Essay About 1984 Novel: Is Our Technology Taking Us Closer to the World of Big Brother?

Introduction

In the book 1984 by George Orwell, he opens the debate on how the United States government uses different forms of technological innovations to infiltrate the private life of its citizens. In his writing of the book, Orwell seems to debunk sensationally the idea that the USA respects the right to confidentiality as he shows the citizens as consistently under surveillance and censorship (Dice 46). He points out some of the specific innovations used by the government to invade the privacy of individuals including telescreens, microphones, speech writing and versificator. These forms of surveillance ensure the citizen's loyalty to the government and aim to dispel anyone who has the potential to challenge the state. The author expresses his dissatisfaction with the way the US government uses technology. In his book, he writes "In the far distance a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered for an instant like a bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol, snooping into people's windows." (1.1.4).

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Technology and privacy issues

Today, technological progress has revolutionized virtually every sector of the economy. Further developments and innovations continue to be realized as scientists and technicians continue doing research in the laboratories and testing them in different fields. This trend points to the fact that society is not turning away from the Big Brother. In actual sense, surveillance has become more powerful and modernized, widespread and nothing seems impossible to monitor. Ideally, technology is becoming more advanced every day even beyond the expectation of human minds (Dice 46). Different forms of technology including cell phones, television, and computers continue to be an integral part of every community. The extent to which human beings have become usurped in the use of technology may sometimes make it difficult to convince them that every time they use something like a computer, then their activities are closely monitored. With the increased use of personal computers, governments manage to access personal information at will.

In a real democracy, the principle of confidentiality and privacy of private information are paramount, but Orwell points to America on a different image as one that does not respect personal privacy. In fact, he exposes the government as using technology to suppress dissenting voices among the citizenry. According to the 1984 book, Orwell indicates that the move by the USA government to continually tap personal details and online activities amounts to the violation of the Fourth Amendment of the US constitution that prohibits any state officer from controlling the cities.

Who was Big Brother in 1984?

The Big Brother in 1984 is a concept that defines an omniscient figure in the society that determines what constitutes reality and how it is interpreted. The many cameras fitted in public places and data gathering technologies are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the technologies provide sufficient intelligence that when acted upon can facilitate the identification of criminal elements and their plans dismantled in time. Nonetheless, it prevents people from openly talking about and finding information about illegal activities since by the time any person searches critical information such as those bout terrorists, their information are tracked, and they eventually become branded as criminals.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that technology has been appreciated to be the solution to many problems that humanity faced in the past, it has ushered in new controversies especially on how it is used in real life situations. One such controversy is undermining the principles of privacy as governments tap personal information without individual consents (Orwell 16). In fact, the author of 1984 projects that within the next seven decades; the activities of people will be monitored, controlled and dictated by the Big brother who is an anonymous management unit that controls the use of technology.

Works Cited

Dice, Mark. Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True. San Diego, CA: The Resistance, 2011. Print.

Orwell, George, and Charlotte Wood. 1984, 2016. Internet resource.