against the Party. Winston tells him that “[he] hates Big Brother”(232) O'Brien, one of the Party members, then instructs the guards to take Winston to Room 101 where he will experience his greatest fear, rats. As soon as rats are “about to leap onto [His] face and bore straight into it” (235), Winston screams out “Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her” (236). The physical pain that is to take place is too painful for Winston; as a result, he desires that this punishment will occur even to someone he once loved, Julia. This shows Winston’s give up on his principles, will, mind, and spirit. Surveillance is also a characteristic of a totalitarian government. Orwell argues that Western countries as well can be considered or on the verge of becoming totalitarian countries. In 1984, a giant telescreen is placed in every citizen’s room and is used to monitor his/her behavior such as rebellious schemes, thoughts, and expressions. Everywhere the citizens go, they are constantly reminded by the poster that says, “Big Brother is Watching You” to display that the Party authorities are always inspecting them. Little boys and girls are brainwashed to become Junior Spies. That is, they are trained and forced to spy on their parents and report on any instances of disloyalty to the Party. Orwell fears that besides the obvious totalitarian government in Russia and Germany after the World War II, the Western countries, too, have become or is threatened to become totalitarian societies. Although those countries might not possess the harsh and brutal characteristics described earlier in the essay, they retain the idea of surveillance that connects to totalitarianism. Today, many of the things that we do are kept under surveillance. And day-by-day, the privacy that we possess seems to diminish. Cameras are common and even required in banks, stores, houses, and offices. People ...