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The underlying notion behind the powerful Party that has been depicted by George Orwell in his book titled ‘1984’ is essentially its ability to control the citizens of the nation. The party implements a plan filled with fear and manipulation to imbibe that fear among the citizens. Technology forms the crux if this plan of creating fears amongst the citizens.
Tele-screens signify the invisible eye that Big Brother has upon on all the citizens who are mandated to have a tele-screen in their households. Moreover, the people are continuously under the scanner of the tele-screen at all times, irrespective of where they are; be it in public places, their workplace, or even at social gatherings. In few situations where the tele-screens are unavailable, other forms of technological advancements like voice-recognition microphone bugs, etc. are employed to trace the conversations of the people around. In the case of Winston and Julia, they learn about this strategy and disguised scanning facility in a rather hard way, as both of them get captured because they are overheard by a tele-screen that was concealed behind a picture. This point to the fact that merely because a tele-screen is not apparently visible, does not indicate that there is no tele-screen present in the vicinity.
The Party has complete control over every source of information, however important or unimportant it might be, dealing and redrafting the content of all the popular newspapers and accounts for its own needs and requirements. This is evident from the following quote from the book, “Power is not a means; it is the end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish a dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.” The Party does not permit individual citizens to maintain records of their bygones, like for instance, photographs or official papers. Eventually, all the precious memories that people would have about their past lives or incidences in the past life become vague and untrustworthy, and residents become seamlessly keen to have confidence in whatever the Party communicates to them. By controlling the present-day, the Party successfully manipulated the past; and in the associated controlling of the past, the Party is in a position to validate all of its actions of the present, and this has been expressed in the book through the following statement, “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
Moreover, apart from the continuous surveillance, the Party incessantly influences the thoughts of the citizens. Winston, for instance, is employed at the Ministry of Truth, whose specialization is rewrite history on a daily basis. Whatever the Party wants to retract or restructure, essentially happens in a jiffy. Winston simply makes the required changes electronically to all sources of known information. The beliefs held by the people about war or food provisions are altered so rapidly that no one can think about what to be certain of, and for their own security, admit into the so-called truth created by the Party.
Beyond just manipulating the minds of its citizens, the Party also has total control over the bodies of its people. The Party continuously keeps a watch for any sign of unfaithfulness or treachery, to the extent that, as Winston witnesses, even a minute facial convulsion could result in the individual getting arrested.
The various ways in which the Party employed Technology in George Orwell’s 1984
The party utilized the best technology that was popularly available in those days when this book was written. Such technology includes cameras and wire-tapping equipment, among others. The Party also used a number of spies through the so called "thought police.” The novel had essentially depicted a societal power, which was not too advanced in terms of technology; however, a power that extensively used the best available technology just to intimidate and create a sense of fear and threat of social expulsion. To be precise, technology was more a control tool for the Party.
Possibly, the most remarkable ways in which the Party employed technology throughout the book is by the use of tele-screens. These tele-screens essentially served a dual purpose. The private tele-screens in living areas of people is almost like televisions; yet, they differ in the manner that they are mainly used to keep a watch on the people, they work in two different ways, both sending out and getting in information. Imaginably, the most threatening facet of these is that people do not have a choice of switching them off; this is uninterrupted scrutiny of the private lives of people. There are also massively big tele-screens in the various public places designed principally to spread publicity and awareness about the Party.
The Party also uses concealed microphones to spy on the conversations had by people. As well as using technology for surveillance, the Party also uses it authority to alter the information; public registers, official papers, and important of all, historic records. These can be altered in no time at whatever time the Party feels the necessity to make such changes. This is accomplished automatically. Another predominant use of technology is the use of stylish torment machines that help in the manipulation of people. Another piece of technology is the device that Winston makes use for altering the information about the history for it to be favorable for The Party. This is well explained from the following quote from the book, “Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” With the absence or lack of such kind of a technology, the public would continue to remember the damages, the playgroup rhymes; and any old newspaper snippets that could be something that is contrast with the Party.
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.” The absence of technology – the most strongest power that it has, would make the Party absolutely powerless and it would also not be in a position to evade the presentment of substantiating proofs in the court of law for all the misdeeds or tortures it had put the citizens through. The people, if there is no such technology available, would be in a position to communicate and interact about The Party's losses freely without any kind of inhibitions or inherent fears; and when insults happen around the town, the existing government might end-up becoming a corrupt government in no time. Irrespective of how sophisticated the technology used by the devices that help in rewriting dictionary may be; the language remains restricted. Consequently, this might result in rebellious thoughts getting generated in the minds of the people, and this might eventually result in communal or public violence against The Party. Besides, there is also a possibility that a real brotherhood might evolve, which is strong enough to overthrow the existing power. It is also highly pertinent to note that technology occasionally might be highly unnecessary. For instance, if the Thought-Police already had the needed authority and power along with some respect for it among the residents, then there is no need for any kind of spying technology. To conclude, the Party makes extensive use of technology to control, both the information as well as people.
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