1984
...riminals. Every home, place of business, government building had telescreens installed. Telescreens allowed the Party to see and hear everything that was occurring at any particular place and time. It created such paranoia amongst its citizens that people like the protagonist Winston would be conscious of his facial expressions when he was in a room with a telescreen. When eating at the cafeteria at the Ministry of Truth he was careful not to show a reaction when listening to Syme’s ranting. The wrong look or bead of sweat could do him in as thought criminal and to his inevitable death. The place where Winston found peace and solace was the room above Mr. Carrington store where there weren’t any telescreens watching or hearing him. The concept of telescreens can be found in today society all around us. Every time we send an email, talk on a cell phone, purchase online via credit card or pay pal, etc. The same technologies that grant us freedoms and convenience have the same capacity to harm and to enslave us if not respected. These tools like email and cell phones allow our personal information to travel through cyberspace and potentially into government or criminal’s hands. One of the most popular crimes nowadays is identity theft and credit card fraud. In order to maintain a strong control over its people the Party had to control every aspect of every citizen’s life. The control of information and the press has historically been part of every totalitarian society including Oceania. It was Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth to rewrite articles, books, and pamphlets in order for those pieces of media to conform to what the Party wanted its constituents to read. All written media that did not conform to the Party was thrown down the Memory Hole. This type of government suppression through the manipulation of media is still common today. It happens everyday in today’s authoritarian regimes but also happens in democratic societies, although there is never any evidence supporting it. The U.S. government shows the War in Iraq the way they want it portrayed. Information is supplied us on their terms not ours. During times of war it is never clear what is reality or what is a deception. It is the aim to maintain a level of high moral during these difficult times, depressing news of defeats and casualties bring the general moral of the country which eventually brings down the moral of soldiers In 1984, the book of the Brotherhood explains that WAR IS PEACE. The Party is continuously at war, thereby consuming labor, energy and materials. By consuming all this, war does not allow the lower class to enrich themselves, therefore they remain poor and ignorant and at peace: less likely to revolt. Recently the US government seems to be constantly at war and the majority of our soldiers come from very poor families and neighborhoods. “The invention of print, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and ...