“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought” is a powerful quote used in the novel Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. Where the Oceania state is ruled by “Big Brother” and his Party punishing everyone who commits thought crimes. in the first chapter of Nineteen Eighty Four Winston writes down “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” multiple times on a page. This made Winston worried about the thought police catching onto him, but because he had already thought that it wouldn’t have made a difference if he wrote it down or not. Everyone is under constant surveillance by the thought police in Nineteen Eighty Four, which is the exact same in our society with social media and CCTV everywhere. This was a prediction of what society will be like in the future, and George Orwell was pretty accurate about his ideas and thoughts about the future.

A intention he tries to portray is the invasion of privacy. The novel shows us that personal space and privacy is never allowed, with people being constantly monitored by the Thought Police, Big Brother, “Telescreens”, people from society and the Party. This constant monitoring stops people from having their own identity and being able to think and act for their self. And even banning words, which stops them from being able to think certain things. This makes society live in constant fear of what will happen if they do the wrong thing, or commit a “Thought Crime” This novel takes it to such an extreme where society is under constant surveillance and are worried about being seen, their conversations being heard and being taken away and killed by the “Thought Police”, who will know if you have any political or personal thoughts that isn’t approved by “The Party”. But how is this any different to today’s society, with Cameras and CCTV constantly watching our every step, and microphones built into them to listen in on our conversations. and not to mention the police will arrest you for breaking the “Laws” our society is forced to follow. This makes me think about how easily we can be manipulated, with the numerous news stations and social media that could completely lie about something and no one would second guess it because it’s from a reputable source. This is scary to think about because how do you know someone is lying if you don’t have the proof to back up what did or didn’t happen with half the time people having no background knowledge on the story so it seems believable.

Orwell made it so that society is always being watched throughout the novel, with just an expression on your face which let people know what you were thinking being against the law. The novel followed a man named Winston, The only human being that wants to independently use his mind and goes against “thought crime”, Because individual thoughts are banned by the “Big Brother”, He thought he was alone until he met a girl named Julia, another person who wasn’t controlled by the party. Winston was worried that she was spying on him and that she was in the party until she gave him a letter which wrote “I love you” after this Winston arranged to meet her in the crowd at Victory square. After months of secretly seeing each other O’Brien tests their loyalty by asking them if they were prepared to separate and never see each other again, Julia yells “No!” and both of them are tortured by the party. Winston was tortured and brainwashed for months until he is threatened by O’Brien that rats will devour his face. which is when he gives in and begs O’Brien to do it to Julia.