Big brother is watching you! 11 Orwell’s predictions that came true
If I say that modern-day society has wholly turned into Orwell's dystopian world, that would be a gross exaggeration. Some elements like totalitarianism, war, and hunger are easy similarities to point out.
However, some aspects of our world present a more diluted and subtle version of the 1984 novel. Let us take a look at the obvious and not-so-obvious dystopian characteristics that exist in our world.
Setting
1984 is set in Air Strip one, a province of Great Britain. It is part of the superstate Oceania that is ruled by a figurehead known as Big brother and his organization called “The Party”. It represents a dystopian future that has perpetual war, intense citizen surveillance, and state-run propaganda.
Plot
The main protagonist is Winston Smith, a 39-year-old civil servant in the department of Truth. His job was to alter and destroy any newspaper or press statement that contradicted Big brother's views.
Emmanuel Goldstein is a revolutionist that openly condemns Big Brother’s stance and advocates for democracy, freedom of the press, and thought. It was believed that he once was a core member of the party but later parted ways.
Smith is internally drawn toward Goldstein’s stance and starts to keep a diary of thoughts (which is a crime) in which he condemns Big Brother and his rule.
What inspired 1984?
If you have read this masterpiece, you will realize that only personal trauma could give rise to such a poetic and moving story. George Orwell, although famous for being a satirist was also a Burmese police officer and a soldier in the Spanish civil war (1936–39).
Initially, he was an optimist who believed that there is an end to the world’s suffering. He also supported Joseph Stalin in his so-called movement against fascism.
As World War II started, he realized that Stalin and his Spanish nemesis Franco were responsible for the mass slaughter and destruction of innocent human beings. Naturally, his admiration for Communism as a just system was reversed and he later became a socialist.
Predictions
- Intense Surveillance:
In Oceania, privacy was a myth. At home, there was a telescreen that could record and see citizens’ actions. In addition, hidden microphones, cameras, and secret police gave you away. Nowadays, Whatsapp or Instagram show your activity status, cameras capture your movements and you could be tracked down with your location.
2. Books Belong In Trash:
Expressing your personal thoughts in writing was known as a thought crime.
The thing that he was about to do was to open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since they were no longer any laws) but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced labor camp)
The main focus of the civilization was shifted towards bland entertainment produced by the Ministry of Truth and nobody owned books. Similarly, in the 21st century, books and journals have been replaced by YouTube shorts, reels, and Tiktoks which are addictive and short-term entertainment.
3. Desensitized to violence:
Death, injury, and tragedy were considered a form of amusement. Movie scenes in which refugees were bombed were applauded by the public in theatres. Public executions were attended by children and adults with great enthusiasm.
Death and stripping of human dignity never bothered anyone. In today’s world, our audience also loves to consume violent action films like Kill Bill, Rambo, Predator, etc.
Likewise, according to APA, aggressive games like Doom, and Mortal Kombat which most users enjoy, increase wild thoughts, feelings, and behavior in real life.
4. Ecstasy:
Life for people in Oceania was monotonous and dull. They were being watched over the whole time giving less chance for them to relax and unwind. Telescreens would dictate orders like when to leave for the office, do the daily exercise (to keep fit), and what not?
This is why people including the main character Smith relied on Victory Gin and Victory Cigarettes to lessen their frustration. Similarly, in our world, around 71 million suffer from drug abuse due to mental stresses and other causes.
5. Language:
Newspeak was the official language of Oceania. It was a dry (less expressive) language as it removed a lot of negative words like “bad” which was replaced by “Ungood”. Through this, it was much easier to control people’s minds and avoid any sort of tension between the state and individuals.
In addition, it promotes the narrowing of human thought and idea diversity. A modern substitute for Newspeak is Political correctness. A person who doesn’t adhere to political correctness is canceled as a result.
6. Media Hysteria:
Although Emmanuel Goldstein was a hated figure in Big Brother’s territory yet he was endlessly discussed everywhere.
But what was strange was that although Goldstein was hated and despised by everbody, although everyday and a thousand times a day, on platforms, on the telescreens, in newspapers, in books, his theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed…
In oppressive states like North Korea, it is common to spew as much hate against the ideological opponent as possible.
A peaceful and logical debate has no place in such regimes and citizens are brainwashed into an unhealthy obsession with their nationalism. Any critique of the state and its followers are considered traitors who have no place in society.
7. No justice:
People accused of thought crimes were not given a free trial instead they were sacked and disappeared overnight. Nor was there any concept of the intensity of crimes that determined appropriate punishments.
These kinds of scenes are common in Deep states where resistant elements are illegally prosecuted, assassinated, and exiled from their homeland.
8. Tampering records/statistics:
One of the functions of the Ministry of Truth was to hide every past evidence that told the truth. In this way, they were trying to rewrite history in their own favor.
A number of ‘The Times’ which might, because of changes in political alignment, or mistaken prophecies uttered by Big Brother, … rewritten a dozen times still stood on the files bearing its original date, and no other copy existed to contradict it. Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again…
Moreover, statistics regarding industrial production were also exaggerated to show growth. In our world, a lot of states release fake figures related to GDP, inflation rate, population census, etc. A third, independent fact-checking source is then relied upon in such circumstances.
9. No peace:
Ever since the reign of Big brother, Oceania was always at war either with Eurasia or East Asia. Eurasia and East Asia were two other global powers at that time.
The concept that three powers can single-handedly impact the geopolitics of the whole world is something we experienced in WW II (Britain, the US, and Soviet).
The cold war (a term coined by Orwell) followed after 1947 between US and USSR which were once allies. The change of allies is something that Orwell also depicted in his novel when Oceania paired with East Asia to fight its former partner Eurasia.
10. Young scavengers:
Children are always impressionable. That is one reason why they were so idolized by the party’s figurehead. Toxic nationalism was injected into their minds at a ripe age through slogans, posters, telescreens, movies, etc.
Relentless and undisciplined, they even got their parents arrested for thought crimes. In this digital age, the younger generation is quite polarized, leaving no room for critical thinking. Partial blame can go to early exposure to social media.
11. Standard of living:
As most of the budget was spent on war and militia, ordinary people lived awful life. Scarcity of food, poor residential infrastructure, and shortfall of essential items (like razor blades) limited people’s joy.
This was in stark contrast to the glamorous army parades and high-security deployment at governmental departments.
One close example is North Korea. Survivors tell stories of how the media projected a prosperous image of the country by showing festivals, parades, and processions but in reality, people were dying of poverty.
Bottom Line
A bit intense read right? If you feel more similarities between Orwell’s 1984 and our world, share in the comments. On a side note; which dystopian novel fascinated you the most and why?
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