Futuristic or Now

In 1984 they had their own development of language called "Newspeak." The government in their society controlled everything; even the language. "Don't you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?"(1984 pg 46) They were trying to reduce every aspect of their citizens making them have the illusion of being free but in reality they were slaves.

This language in a way ties into that of Feed and our own society. We gradually begin to create our own "Newspeak" without knowing. For instance we used to say Duh and elementary school when someone made a stupid remark. Just a few years ago it was added to the dictionary. Words that existed during our grandparent's time have either become obsolete and died or we as a society have changed the meaning. In our society we have the freedom of speech but in a way we're not completely free. We can say what we want but if we choose to yell "Fire!" In a theater than we are fined and could possibly serve jail time. So our government is in a way like the one in 1984 they tell us we have freedom of speech but restrict us, and they chose what words live on in a dictionary and what words die. They are in a sense always watching us too. They can monitor our phone calls and emails and can survey us where ever we are out in public. Just a way to keep their eyes on us and make sure we're not a threat.

1984 ended with Winston in prison giving into the government. He was against the party but to save his own life he admitted he loved big brother. In a way we as citizens are like this we talk about the government and complain about what they're doing wrong. Yet more than half of us won't take the stand and tell them they're wrong. Our government is suppose to be run "by the people, for the people," and we hardly see it going that way.

You Never really have PRIVACY

Recently we read 1984. The story line was about how society was and how you were expected to act. You were always being watched or listened to and just about everywhere you went you saw signs that said "Big Brother is Watching You." How far off is this from our society today?

I don't think it's really all that different. Today the government controls our right by putting regulations on them and telling us we can't say certain things or express ourselves certain ways without consequence. However, more importantly since the attacks of 9/11 they can listen to are phone calls, read our emails, dig into our personal lives if something comes across as a potential warning. This is like the novel 1984 in that the government is always watching us. Maybe not through our television or in our homes, but out in the open we are constantly watched and surveyed to make sure we're not a threat. I believe that to an extent it's okay, but there are points where a line needs to be drawn. America is a country built for freedom and in a way we are being enslaved within that freedom.