1984 shows how our lives will not be as secret as they are now. Oceania has noprivacy and America is turning into that. In some ways America already is likeOceania. There are many elements in the book to compare with aspects in Americansociety today. So in many ways George Orwell was right and maybe there soon willbe a government very similar to the one in 1984. One element in the book 1984 isBig Brother. He is the ruler of Oceania. He is not one person but a name for thewhole government. Big Brother could represent our government today. We may notknow it but the government knows everything about us. All they need is our nameand social security number and they could learn a lot about us. The governmenthas our previous jobs, where we went to school and where we live. Big Brother isalso like that in the book, probably even worse. Big Brother is even moreintruding than our government today and the only way to get away with things isby thinking them. It even says on a sign, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (5).
Another element in the book is the Thought Police. They are much different thanthe police in our society today. The police in American society can arrest youfor things you only do while the thought police can arrest you for things youthink. “It was even conceivable that the Thought Police watched everybody allthe time” (6). If they dont see you getting involved or screaming duringthe two minute hate they will arrest you. The only similarity is that they bothenforce the law. Otherwise they are totally different. The telescreen in thebook watches almost every move you do. It invades your privacy and you have noway of getting away from it except by thinking. “Any sound Winston made, abovethe level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it” (6). Today we havesurveillance cameras, which watch you too, but these are for safety purposes sono one can rob a store or commit a crime. These cameras are not everywhereeither, only in stores, banks, buildings, etc. So I dont think surveillancecameras and the telescreen are comparable. Another element is The Brotherhood,”an underground network of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of thestate” (15). This can be compared to God. It is the peoples hope. This isthe only way the people will overthrow the government. God is our hope insociety while Big Brother was their hope. Only some people knew it becauseothers were happy with the government. But they didnt know the government wastaking too much control. The Brotherhood is trying to save the people. I thinkthere is a similarity between that and God. One last element are the Ministries.
There are four ministries “between which the entire apparatus of governmentwas divided” (8). This can be compared to our government. We are divided intosections too. Ours are different and we usually have one main person in chargeof those sections such as, the secretary of defense and secretary of state.
These are much similar to the Ministry of Peace and Ministry of Plenty. So itshows they had a state of order as we do. In conclusion I think America isturning into Oceania. Your credit card knows a lot about you, like what you buy.
With computers today all your information is out there. We give out our creditcard number when it comes to computers so we have to trust a lot of people.
Certain people know things about us that we dont know about. It is not as badas Oceania but they are secretly taking over.
