Nineteen Eighty Four is a classic dystopian fiction as well as a satire written by George Orwell, published in 1949. The novel has been adapted in a number of plays, television shows, films and speeches. It is the story of Winston Smith, a bureaucrat who lives in Oceania where people are constantly under the surveillance of the government.
He works in a ‘Ministry of Truth’ where facts are moulded and the past doctored. What was real and what was not was decided by the ‘Ministry of truth’. The universe created by Orwell had posters of Oceania's Dictator, called lovingly enough, The Big Brother. The posters bearing the infamous quote ‘Big Brother Is Watching You’ was a constant reminder of surveillance.
‘Telescreens’ that display news propaganda and were also used to monitor the people. Not only actions, even thoughts, opinions and behaviour were controlled by the authority in the Orwellian world. Any thought against the authority was caught by the ‘Thought Police’. The novel addresses the subjects of totalitarian system, war, extreme censorship and the way facts are manipulated within politics.
Our Dystopian World?
The book remains relevant in today’s age of fake news and surveillance. The speculations of rise in collection of data and surveillance by the authorities can be seen globally. Recently, the Covid-19 contact tracing app of India, Germany, France, Bahrain and several other Gulf states were alleged for being used as mass surveillance tools by the government.
In today’s age social media is a source of news, opinions, and overflow of information. It is hard to distinguish between fake and credible news. Whatever is manufactured on the social
media becomes the reality for the people. Even historical facts are manipulated through Whatsapp forwards for political gains. The Social Media mobs that attack any expression of dissent on Facebook or Twitter are similar to the ‘Thought Police’ of the Orwellian world where even thoughts and behaviour were monitored.
media becomes the reality for the people. Even historical facts are manipulated through Whatsapp forwards for political gains. The Social Media mobs that attack any expression of dissent on Facebook or Twitter are similar to the ‘Thought Police’ of the Orwellian world where even thoughts and behaviour were monitored.
In a way social media controls the opinion and thoughts of many people because the social media algorithms decide what we see and starts showing similar kind of posts. This blurs the line between fake and real news for the people. Many of the mainstream media channels stay away from the actual issues these days, keeping the audience away from reality and the reality struggles to exist.
Though there are some striking similarities, but we can still protect today’s world from becoming completely like the Orwellian world of Nineteen Eighty Four. Thus Orwell’s book acts as a wake up call for the whole world to be aware, rational and to preserve the independence of thought and truth.