The Book "1984" by George Orwell and the US Today Essay Analysis

For one part of the world, the United States, the fictional world depicted in the book, 1984 by George Orwell, will soon become a reality due to the ever-present discrimination, speech limitations, and control through the media in the day-to-day lives of American citizens.

Following the years of civil rights movements, forms of discrimination are alive in the current society of the United States. While the United States has a history of race-based slavery, segregated public spaces, and limitations on women's rights until the early 1900s, civil rights movements and improvement of the mindsets of citizens has ended the worst of these practices, but some remain. Every day, a group of people face someone gets treated by another citizen as if they are a lesser group. Women not receiving equal pay to men for working the same jobs, and the overall unfair treatment of people of color and individuals part of the LGBTQ+ community makes the United States a still discriminatory place to live. As current issues arise across the country, such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the introduction of the "Don't Say Gay" bill proposed by many states, it becomes more likely that the United States is leaning towards becoming a fascist and communist dictatorship. The attitudes of many citizens of the United States reflect those of 1984, in that they notice “[they have] never seen anyone wearing shoes like that before. So the chances were he was a foreigner” (Orwell, 32). This shows that judgment of others is high in both the United States and the world of 1984. People look at someone and automatically judge them based on what they look like and treat them horribly for it. In 1984, the “foreigner” is taken away as an act of discrimination, while in the United States, the person who looks different is made fun of and told to go back to their country or act like their gender. The discrimination in the United States is getting worse as more bills and bans cause groups of people in the United States to become more and more like a fascist dictatorship.

The First Amendment grants the citizens of the United States the right to Freedom of Speech, however, there are even limitations to this. While people cannot say things that will harm one another, the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill reflects a limit to free speech. This bill not only discriminates against those part of the LGBTQ+ community but also limits the speech of children and teachers in schools who wish to talk about it. This is very similar to the actions described in 1984 when the Records Department began trashing anything in the newspapers which reflected the people such as music, art, the working class, movies, and more (Orwell, 24). While these two actions on the surface do not appear to be the same, analyzing them more closely will reveal similarities in that both the United States and the world of 1984 limit the speech of the people and their freedom to express themselves. Furthermore, while the United States does not have an official language, there is evidence that those who choose to speak another language are limited in where they can shop, eat or go as they face discrimination and fellow citizens telling them to “speak English because they are in America.” There is absolutely no reason that everyone in the United States should speak one language, especially English. It is a melting pot of a country, with people from all over representing their cultures. However, those who argue that all citizens of the United States should speak English are reflecting the laws of the world of 1984, which require the use of one language and one language only (Orwell, 28). Even worse, this widely used language of “Newspeak” greatly limited the citizens of the world of 1984, due to the fact that there was a “great wastage [in] the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well. It isn’t only the synonyms; there are also the antonyms” (Orwell, 28). The fact that the language of the world of 1984 has words missing limits the citizens in the ways they can speak, limiting their free speech, expression, and opinions. The United States is approaching this horror due to the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, and therefore approaching a fascist dictatorship.

The control of the media in the United States represents its overall downfall into becoming a fascist dictatorship. Firstly, the fake news and biased news which is present in the United States greatly reflect the actions within 1984. The Records Department of 1984 was meant to alter “newspapers, [books], periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs — [and] every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance” (Orwell, 22). The media of 1984 is quite literally being changed to be exactly what the Party wants the citizens to take away or know about anything political or about human life and culture. This is very similar to how news sources in the United States give out fake news or write biased articles. Fake news can be from television news, journalism, newspapers, and digital social media in which writers give the citizens a piece of information that is false or made up. Additionally, biased news or media promotes only certain views on a topic depending on what the writer wants the audience to believe or hear, much like the Records Department of 1984, which alters media to send out the exact message they wish (Orwell, 24). These types of articles only give one side of the story or very little about the other. This problem is growing as more and more social media allows for more false and biased information to spread very quickly. The control of the media and what citizens hear proves that the United States is heading towards becoming a fascist dictatorship.

Control of the media alone reflects the United States heading towards fascism, but control through the media is also a problem and reflects the same future. A majority of American citizens today own some sort of cellphone, a device that tracks citizens’ every location, web search, and photo. These devices grant each citizen a great deal of help in their day-to-day lives but also reflect control of the citizens through media. Our phones remember what we search for so that they can show it to us each time we watch something on Youtube or search on another site. Our phones also track our every move and know exactly where pictures are taken. This information allows the algorithms to recommend restaurants or products for us to try in our location. This is all similar to the world of 1984 in which “Big Brother” is watching every move of the people (Orwell, 1). On top of this, the conspiracy that our phones are listening to us only progresses the severity of this issue, as many can say that they have said something out loud and it has appeared as an ad on their phone or other electronic device only minutes later. This is again similar to the world of 1984 by the fact that “the telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (Orwell, 2). If the conspiracy about the phone is true, this is a direct similarity between the United States and the world of 1984. United States citizens never exactly know when their phone might be listening or watching, just as those in 1984 don’t know when they are being watched on the television (Orwell, 2). The control through the media forms in the United States represents its approach toward a fascist dictatorship, by the way our devices track our searches, follow our every more, and seemingly listen to and watch us.

Tight controls over the media, controlling through the media, and discrimination are today's minor versions of 1984. As time moves forward, these things will only progress and get worse, leading the United States to become a fascist dictatorship.