1984 Show & Tell

On Tuesday April 11^th, 2017 I chose to share a video summary and analysis of 1984 by George Orwell. I hoped to draw comparison from both Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick and The Circle written by Dave Eggers. In class, we were given the opportunity to watch Blade Runner which is a 1982 film based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. All three books provide a glimpse into the future via the eyes of their author. Each story develops a dystopian society that has the possibility to become reality if current events were to continue at the time the stories were written. 

In year of 1968 when Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was first published and around that time, there was a rapid growth in technology. This was a period where one of the earliest computer games was created along with cassette tapes, and touch-tone telephones. Not to mention an increased popularity in television sets. Philip K. Dick lived in this era and was inspired to imagine the world if these technological advancements were to continue all the way into the year 2021. At this point in time with a large focus on technology to implement in war, who is to say that androids weren’t going to be the pinnacle of such advancements. Philip K. Dick was most likely influenced through both Word War II, Vietnam War, and the Cold War all taking place within his lifetime. Therefore, a world of nuclear fallout to exist within fifty years only seems appropriate. Similar to how the different crisis surrounding Philip K. Dick crafted his dystopia, George Orwell was also influenced by the world around him.

George Orwell writes about a dystopian society in which constant surveillance, manipulation of media, and mind control come together to create the future. He lived in a time when Hitler burned books that did not reflect the highest interest of their Government. Advancing a step further Stalin, rewrote books and manipulated images to correspond to his ideals and what he wanted his country to see. Such manipulation is what brought Stalin so much power. Within the book 1984 the main character Winston works in a job where he rewrites articles to match whatever the government wants.  George Orwell made this a focus by utilizing the main character to partake in one of the main causes of the dystopian society. Control of the media means control of control of the people consuming it. George Orwell saw this trend in 1949. In 2013 Dave Eggers saw this same trend, but it has shifted.

Instead of monitoring and controlling the media that is consumed by the members of the society, the control comes from the monitorization of media being produced. The more people who are creating content and sharing media, the more control the government or in this case a company has over those people. Not only are people unable to keep secretes, but all their data is being processed and analyzed for any use. Although originally the idea of having a world without secrets or lies seems productive, it actually causes a negative effect in which the story of The Circle further develops.