Jones

Lexie Jones "1984" IN RELATION TO CURRENT SOCIETY


 * = United States of America ||= Other Countries in Relation to "1984" ||
 * = 1. Truth, undone? ||= 1. North Korea, what's going on? ||
 * = 2. Expressionless... ||= 2. All work and no play ||
 * = 3. Who do we love? ||= 3.Who turned out the lights? ||
 * = 4. How confined are we? ||= 4.Remember when? ||
 * = 5. Do you hear what I hear? ||= 5. What the F$@K?! ||
 * = 6. To pledge or not to pledge? ||= 6. WORK, WORK, WORK! ||
 * = 7. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! ||= 7. Who do I love? ||
 * = 8. What amendments? ||= 8. Excuse me, is my business irritating your nose? ||
 * = 9. Who are you again? ||= 9. Dirt poor ||
 * = 10. Where am I? ||= 10. WE WANT FOOD! ||

Before we begin, I would just like to say when reading through "1984" I, at first, thought that certain ideas were pretty far fetched, but doing this project has made me realize that aspects of "1984" are more common than I ever imagined. RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES [] 1. TRUTH, UNDONE?



I value honesty. I believe honesty is the best policy and with everything that you do in life, you should be honest. Well, in Texas this is not the case. The State Bored of Education wants to alter their text books to match their textbooks to current standards. In doing this, they can takeout references to big things such as Columbus Day, Christmas, the come up of music styles, Daniel Boon, and General Patton If they do this, they're technically lying. Lying about what really happened and cheating students from a rightful education. In the article that I read, they said that they would take out words like expansion and free enterprise and replace them with imperialism and capitalism. That's lying right there too. They're basically taking history and making it say what they want it to say. In no shape or form should this be legal at all. [] history

2. EXPRESSIONLESS... media type="custom" key="22735618" align="center"

In Albany, New York a Stephan Downs was arrested for not taking off a shirt that he was asked to take off. The shirt said "Peace On Earth, Give Peace A Chance" He was was asked to remove the shirt but did not see the need and refused. His son was with him and he removed his shirt, but Mr. Downs stuck to his guns and he did not take off the shirt. Security was called and they escorted the man out of the mall, he was then arrested. I believe that this relates to "1984" becasuse even though Big Brother tried to make Winston crack and conform, he didn't. Well, not until ther very last minute. In this case, the mall security/police tried to make the man conform, and he didn't cave at all. I do support this man, and I don't understand what the big deal of wearing that shirt was either. Some societies just push for what they want, just like Oceania. [] expressionless

3. WHO DO WE LOVE? WHOEVER THE GOVERNMENT SAYS.... Our government says that we do not mix religion and politics, right? Well, they're wrong. Look at our laws V.S. the commandments, they are relatively the same thing (don't kill, don't steal, etc). Well, I think our government needs to choose, because if we don't mix religion and politics in our gov ernment system, then what is the problem with gay marriage? We, as a society, are pro human rights and equality but a man and man or a woman and a woman can't get married, why? Do they blame it on religion? Honestly that's all I can think of because we had a Civil War in order to get rights for slaves. We had a huge woman's rights movement. Now we have protests about gay marriage and why it's right/wrong. Who is our government to dictate who you can and can not love or be with the rest of your life. A man and a woman may stand before their friends and family and confess their love but two people of the same sex want to do it and it's a completely different story. The thing about this ordeal is that it has 1984 written all over it. In "1984" men and woman weren't aloud to have sex for "fun" and that was because Big Brother said they couldn't. Well, how are we any better if we are saying that two people of the same sex can't even proclaim their love in front of the world?

4. HOW CONFINED ARE WE? Recently, Northwood High School has had a big brother effect on the high school. Not only have they put in security cameras all over the school, but they are monitoring and scanning what we do and say. They say that the cameras are to ensure our safety from someone walking in with a weapon, but is that really the case? I believe that if it were to ensure our safety, then shouldn't the cameras be pointed towards the doors? I mean, if the cameras are pointed towards the doors, you can see who is coming in and I'm almost positive that if a student brought a weapon to school, they would have a worried look on their face, which the teachers that monitor us already, would clearly see. Our faculty also blocks certain websites that we usually go on (Facebook, Instagram, etc ). High school students, for the most part, can be very mature. If we can be trusted to operate a motor vehicle, why can we not be trusted to go on Facebook at school? Also, we have recently discovered that teachers have made twitter accounts and look over what the students of Northwood High School are posting. Now, it's completely non school related, just updates about our personal life, but the teachers look over our posts and if it's something inappropriate (even outside of school) that student gets in trouble. How is that fair? We should have freedom to post, say, do, and look at what we want. We are not children, not all of us anyway. I believe that our faculty doesn't trust us. They want us to follow every rule down to the period. They want to watch our every move and see what goes on. They are smothering us. This will only anger people, in my opinion. Who knows how long the anger will stand, or how long people will wait before things go back to normal, but students will want things to go back to normal.

5. DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?



According to the Patriot Act, the FBI can legally listen to your personal phone calls and read your emails without your permission. This is a total violation of privacy. Granted, if you don't have anything to hide you shouldn't be worried, but there is something uneasy about the fact that the government can just tap in and listen or read your conversations whenever they want to and for whatever reason they want to. This, once again is just like big brother. The FBI watching over us like this is like the telescreens watching over the "citizens" of Oceania. They may not see what we're doing but listening and reading what we are doing is not really any better. That is basically the same thing.

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6. TO PLEDGE OR NOT TO PLEDGE?

Ever since preschool children have been taught to say the pledge of allegiance everyday for school. How is that different than the "citizens" singing the Saint Clemens' Church song? Not that they were forced to sing it, but the children in our school systems were as a pledge to America. Either way, i t was still a practiced ritual such as our practice ritual of saying the pledge of allegiance. Also, another way that this relates to "1984" is that Winston only remembered that song, as do I. Since I have entered high school, we have not said the pledge of allegiance one time, it's nothing but a memory in my head, just like Winston's.

7. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! So, we killed Bin Laden, why are we still at war? We wanted vengeance for the hit on the twin towers, after we got that, we're still continuing to fight. Throughout America's history, we have been in a lot of fights. It seems like there is always some kind of battle or war going on and it seems like we get involved a lot. We're still fighting,and I don't even know why. We as America got what we wanted when Bin Laden died, so why are we still going at this war? It makes no sense and proves that our situations really are not any better than the ones described in Oceania. They were always at war with someone, back and fourth back and fourth. Why wouldn't they just be done? With as much of a common ground that I have discovered between "1984" and America not, I wouldn't be surprised if we were fighting for the same reason.

8. WHAT AMENDMENTS?



After the deaths of the Sandy Hook Elementary Shootings, and the some 30,000 deaths from guns a year, President Obama wanted to take affirmative action. He wanted to basically take our rights away. He wants back ground checks for people that want to buy a gun, he wants a list of people that have guns and he wants it to be public information, and he wants to even limit our weaponry. Now all of this is pretty much Oceania. The party had strict rules for them to live by and even limited the things that they had, for example, razor blades. The beginning of the story started out with Winston saying how they ration portions of certain items and razor blades were one of them, just like our President would like to do with guns. First of all, it's a right that we have. You can't just change the amendments because your pissed off about a school shooting. It's heartbreaking and terrifying I do concur, but that doesn't mean everyone's rights need to be taken away and altered because of some nut jobs that went beyond crazy.

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9. WHO ARE YOU? For very understandable reasons, we have undercover police officers. They have sting operations where they pretend to be hookers on Craig's List, or they go undercover into the mob, or in a gang so they can make a big bust. The thing about an undercover cop is, you won't even know that they are undercover. It's like they are spies kind of like the thought police and the child spies in "1984" Except in "1984" you knew the children were spies, but you were unsure of who the thought police was.

10. WHERE AM I?



The find my iPhone app is like saying "I WILL know where you are every second of everyday." Well, "1984" the telescreens pretty much took care of that. Maybe not to the extent of knowing where you are every minute of everyday, but definitely to the extent of knowing what you're doing in your room. Not only did the telescreens play a huge part in knowing where you are at all times, but so did the secret police. Basically everything about "1984" is explaining how their government is all ruling, always right, and all knowing. Honestly, this is a great example of how relatable that is.

Relations With Other Countries 1. NORTH KOREA, WHAT IS GOING ON FOR REAL?



In a museum in North Korea, there are paintings of the way Koreans were treated by U.S. Military... from their point of view. The images are gruesome and heartbreaking and completely untrue. The images are letting the citizens of Korea are going to think that America is really the bad guy in this whole ordeal. That we have been antagonizing them and not the other way around. Which it obviously should be. This is a great example of "1984" because Oceania would lie to their citizens about war and history as well. Just like the Korean government. []

2. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY. North Korea has been exporting it's people so they can earn money. If the people in the labor camps run away, their family dies. The workers may be gone for long periods of time and after they finally get to come home they have to sit in a seminar and get caught up on all the propaganda they missed out on. The seminars can last for days just so the people are caught up on what is going on in their current society. Now, the labor camps are relevant and relatable to "1984" because people in Oceania can't go out and just choose whatever job they want. It's given to them and so are the jobs at these labor camps. *WARNING* Some language in these videos are very offensive and inappropriate, but the information is needed. .media type="custom" key="22740698" media type="custom" key="22740710" 3. WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS? In "1984" the party wanted to limit what the citizens of Oceania could have, such as razor blades, which is how the story opened up; Winston was saying how they limit certain things that the citizens can have and razor blades were what they were limiting. Well, in Korea, they are limiting electricity. When looking at this map:

you can see how dark North Korea is compared to everything else. This is because North Korea, as I previously stated, limits the amount of electricity that they let their civilians have. Just like in "1984" they limited their resources, and the people of Oceania also had to be in their house by a certain time as well. Well, in a way, North Korea can kind of relate to that because their power gets turned off at a certain time as well; like an electric curfew.

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4. REMEMBER WHEN? North Korea has basically brainwashed their citizens into believing that Korean life is the right life. They falsify propaganda that they put out there, as I illustrated earlier, and they don't really even tell them what all is going on in the world so it's not like they can make up their mind about other countries. By that I mean, they don't know if other countries are controlling or not. How would they? I believe this relates to "1984" because the party didn't really tell the people of Oceania anything either and they also falsified a lot of information as well. Also, at the end of the book we had an inside look at a brainwashing treatment with Winston. O'Brian brainwashed Winston into believing that Big Brother is amazing and the best thing for the society, just like North Korea is doing by not letting people experience a full media presentation.

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5. WHAT THE F$@K?!

Censorship, I'm not a fan. I understand it, I get why people would do it, but is it really super necessary? Let me rephrase so my entire argument is seen; in this scenario, I agree because child pornography is not something taken lightly. In Europe, the government is censoring out child pornography. I do agree. I do not agree with censorship as in how Northwood High School is set up. Why is social media blocked? Why are half of the websites you need to look up information on a school project blocked? That is rediculous and that, I feel, has been blocked out of spite. However, censorship with a meaning behind it, like for your own good, is understandable. Censorship can relate to "1984" because it is kind of like newspeak. If the government doesn't want you to know what something is, they can sensor it and you will never know. That is what they did in Oceania with the newspeak dictionaries.

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6. WORK, WORK, WORK!



Sweatshops in China are a popular thing. There are Nike sweatshops and even Apple sweatshops. I'm not saying that it is right by any means at all, but sweatshops are very common there, especially for young children because they have tiny fingers. By Nike and Apple having sweatshops in China, all they are doing is supporting the cause. Sweatshops are full of awful working conditions and low wages. It's completely unfair work and nobody should have to be put through that and unfortunately, people are put through that. This is relevant because in "1984" the conditions of life were awful. They didn't get to choose their jobs. They didn't get good pay and nice things, the same as China. Both had horrible life conditions, low wages, and no choice in the job market.

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7. WHO DO I LOVE? Since a young age, you're taught that one day you will fall deeply in love and get married and have a family; in other cultures this does not apply. In Zimbabwe, there are arranged marriages. You don't get to choose the person you marry, your family, usually the father of the bride, chooses who the boy who he thinks is best fit fot his "little girl." Also, in public outings, you may not show affection towards someone of the opposite sex because it's viewed as rude and depending on how bad the offense is, you may be shunned. In "1984" the citizens of Oceania aren't really given a choice in who they can love either. They can't show any affection towards husbands or children or else they will be turned in to the party.

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8. EXCUSE ME, IS MY BUSINESS IRRITATING YOUR NOSE?



China wants to track citizens by tapping into their phones, the same as in America. Government is getting a little cocky thinking they can spy on our every move. Orwell was right in writting "1984" because a lot of the aspects I have already talked about, and from a lot of different places too. China wants to tap into phones so they can basically stalk you, what's up with that? In the book "1984" the telescreens and spies watched and documented everywhere you went at every part of the day which is what China is doing here. It is relatively the same thing, it is also what the FBI is doing here in America, even without out permision.

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9. DIRT POOR.

From this picture, you can see that the living conditions here are not to great; this is Iraq. Their economy is still on a downfall beings as there is a war going on between us. Jobs are already hard to come by, with their economy plummeting worse than that of America, they are even harder to come by. Money is hard to keep because they need to same it for groceries and other needs, like investing in their own job (vegetable market) So, any money they get never gets put into their houses, always into something else that they need, which is understandable. In "1984" their life conditions weren't to great. The living conditions weren't horrible but they weren't great, certain things were hard to come by just like there are certain things that are hard to come by in Iraq.

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10. WE WANT FOOD!



In Cuba, the government has decided to ration their food. Now that is not really fair in my eyes. If you work hard, you should be able to get the things that you deserve and the things that you can afford. Now, if you don't work hard or if you don't work at all, you don't get rewarded, it's as simple as that. However, nobody should dictate how and what you do with your earnings. Just like in "1984" the people of Oceania were cheated out of razor blades. How is that fair? Other than Winston not conforming to the party, he was a hard worker and deserved to be treated like a decent human being. He deserved to not have items that he needed rationed out for him, just like the people of Cuba shouldn't have items they need rationed out for them. If they need to budget better, let them figure that out on their own.

[] CONCLUSION... When we first started reading the book "1984" I thought the idea of it was a little far fetched. The farther and farther we got into the story the more and more I realized how relatable it was to a lot of things that are going

on. Within my research, I discovered that there were even more relations that I had overlooked, just not even

thinking. I do think that this was a helpful project because I actually got to reflect on a lot of things about life. I can draw examples from my life to even relate to it, and I did. "How Confined Are We?" as shown in my table of contents. I also think that this is a project that you should do again because hopefully other students can take as much out of it as I did. Sources Cyted:

"World Report 2012: North Korea | Human Rights Watch." //World Report 2012: North Korea | Human Rights Watch//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. "Sweatshops in China | War on Want." //War On Want//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. "FBI Cointelpro intensifies against innocent Targeted Individuals." //examiner.com//. N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2013. <[]>. "Security Cameras." //Accupro//. N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2013. <[]>. ." //United Nations News Centre//. N.p.. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <[] ." //Russian centre for victims of torture//. N.p.. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <[]>.