Parallels Between 1984 and Our World Today

There are many similarities between the world in 1984 and ours today. For example, the Thought Police can be related to our regular police. I feel that the Thought Police have taken their unofficial laws and rules to a severe extreme and impressed the people so bad under them that they are forced to live in fear. Now-a-days, people actually live in fear when a cop is around. I don't think I've ever seen someone not say, "Look! It's a cop! Watch out!", or something to that effect in which they are afraid to act as if they would without the cop's presence. Therefore, both the citizens in our world and 1984's are forced to feel fearful and guilty when a face of authority is around, but obviously with the Thought Police it was a bit more stressful and strict. As stated in an earlier blog, I've also noticed that there is a large symbolic meaning to how "Big Brother" can invade the people's privacy in the novel, and how our government today can very well invade ours too. President Bush's passing of the Patriot Act enabled the random government officials to snoop around with our phone lines, therefore violating our freedom of speech in a sense. And, once again, in challenging our rights, we are forced to live under a stronger sense of fear. I feel that Orwell is really trying to say that our government and nation is and can become a dystopia, if we allow it to. The people need to take a stand and fight for their rights. If everyone remains silent, then no changes will take place. Speaking out is truly the key to getting what you want, and it will keep us from forming a dystopiatic lifestyle.