by gvest » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:49 pm
It was and it wasn't. Big brother watching was as much a show as anything. Indeed, given the state of technical know-how in Oceania, it's entirely possible the telescreens weren't recording anything at all. Ironically what kept your from being free was that you didn't know what your neighbors (and miniLuv) knew about you and what they would do about it. No one in that book is really a fan of IngSoc (save, possibly, for O'Brian about whose inner motivations we know nothing at all) but everyone pretends to be, and keeps everyone else in line by doing so.
I'm trying to say control of information has much more to do with Orwellian Dystopia then it's gathering does.
It was and it wasn't. Big brother watching was as much a show as anything. Indeed, given the state of technical know-how in Oceania, it's entirely possible the telescreens weren't recording anything at all. Ironically what kept your from being free was that you [i]didn't[/i] know what your neighbors (and miniLuv) knew about you and what they would do about it. No one in that book is really a fan of IngSoc (save, possibly, for O'Brian about whose inner motivations we know nothing at all) but everyone pretends to be, and keeps everyone else in line by doing so.
I'm trying to say control of information has much more to do with Orwellian Dystopia then it's gathering does.