Friday, April 22, 2011

1984 by George Orwell






1984 by George Orwell, is a story about the idea of Big Brother and that the government tracks your every move. Winston, the protagonist, is suspicious about the government and that everything he does is being supervised. Everywhere he goes, he sees the face of the Party and Big Brother. The Party is very dominate and controls the people. There is no individual thought or action. Winston is against the government of Oceania and Big Brother. He collects a diary and writes his personal thoughts in it, which is against the rules of individual thought. Winston later meets a girl named Julia who he has a romantic interest in. Later in the novel, Winston is caught by Big Brother and is tortured. Without ruining the ending, Big Brother is able to know about Winston's secrets, and is threatening to torture him with his secrets.

1. Do you believe it is a good idea to have a government that keeps track of individuals every move? Why or why not?

12 comments:

Joe K. 11-12 said...

To answer question one, I think it is a horrible idea. This is a blatant invasion of privacy. Having good security and keeping a watchful eye over society can prove to be beneficial, but constant surveillance is extreme. Such an extreme act is creepy and leads people to be weary of government.

Vanessa D. 13-14 said...

I think it is a bad idea for the government to keep track of an individuals every move for two reasons. One, is that it is an invasion of privacy and like Joe said, it may lead to society being suspicious of the government. The second reason is that the government should be paying attention to more important issues rather than what individuals are doing every minute, of every day.

Hayley D said...

I don't think that a government that watches your every move is a good idea at all. Each person is entitled to some privacy, under no circumstance is it necessary for the government to watch every little thing you do. Some people are already weary of how involved the government is, if a government kept track of every single thing, society would fall apart because everyone would be too afraid to do anything, for fear of doing something that the government disapproved of.

Ashley A. 11-12 said...

I think having a government that tracks its citizens every move is a horrible idea. This is a huge invasion of privacy and people need to have their personal rights and freedoms.

Alexander C. [13-14] said...

The government controls the citizens in Orwell's 1984 in a gripping manner by censoring nearly everything they say and not allowing people to express their personal views. I believe this method of government is ineffective because it leaves the citizens with a sense of fear toward their government, or "Big Brother". The government uses a fictional figure, "Big Brother", to scare its' citizens into following their beliefs. Government should be an agency that people can trust and learn to rely on for services. This novel shows how society reacts to the dystopian government and how they become brainwashed.

Hannah L 13-14 said...

I believe that the government should not keep track of every single thing a person does. It denies people their individual rights and their right to privacy. People should be able to do the things they want to do that allows them to express themselves in their own way, but only within reason, which is why the government is there. However, I do not believe that the government should be all knowing and all powerful. There should be limits to the governments power just as there should be limits for what individuals are or are not allowed to do.

David G. 13-14 said...

I think it's a terrible idea for a government to completely control the lives of its citizens. This leads to obvious reasons for revolt and rebellion among citizens as well as a great deal of work for the government itself, leaving less time for the government to do things of importance.

Anonymous said...

1. it is never a good idea to have such a controlling government. it goes against our rights as human beings. in the novel these people were not only watched but were brainwashed. this is a whole new level of wrong because it invades every sense of privacy and self right. brainwashing is taking away your minds freedom to think. governments want more control because they are greedy, but at the same time good governments want to keep their citizens safe. however there is a line that can be crossed. brainwashing and keeping track of someones every move is crossing this line.

Jacob B 11-12 said...

I do not believe a government should ever have so much power that they are able to watch each individuals every move. People have a right to privacy and a government has no right to take away peoplez rights

Jacob B 11-12 said...

I do not believe a government should ever have so much power that they are able to watch each individuals every move. People have a right to privacy and a government has no right to take away peoples rights

McKenzieM 11-12 said...

I definitely think it's a bad idea for the government to watch everything we do. The people's lives in the book were teribble due to the constant surveillance. Keeping track of the population would just make people paranoid and irratable.

Fritz J. 13-14 said...

it is a bad idea to have a government that keeps track of everyones moves, this is an invasion of privacy and would cause the general public to become paranoid.