Reflections #4

Although we believe that our society is the best and the most advanced, we have to consider that present day society is also the most corrupt it has been since the beginning of time. In 1984, George Orwell gives us an excellent example of our corruption regarding the use of media.

"It had no caption, and represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three of four meters high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a sub-machine-gun pointed from his hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun, magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you." pg. 156

This caption, paired with the multitude of "Big Brother is Watching You" posters, reflects the horror of today's use of propaganda and media to the extreme. Not only is this poster plastered on every available surface, but children see these posters that have guns that follow you. Being potentially traumatizing, we can only imagine the effect it would have on the next generation. If we were to grow up, knowing that everything we did was being watched, and there was constantly a gun to your head, our identities would be drastically altered.

Children would potentially grow up in fear, having no self esteem, or perhaps in an even worse situation; they might follow so strictly to the guidelines that the ruling party has set out, that they would all become zombies incapable of doing anything but trying to please others. Children are encouraged to take up arms against an enemy, rather than try to solve the problem through words. Even though this would take away a child's innocence, 'Big Brother' would probably hope to accomplish this and in the world of 1984, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. In contrast, this is the opposite of what modern society strives for. However, with the media today, our society is also guilty of trying to sway people to act a certain way.

Tabloids and other media outlets, including official, widespread newspapers, are leading us down a road that is demoralizing. Often, people care more to read about the horrors celebrities face, which encourages reporters to delve into another's personal life. We allow them no privacy, and give them no respect. Through media, it is considered okay to judge other people on the basis of a few words written by those that write what people would like to hear. Truth is stretched to sell a story, and people today buy into it.

So even though we have advanced through time, and technology, we are potentially retreating morally. Even though we see it in literature, like in '1984', society forges onward, struggling to balance morality and ambition for advancement.

page 155-175