Similarities

In both 1984 and the The Truman Show both share some similarities, such as constant surveillance, suppression of any other thought other than what the higher ups want you to think, and ignorance of what’s really happening. The most obvious one present in both is the constant surveillance. In 1984, this is made clear by the numerous telescreens, the Thought Police, your own children spying on you, and how everyone has been brainwashed to report anyone suspicious immediately. The telescreen and Thought Police are more prevalent in 1984 than the other two. Telescreens will always monitor you, and it’s difficult to escape from not being overheard. They are stationed everywhere, and even Inner Party members have only small amounts of respite from the telescreens. O'Brien, an Inner Party member, mentions that they are only allowed to turn off the telescreen for an hour only, and even then it’s risky. The next form is Thought Police, who are everywhere. One of the biggest surprises in the book comes when it’s revealed Mr. Charrington is actually part of the Thought Police, and that when he comes to arrest them, his appearance has completely changed. It shows that the Thought Police are very deceitful and can pretend to be your friend for a long time and then betray you. The Thought Police’s main tools would be telescreens and people. The children are taught from a young age to love Big Brother and grow up to little demons. In near the end of the book, a former acquaintance, Parsons, of Winston’s is sent to jail because his daughter supposedly overheard him saying he hated Big Brother. He has no recollection of this because it was during his sleep, and he says he’s glad that his daughter reported him, even though it’s somewhat obvious that Parsons was not guilty of conspiring against Big Brother. What most likely happened was that the daughter said a lie, and wrongfully convicted her father. Leading off of how the Parsons was glad his daughter convicted him, it’s easy to say that the people are brainwashed to report anyone they see suspicious. People are so dedicated the the Party and Big Brother, that they play a large role in helping Thought Police in arresting supposed criminals. In The Truman show it’s somewhat more different than what is shown in 1984. The Truman show watches Truman by thousands of cameras placed everywhere. They’re in buttons, in the car in the bathroom mirror. The purpose for the cameras is not at all similar to the purpose of the telescreens. The telescreens are for monitoring everyone, and making sure no one does anything the Party doesn't want. However, in The Truman Show, the cameras are for a widespread audience everywhere viewing Truman as a source of entertainment. Another large difference is that Truman is not aware of being monitored and slowly becomes more and more aware of it as the time passes. This leads to the directors of the show suppressing his thoughts of an outside world by distracting him. The Party does a same thing to distract their citizens by constantly being at war with someone, while never really explaining who. The people they’re fighting with changes every so often, and the confused citizens never stop to think against the Party. In essence, this is what the director does, by reintroducing Truman’s father. This stops any thoughts of Truman about him being in some type of place where he can’t escape. Lastly, there’s the ignorance of what’s happening. The people of 1984 never realize that the Party is corrupt, or that the bombs that fall on their city isn't the enemies, but from Oceana itself. The same is with Truman, who leads a majority of his life, unknowing of how he is a television star in the world outside of his. These were three similarities I was able to observe from 1984 and The Truman Show.

My Handicaps

In the short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, people with some type of ability, or even slightly better in any physical or mental way are “handicapped.” They have to wear equipment, like headphones that broadcast a loud sound to scramble their thoughts or heavy weights so they aren't as strong, that makes them equal to the rest of the population. The person who enforces this rule is the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. Handicaps she might put on me would most likely be headphones to interrupt my thought process because, even though I wouldn't venture that far out to call myself an intellectual, I think often about anything available to think about. Due to this, Diana Moon Glampers would determine that I’m a threat to society and put the thought scrambler on me. As for the rest of my physical aspects, I don’t have much physical strength so I wouldn't need any weights on me, but my eyesight is rather terrible. Would it be fair to keep my regular eyesight or would I need to lose my glasses? Perhaps I would need some type of glasses that affect my vision so I would not be able to see fully clearly. The major point of the handicaps is that you’re unable to take them off or you get a hefty fine and time in jail. So me taking my glasses off for any type of activity would result badly? I wouldn't be more equal than someone else however, but less equal, physically speaking. Would that mean everyone has to be arrested because they’re more equal than I am? For glasses, it’s confusing because there are times where it’s necessary for me to remove them, such as when I wash my face, clean them, or when I need to sleep. I assume Diana Moon Glampers would put a device that did improve my eyesight, to make me equal with everyone else who has perfect eyesight, but the device wouldn't have absolutely perfect vision, so I would still be handicaps. These are the handicaps I can think of that she would have put on me.

Propaganda

Propaganda is widely used in the world, and there are always benefits to propaganda. It depends on which side of the propaganda being shown you are on. Propaganda can be used by a dictator to put himself in a better light to his people, how Kim Jong Un does to his people. Propaganda can also do the direct opposite, and show the flaws of a type of system of government or criticize something that needs to be shown to the world that people don’t know about. Many cartoonists post political cartoons to show the flaws of a politician or of the government as a whole. It’s benefit there is that it’s notifying the people of an event that they would have not noticed if not for that propaganda, or for someone trying to encourage people to do something that would be convenient for the other side. For example, the government used propaganda of Uncle Sam to recruit soldiers for wars, or propaganda displaying the enemy in a negative light so the people would fund and help war effort. For each instance, propaganda has a beneficial side and a detrimental side. It affects one side negatively, impacting their way of doing things, form of government installed, etc. Then there’s also the positive side of propaganda, where it helps people realize things, influences people into doing things, helps government display a better image of them. There’s always a positive and negative side to almost everything, and propaganda is no exception.