Comparative Essay: 1984 by Orwell and Communist China

Although world governments would like the population to not believe George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is dystopian fiction, it may be closer to reality than one thinks. While Orwell’s theory came true, the means of surveillance are different in the real world. For example, China uses facial ID cameras on the street and in local businesses to find criminals and other suspicious individuals. In the novel, Orwell writes about an all-seeing telescreen in everyone’s houses that monitors them, allowing Big Brother to view and manage the citizens. Just like in 1984 China is moving on to facial ID surveillance on the streets to manage and view people's faces to help catch criminals and vandals. Through the writing of George Orwell's  1984, Orwell uncannily warns about life in China and its future, its technology, but Orwell's dystopian fears come true with China using mass surveillance, facial recognition cameras, and surveillance cameras in people's houses. 

Orwell's book 1984 is about his utmost worst fear coming true in a dystopian and totalitarian setting. One thing he portrays in the story is an all-seeing and hearing object called a telescreen. This telescreen is portrayed in real life today with China's use of mass surveillance on its citizens. As China is one of the biggest countries in the world with a population of 1.4 billion and tourists year-round, the government has to use mass surveillance cameras to monitor its people. Orwell's novel portrays an object called a telescreen; it is used to continually reinforce the Party's doctrines and to constantly monitor the behavior of the populace ruled by Big Brother. Big Brother plays a prominent part in Orwell's book, by not only being the hierarchy but also a very influential organization, “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell, 3). Not only is Big Brother everywhere, the use of propaganda is everywhere, but it has a massive group of supporters such as the junior spies. In 1984, the telescreen symbolizes Big Brother's omnipresence and the Party's intrusive nature.  It gets to see into citizens' houses and hear everything. For people like Winston, there is no off button and the thought police can tap into his home life at any time. In China, the use of mass surveillance allows for unlimited governmental power and control over individuals through monitoring people's lives. Telescreens are installed in both private and public spaces, bordering every corridor and roadway. Fortune magazine reports on the number of cameras in a town, “In Xiqiao, a city of roughly 300,000 in southern China, for example, officials have installed more than 1,400 video cameras and over 300 facial recognition cameras since 2006(Grady McGregor, The world’s largest surveillance system is growing—and so is the backlash).  In China there are mass surveillance cameras everywhere, they can monitor certain people and where they are going. Depending on if a person looks suspicious the Chinese police can stop them. The correlation between 1984 and China is how big brother is always looking over the people of the world and how the Chinese government can track and see every person move.  China uses mass surveillance to monitor its population and keep track of every person moving. The people of China are like the people of 1984 due to totalitarian governments always watching citizens and having no escape. The security camera is the modern version of the telescreen by having similar attributes it is an all-seeing (and hearing) device. 

The average iPhone has a facial recognition camera, but in China, the government has put facial recognition cameras to use. These cameras help identify people who look suspicious or are criminals. One of the main aspects of the telescreen is that it can see anything in its range.  Winston is lucky enough to have a small corner in his decaying apartment where the telescreen cannot hear or see him: “ By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went” (Orwell 8). Winston begins a journal of rebellious thoughts, by using the corner in his room to his advantage. He turns his back in hope for the telescreen not to see him, this is to try to get a small amount of privacy from the government. The overbearing and controlling governments are using technology to their advantage and track and see what people are doing. These facial id cameras are ether was just like in the book, every main street, alleyway, and public place. As China's populations grow exponentially every year it has been hard to keep track of citizens. ID tracking cameras have good uses; they are also an invasion of privacy for the people of China, “Even in China, where civil liberties have long been sacrificed for what the CCP deems the greater good, privacy concerns are bubbling up” (Charlie Campbell, What the Chinese Surveillance State Means for the Rest of the World). The Chinese communist government has been using facial id cameras to track and see what people are going outside of their houses.  In China, as the population grows, the government has enforced facial cameras to track and identify people all over the country. The facial id camera is useful to monitor the people of China and in 1984 they were used to see what the people of Oceania were doing. The telescreens are used by the totalitarian leader, Big Brother to keep control and make sure the people are not plotting to overthrow Big brother. China's facial recognition cameras can be used to find and catch criminals but have a downside. Both the telescreen and id cameras give the people of China and Oceania no privacy, but for a totalitarian/ communist government that's ok? Yes, both governments have a common goal to oppress and control their citizens, the quote, “ Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell 6). The idea that their people do not know what is happening behind the scenes is good for them. The citizens of China are oblivious to the social control the governments have put into action. These technological advancements have Orwellian overtones. In addition to China's present monitoring regime, the thought police and big broth have very similar malice intentions to control and oppress their citizens to gain absolute sovereignty.  The telescreen and facial id camera add new aspects of controlling and tracing people, and the more power the government has the more control.

Orwell's dystopian fear came true but what does this mean for the people of China?  In China and 1984, the government has installed telescreens and cameras in people's houses to view suspicious behavior.  Big Brother fears its citizens will revolt against the totalitarian regime so there is no truce with the people of Oceania and the whole world. The telescreen played an influential role in Winston's life, almost like it is another person living with you, and watching you every hour of the day. Winston had to live the telescreens in his life,  “He thought of the telescreens with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if you kept your head, you could still outwit them” (Orwell  210). Winston's life before Big Brother took over was much different. He got to live a life with freedom. But now the governments can check in with him and see if he is complying with Big Brother's beliefs.  as explained in the quote 1984 uses telescreens to reinforce the teaching and brainwashing of the party. Not only do they watch people but the telescreens constantly monitor people's actions, and if they look suspicious the thought police will question them. Just like a big brother the Chinese government has invaded its people's privacy by putting security cameras in people's houses. The Chinese government has started to put security cameras on people deemed dangerous. As it is a complete violation of privacy, homeowners are concerned that their little privacy is gone, “(The camera) had a huge impact on me psychologically," he said. "I tried not to make phone calls, fearing the camera would record my conversations by any chance”(Nectar GanChina is installing surveillance cameras outside people's front doors ... and sometimes inside their homes). The man explains how the government has made him fear that simple actions such as calling someone on the phone could be dangerous and land him in one of China's many jails. This sparks fear for not only this man but other citizens of China, the communist government is seeking complete control of people's lives and wants to know every detail.  The telescreen and camera in people's houses have an uncanny resemblance. China's government and big brother also show a lot of similarities, with the way they have to constantly monitor their people. They both have to be in control, which shows political instability and concerns about the independence, identity, and power struggles of their citizens. The demonic devices help the government maintain control by forcing themselves into another life to view their thoughts and oppress them for thinking or doing the wrong things. Big brother and the Chinese community government both want to maintain and control their people, no matter the circumstance, therefore leading to invading other people's privacy.

The novel 1984 by George Orwell foreshadows life in China and future technology breakthroughs unnervingly, Orwell's dystopian fears have come to reality, with China adopting mass monitoring, facial recognition cameras, and hidden cameras installed right at people's houses. He warns about the government falling into the wrong hands and how that can be fatal. Some of his predictions are coming true with mass surveillance in China, but what does this mean for the other things he writes about? As Orwell's predictions about what is happening in the world are starting to come true, what does this mean for people everywhere?