Post seven

The party controls everything, but they put the bulk of their power into controlling their citizenry. Each house has a telescreen, the thought police lurk everywhere, and there's a whole underground system whose only goal is to take out dissenters of the party. It's not even just on the surface level; they've invaded the family unit, religion, and romantic feelings- all things that could possibly be held over the party. In doing so, the party becomes everything that people can look up to. Things like the daily hate only add to their power

People are actively working against their own self interest because they know no better, and this shows that the massive effort by the party seems to be working. They've internalized the surveillance, and expect it to be present even when it might not. When Winston meets up with Julia, he's scared of microphones in the bushes, which is a totally crazy thing to expect in the normal world. Still, they both knew that at some point they were going to be caught.

With the implementation of newspeak, all possibility of insurrection would be crushed, because the mere idea of rebellion isn't a word.Take away the ability of mass communication, and any adverse ideas can't spread.

Post seis

 

Now that I've actually read 1984,  I kinda see the memes about it in a new light. I mean, I get that these memes in particular are meant to be shrouded in layer upon layer of sarcasm and irony, but perhaps there might still be something(?) albeit extremely unimportant. To say that something is "literally 1984" is typically part of a greater meme that "gamers are oppressed," which, by no means is true, but a whole subculture seems to have sprouted from it.

Humor me for a sec,

Let's say that you are an oppressed gam--
I'm not going there.

1984 is a book about a failed society that is totally controlled by incredibly powerful forces, in which party members are completely in-line with the program and dissenters are severely punished. Saying that something is "literally 1984" is almost always an extreme exaggeration in comparison, but that's part of the overall satire that accompanies it. 

 

If a teacher tells students to write a blog post about what they're reading, the grand majority of students will comply. Those who don't will be punished. Is this literally 1984?

Post five

 They caught Parsons as well! The dialogue between them was pretty interesting. Parsons believes 100% in the system, concluding that he must be guilty because the party wouldn't lock up an innocent man. His own children had reported him, no less, which I really think shows the reach of the party's control on households. Parsons is even somewhat proud of his daughter for it! 

In the next scenes there's this trip of extreme policing and fearfulness of room 101. They're constantly surveilled and we see kind of this "underground" of the party's police force. People who disappeared were sent here. I'm interested to hear about what's inside.