From the Archives: March 5,2004

Envision a society where freedom of choice was no longer an option. The government has the ability to listen to your telephone conversations. The FBI even observes the books you check out of the library. A person’s activity can be tracked with a mini microchip inserted in their body.

Not so surprisingly, this is all too real.

After George Orwell’s predictions in his novel 1984, it should have been more clear how much control the government actually has. Orwell’s commentary about society’s corruption, published in 1949, is alarmingly similar to the world we live in now, 20 years after the projected date of his novel.

According to Katie Stein, who is currently teaching 1984 to her sophomore English class, the novel is important because of the government’s increasing presence in our lives.

“So many of Orwell’s ideas have come true, or are leaning towards it—for example, surveillance, the Patriot Act. The way a government tries to control people through fear,” Stein said.

According to Stein, students are unexpectedly interested in the book and how Orwell’s predictions may have come true. “It always surprises me. It’s a very dark book,” she said.

Stein said that student interest is centered around the relationship between similar studies in different school subjects such as World History.

“Because it is connected to their curriculum about WWII, they’ve made connections about past history,” she said.

The rights taken away from the characters in 1984 are ones we take for granted today. According to Adam Rothschild, sophomore, “It makes us aware of the freedoms we possess here in America and what could happen if we lost them.”

Breck O’Neill, sophomore, believes that the book is an informative prediction. “It gives us insight as to what the world would be like if we lost our government. There is nothing as drastic as the book,” O’Neill said.

Big Brother, the head of Orwell’s fictitious government, drained individuality out of society while using control mechanisms to create a uniform society. His totalitarian government was one that constantly watched its citizens.

Ashley Zavagno, sophomore, said that in today’s society people are aware of how much control the government has, but are not interested in making a stand or getting involved in politics.

Although it is written in the constitution that citizens are guaranteed a fair trial, shortly after Sept. 11, suspected terrorists were jailed without a trial. Big Brother’s ability to make citizens of Oceania disappear without reason remains in close similarity to our own government’s actions.

“The way our government can intrude into our private life with the Patriot Act is similar to the surveillance the government has in 1984,” Alyssa Ravasio, sophomore, said. “Our government can read our e-mails, listen to voice messages, etc. How long is it until they watch us 24/7 through telescreens?”

The government is even interested in what books citizens are reading. Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the director of the FBI may be allowed to secretly search suspicious books regarding terrorism.

The New York State Board of Regents, an organization that monitors the exams required to graduate from public schools in New York, edited out certain parts of Anton Chekhov’s classic novel, An Upheaval.

The board made the decision based on the fact that the details were too extreme for the readers. The Regents censored this story for material, thought to be too callous, which was removed without consultation with those taking the exam.

Big Brother similarly would remove literary works that contained certain information that would supply its readers with ideas of rebellion. These works were erased from society as if they had never existed, something the board of regents took to heart.

Books are not the only items under the government’s watch today. People have become recent targets as well. Applied Digital Solutions is in the process of creating a microchip that can be used to track a person. VeriChip, a $200 dollar rice-sized chip, is inserted into the body via a long needle and can monitor a person’s movement.

Airport security has also reached new limits, expanding beyond simple surveillance cameras. U.S. Visit, part of Homeland Security, allows the United States to track foreign visitors more closely. Visitors with visas are required to be fingerprinted and have a digital photo taken, which are both entered in a tracking database in the computer.

Perhaps the government’s goal is to limit the presence of foreigners in the United States in order to protect the well-being of American citizens, a sentiment to which Orwell’s Big Brother could probably relate. Big Brother’s fear was that the proles, the people of Orwell’s fictitious society would discover the lies that had been created to “protect” them.

The increasing presence of cameras has become all too similar to Orwell’s fictional surveillance system, as new technology has created an easier opportunity for the government to observe its citizens. Surveillance cameras placed in airports, department stores and lampposts minimize people’s privacy.

The clear democratic nature of our government is at times unquestionable, however, Orwell’s predictions in his novel appear to be well-founded. From the surveillance cameras to fingerprinting to the monitoring of library books, our government’s “security” has reached new heights of safety, but has it come at the price of individuality?