“1984“ is a powerful, enigmatic and captivating novel. It has become a cornerstone in the discussion about propaganda, censorship, control, oppression, surveillance and technology. At the core, it is George Orwell’s cynical take on the totalitarian regimes of his time, examining the disempowerment of the population in order to concentrate extreme power. But beyond this, it is as much a cautionary tale as it is a prophecy – providing a glimpse into a world where technology and mass surveillance are exploited to keep an entire population under control.
In order to display the silence of a questioning voice under a repressive regime, “1984” is narrated by a low-level party member Winston. The setting, the dystopian super-state of Oceania, is heavily subjugated by the selective facts the ruling party considers the truth. Orwell manages to reflect the significance of surveillance and terror in totalitarian regimes. Telescreens, used both to monitor and communicate with the populace, are about as ubiquitous as the figure of “Big Brother,” the avowed leader of Ingsoc and the original architect of the rebellion that brought said party to power.
However, within a classroom discussion, I vividly remembered a classmate arguing that “1984” is rather long-winded, often with various details introduced near the opening of the novel leaving them with little to no breathing room. But perhaps it is this technique of detail upon detail that Orwell uses very tactfully, particularly in order to carry out world-building, wasting no time beating around the bush. Indeed, this narrative style was one of my favorite parts of the novel.
Orwell’s 1984 encompasses a variety of themes, but perhaps the themes most relevant to the 21st century are the depiction of surveillance, comparable to the acceleration of the same given the advent of AI.
As the novel is an integral part of the literary canon, it is easy for many to believe it is somewhat irrelevant today. However, in the present day, the Orwellian technological dystopia does not seem as outlandish and far-o as we consider it to be.
With the arrival of the digital age, the global population has been forced to shift to a more technologically-inclined way of living, irrespective of the feasibility of obtaining gadgets. For many, having access to a device is a privilege, but the workplaces and systems constantly being put into place seem to hold a blatant disregard for this inequity. It is this compulsion to utilise devices every step of the way that seems to eliminate the choice one can make as to whether or not the digital way of life is one they are willing to adopt.
In many ways, the golden age of surveillance is already here. Surveillance states – wherein the government has full authority to remotely follow a vast majority of the population – are becoming more present globally, with a pervasive system designed to make the population toe the social line. Even online, where a majority of our daily activities are conducted, a nucleus of institutions are constantly filtering what is visible and invisible to users, surveying and vetting information in a manner that is no less thorough than depicted by Orwell.
Today’s “thoughtcrimes” are purged from the system, and users are now banned completely if their actions are deemed detrimentally impactful to the community by this same core group of monitors. Our mobile phones themselves take the place of the not-so-fictional telescreens, a medium through which we become ever susceptible to being monitored.
All this has been accelerated by artificial intelligence. The fundamental depiction of authority in Orwell’s “1984” was a government that was omnipresent, all-seeing and all-knowing. With technology becoming an instrument of power today, , the ethical implications of holding such a tool are many. For example, the use of facial recognition is growing more common, nowadays replacing the purpose of travel tickets. However, this also means that it has become more and more possible to hold a map of an individual’s movements – effectively, a remote tracker. A subtle, detached, and yet almost flawless method of surveillance.
