https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l What role does technology play in this book? In what ways does the Party employ technology? In what ways does technology make the overall themes of this book possible? en-us 2017-07-19 19:21:28 UTC 2017-08-19 16:52:43 UTC hello@padlet.com tfritz2 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179064924 Please be sure to read the instructions on the G.C. assignment for this.]]> 2017-07-19 19:31:36 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179064924 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179194223 In 1984, Technology, or the lack thereof, plays a significant role in the book. The Party employs very little technology to the common person because they want the people to be socially isolated from the rest of the world, and the "citizen[s] of Oceania are not allowed to know anything about the tenets of the other two philosophies" (Orwell 197). In the book, telescreens are the main technology used in the book, and it is used to monitor, brainwash, and inspire fear in the people of Oceania. One of example of the monitoring is relatively early in the book while Winston is doing his daily workout and the instructor from the telescreen yells "Smith!' screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W.! Yes, you! Bend lower, please" (Orwell 36). This is type of the watching that would come from the telescreens; however, while this may be a small daily task, the point that Orwell makes in this statement is that the Party is always watching what you do no matter the task. The Party also employs brainwashing heavily in order to keep its iron grip on the people's will. There are multiple ways that the Party uses the telescreens to brainwash the people of Oceania. The telescreens would tell the people who to hate causing the people to "[shout] at the tops of their voices in an effort to drown the maddening bleating voice that came from the screen" (Orwell 14), and it causes the people to break into a "deep, slow, rhythmical chant" (Orwell 16) of praise for Big Brother. The Party goes on to brainwash the people by lying about the amount of products that the Party is producing saying that was "more food, more clothes, more houses... more of everything except disease, crime, and insanity" (Orwell 59). The people do not question the information from the telescreens as it is always right. The final usage of the telescreens is to inspire fear. Near the end of the second part of the book, Winston and Julia both say the phrase "we are the dead," and they hear a voice repeat the phrase causing them to "[spring] apart" and cause Winston's "entrails to turn to Ice" (Orwell 221). At was at this moment, that Winston and Julia were afraid because they found a telescreen behind the picture, and they knew they had finally been caught. Technology makes the overall theme of control and indoctrination possible as they party used the means of technology to ensure that people of Oceania have no free will to make any essential choices; the Party presents false choices as the Party feels that "technological progress only happens when its products can in some way be used for the diminution of human liberty" (Orwell 193).  ]]> 2017-07-21 15:06:03 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179194223 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179226597 You did very well in proving that the Party is constantly watching everyone with the telescreen but the other piece of technology the Party uses are Michrophones or "mikes" Julia used. Even though you may be nowhere near a wall with a telescreen on it the Party will still use mikes to listen in on Party members as Julia remarks "in case there's a mike hidden there...There's always the chance of one of those swine recongnizing your voice" (Orwell 119) when both Julia and Winston are going into the brush through a medow. Like you said, "[the] people of Oceania have no free will or make any essential choices" because with technology the curiosity ingnites. The Party does not like its people to ask questions because they will be harder to control.]]> 2017-07-22 15:10:41 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/179226597 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180410808 I believe the role of technology plays a significant role in this book because of the lack of it for the amount of time that had past. I think this is one of the things that led 
Winston to believe that this way of life wasn't all that it seemed to be. The most advanced piece of technology they had to the public's knowledge was the telescreens they used to spy on them. The public thought this was the best piece of technology they thought it protected them from going against the Party because, "you had to live...in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness,  every movement was scrutinized" (Orwell 3). The party however is a completely different story. They have all sorts of technology to use against the rebellious citizens. They had technology that had the ability to, "squeeze [them] empty, and...fill [them] with [themselves]" (Orwell 256). They had technology advanced enough to somehow change one's thinking and they had technology to cause enough pain to make one have, "a vivid mental picture of [their] vertebrae snapping apart. The party had enough technology to make sure that they remained in power and that no one could jeopardize that. i believe that technology make the theme of obedience and submission possible. The telescreens forced you to obey the party and remain loyal to it and the torture device made you submit to the authority that wanted you to confess all your crimes against the party. The technology in Oceania was for the party alone and was, "not interested in the good of others" (Orwell 263). ]]> 2017-08-08 20:26:28 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180410808 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180414584 I like how the amount of detail that you went into with the telescreens. You really broke down and explained every purpose they serve to the Party. However I would've like to hear your explanation on what the citizens thought about them. I do not believe that the citizens saw them as a way to strike fear into them I think they, like you mentioned, were so brainwashed that they saw them as a tool to help them control their thoughts and better serve the party]]> 2017-08-08 21:16:47 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180414584 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180656573 2017-08-10 19:45:08 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180656573 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180656575 Technology is important in this dystopian society because without it the Party would not be able to retain the intense control on the people of Oceania. This control is achieved through the extensive surveillance network brought about by the telescreens that monitor each and every citizen's movements. As the narrator of 1984 says "Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he stayed within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard" (Orwell 3). The citizens under the Party are also kept obedient by the fear of being caught by the immense surveillance network and tortured cruelly. Even when the telescreens do not have proof of a character's wrongdoing, they are forced to provide evidence in the way of a confession. The characters "can't help it. They torture" (Orwell 166) them in the infamous Ministry of Love.]]> 2017-08-10 19:45:09 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180656575 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180835420 I liked how you mention ed that whatever was recorded by the telescreens was used against the citizens. I liked how you mentioned that even though they couldn't prove that they had done something wrong they could use the telescreens to justify their crime. ]]> 2017-08-13 16:15:01 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180835420 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180861508 In 1984, the Party manipulates technology in a plethora of ways to maintain the complete indoctrination and control of the citizens in Oceania. While there are a variety of ways they accomplish this, one main way is through the use of telescreens and microphones, which are ubiquitous in Oceania. There was nowhere a person could go without the assumption “that every sound [he or she] made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every moment [was] scrutinized” by the Party (Orwell 7). The Party primarily uses telescreens to eliminate any potential crime early on. Winston kept his face “expressionless” because even the slightest twitch indicated, to the Party, that a person is committing some type of thoughtcrime (Orwell 20). While telescreens are the predominant technological source of control in 1984, there is another key component. The machine that Winston uses for his job in the Ministry of Truth, a “speakwrite”, is a crucial piece of technology to the Party (Orwell 34). I believe that the speakwrite is a type of machinery that can transcribe spoken word into written word because it has a “mouthpiece”, and its name is self-explanatory (Orwell 34). This piece of technology allows the Party to modify and alter any type of recorded history. Without this machinery, along with the "memory hole", the Party would not be able to maintain the “continuous alteration” of “books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound tracks, cartoons, photographs”, and pretty much any “kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance” (Orwell 36). Because of the speakwrite, the Party can yield control ‘mentally’, as well as ‘physically’ (because of the telescreen). This technology contributes to a core theme of the Party: “Who controls the past, controls the future” (Orwell 32). The endless modifications, specially tailored to the needs and wants of the Party, allow Big Brother to remain as powerful figure as he is.]]> 2017-08-14 01:46:00 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180861508 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180862828 I like how you mentioned that the Party not only uses technology to survey citizens, but also to torture them. This really emphasizes the theme of obedience you mentioned. Once citizens disobey the Party, through thoughtcrime or otherwise,  the Party resorts to different, more extreme measures. The technology they use to torture 'criminals' ensures the complete obedience of them afterwards. For example, after Winston is tortured and brainwashed, "[no] one cared what he did any longer" and "no telescreen admonished him" (Orwell 242). The severity of the punishment the technology inflicted upon him guaranteed the obedience of Winston.]]> 2017-08-14 01:58:23 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180862828 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180865046 I like how you mentioned how the people do not question any of the information the telescreens give them because, ultimately, the Party is always right, even if it contradicts what is seen to the plain eye. The telescreen here contributes to the theme of complete trust and certainty the people place in the Party's hands. This type of control is what makes the Party so successful in maintaining their dominance. No one questions the authority, and if someone does, the threat is immediately eradicated.]]> 2017-08-14 02:21:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180865046 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180968070 You mentioned the "Ministrt of Love" and that reminded me of later in the book when the main character was in his cell. There was a Telescreen on every wall (except for the one that has the door) watching and monitoring every move. The system is always in cobtrol even when no chance of escape or rebelious acts are possible. ]]> 2017-08-14 18:31:21 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/180968070 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181138957 I like what you said about the Party having control of not only the people of Oceania's metal state, but their physical state as well. Yes, this technology serves as a primary source of functions that are essential to the Party's ultimate control, but it also contributes to the scare factor in the citizens everyday lives. With this, they control the people of the society in every aspect of their life, right down to the core of how they think and function.]]> 2017-08-15 18:42:12 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181138957 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181147261 I like that you not only mentioned the telescreens, but the torture devises. How the Party used this technology to their advantage in order to force the people into submission, therefore non-obedience was not an option in this society. This emphasizes Julia and Winston's actions, and shows that the two really did love one another, because of the risks they took to be together.]]> 2017-08-15 19:43:27 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181147261 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181147561 I like the example you used to help make your point about the amount of control the party exhibits over the citizens of Oceania. I think that the Party's surveillance network was extremely extensive, and I feel that this network was one of the most heavily used methods to ensure that the Party is always aware of what is happening. It also helps clarify the phrase that "Big Brother is always watching." I also agree that it is the fear of torture that keeps the citizens in line in this society, and I would think that they would stand up for their own morals if they had the chance. However, they are unable to as they do not have the chance to view the world around them and think for themselves, and it gives the Party complete control over an entire superstate of citizens. If someone was to attempt to break free from the Party, the Party would ensure their demise through torture, so that they can be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society even if they are just a shell of their former self.]]> 2017-08-15 19:45:14 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181147561 https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181149675 I really like your train of thought on your answer to the question. The connections you make with multiple parts of the book comes together to make a really well-thought answer. My favorite statement of your answer would be "The Party had enough technology to make sure that they remained in power and that no one could jeopardize that." The reason I like this statement so much is because of what this implies about the Party. This means that the Party has access to more technology that the citizens do not know about, but the Party gives the people the bare minimum in order to function as the Party desires. The Party really did think of everything when making this society because every technology utilized in daily life serves the inner evils of the Party in some form or fashion. This gives the Party more of an edge against its citizens as they are brainwashed to think that the technology is for their protection or to better serve all members of the Party. Technology really ensured the obedience and submission of the people of Oceania, and it ultimately helped the Party win, making it one of the few books where the Antagonist wins. ]]> 2017-08-15 19:58:00 UTC https://padlet.com/tfritz2/zg221ofy8n9l/wish/181149675