Society can be controlled in many different ways, just the way it’s shown in the book 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a fictional book, that was published in 1949. The book is focused on a world known as Oceania, where people are isolated and controlled by the government. This book came out around the time when the USSR was beginning to have problems and it would eventually break and new governments had to be established. People in England were afraid something compared to the book 's description could happen, that was the reason the book was such a great hit (Rehnquist 983). In the world of Oceania, telescreens were installed in almost every corner, and out of a the other methods of control, this is the most powerful one used.
Telescreens are television like electronics, they are able to transmit live. They can also watch and hear every movement of every person. These electronics are specifically sensitive in sounds, even a whisper can be heard, “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell 5). Telescreens were like televisions except no channels were available and it could not be turned off, the volume could be turned down though, and at the same time is worked as a camera. Telescreens are powerful in controlling people because not only can they watch people but people become paranoid just knowing they are constantly being watched and heard. Being able to learn how to live to be careful of saying or doing anything wrong is not easy “You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (Orwell 5). Citizens had to live their lives knowing they were being watched. Furthermore telescreens are very powerful because these types of electronics can emotionally affect a person, telescreens completely remove the privacy of every person. It is not the fact that people don 't have privacy it is the feeling of knowing you have no privacy and knowing that you have to be care or otherwise you’ll have to face the consequences. In article, Subjunctive and Interpassive “knowing” in the Surveillance Society, it is explained in the following way, “It cannot simply be unrestrained paranoia or dangerousness. We use the ingredients not only to become afraid or suspicious, but also to cope with our subjection to surveillance, to make our daily routines and effects still make sense in this new world order. This line of questioning asks not what we know, but how we come to feel we know” (Sun-ha Hong 73). Although Oceania has other methods of controlling people like Newspeak, telescreens are the most powerful. This is because Newspeak is like a new language, with some practice this language can be learned and used with no problem, but telescreens are cameras that are constantly watching and a whole new lifestyle has to be learned. Newspeak is not necessarily used all the time, whereas telescreens are never off. Winston for example, talked without using Newspeak in several occasions, like his neighbor, “’Mrs’ was a word somewhat discountenanced by the Party—you were supposed to call everyone ‘comrade’— but with some women one used it instinctively” (Orwell 26). …show more content…
If Oceania did not have telescreens people would have room to feel freedom in their home where there would not be a device wathcing them day and night. Even when it is dark where the telescreens might not be able to see, they are able to hear. People would feel the freedom to doing rebel meetings in their houses, it would have been easier because they would know that there was no one watching. Without the government knowing what was going on inside people’s homes they had no control over them. It was prohibited to date anyone and it would have been impossible for Big Brother to know this without cameras in “private” homes. In this world, telescreens are a huge factor that contributes to the control of the people and it is the most powerful way of having
Telescreens are television like electronics, they are able to transmit live. They can also watch and hear every movement of every person. These electronics are specifically sensitive in sounds, even a whisper can be heard, “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell 5). Telescreens were like televisions except no channels were available and it could not be turned off, the volume could be turned down though, and at the same time is worked as a camera. Telescreens are powerful in controlling people because not only can they watch people but people become paranoid just knowing they are constantly being watched and heard. Being able to learn how to live to be careful of saying or doing anything wrong is not easy “You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (Orwell 5). Citizens had to live their lives knowing they were being watched. Furthermore telescreens are very powerful because these types of electronics can emotionally affect a person, telescreens completely remove the privacy of every person. It is not the fact that people don 't have privacy it is the feeling of knowing you have no privacy and knowing that you have to be care or otherwise you’ll have to face the consequences. In article, Subjunctive and Interpassive “knowing” in the Surveillance Society, it is explained in the following way, “It cannot simply be unrestrained paranoia or dangerousness. We use the ingredients not only to become afraid or suspicious, but also to cope with our subjection to surveillance, to make our daily routines and effects still make sense in this new world order. This line of questioning asks not what we know, but how we come to feel we know” (Sun-ha Hong 73). Although Oceania has other methods of controlling people like Newspeak, telescreens are the most powerful. This is because Newspeak is like a new language, with some practice this language can be learned and used with no problem, but telescreens are cameras that are constantly watching and a whole new lifestyle has to be learned. Newspeak is not necessarily used all the time, whereas telescreens are never off. Winston for example, talked without using Newspeak in several occasions, like his neighbor, “’Mrs’ was a word somewhat discountenanced by the Party—you were supposed to call everyone ‘comrade’— but with some women one used it instinctively” (Orwell 26). …show more content…
If Oceania did not have telescreens people would have room to feel freedom in their home where there would not be a device wathcing them day and night. Even when it is dark where the telescreens might not be able to see, they are able to hear. People would feel the freedom to doing rebel meetings in their houses, it would have been easier because they would know that there was no one watching. Without the government knowing what was going on inside people’s homes they had no control over them. It was prohibited to date anyone and it would have been impossible for Big Brother to know this without cameras in “private” homes. In this world, telescreens are a huge factor that contributes to the control of the people and it is the most powerful way of having