Prompted Post #10: 1984 Government

1984 Government vs. US Government

In today's society, the government is a hot topic of discussion. You can just say the word government and within ten seconds the conversation can become a debate. Granted that a lot of citizens have an unfavorable view of the US Government, there are still some citizens out there who have yet to give up their faith in it.

The idea of this blog is to present you with a piece of fiction that misrepresents the government, it's functions and goals, but most importantly, the role it plays in our everyday lives.

The piece that I've chosen is called Nineteen Eighty-Four and it's a dystopian novel by author George Orwell, that demonstrates a controlling government, and more specifically, the role it plays in the protagonist, Winston Smith's life. One aspect of the novel's government or "Big Brother" (as they refer to it in the book), is that they have microphones and cameras everywhere and I mean everywhere, from work to streets to even in one's apartment, to be on your best behavior is a must.

Repercussions for bad behavior could include anything from torture to death and on top of that, every single member of society is trained to report everything they see back to the police. Your own kid could turn you in for anything, from having doubts to reading a book, your life is always on the line.

Another aspect of the government in Nineteen Eighty-Four is that they rewrite/alter photographs and books to conform to their ever changing version of history. So they're not only controlling people physically, but mentally and emotionally now too.

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It's not lost on me that Nineteen Eighty-Four is a satirical piece of writing, using exaggeration to emphasize the way we perceive government, but there still are the general misrepresentations that I must point out.

The first one is that this novel shows the government to be completely bad when in reality there are good things that come out of the government. Such as:

• the court system
• FDA, so you know what you're eating
• construct and maintain roads
• take care of our veterans
• Child Labor Laws

Also, there is no "American Dream" in this dystopia, Big Brother basically plans your life out for you, where you work, what you eat, how and if you can interact. There's no individual freedom of any kind, it's just do what you're told.

This novel also makes a point to show that the government is always watching the citizens, which is not really true. Camera's are all around today, but a lot of them are owned by private businesses rather than the government. In the US we have a lot of freedoms that people take for granted, and when people do take them for granted, that's when the police step in, as they should.

The point I'm trying to make is that the government isn't always what its made out to look like. This novel is just one of many examples of books, movies, songs, etc., that like to demonstrate what their version of the government looks like. In reality, the US government could always use improving, yes, but it also gives us opportunities and rights that other countries with different governments don't get to have.

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Sources:

"Nineteen Eighty-Four." - Wikiquote. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.

Temple, Emily. "George Orwell's 1984: A Visual History." Flavorwire George Orwells 1984 A VisualHistory Comments. N.p., 25 June 2011. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.