Nineteen eighty-four serves as a vector for George Orwell to enlighten the world of a distant future in which thought crime exists, a future that we are collectively heading towards. Nineteen eighty-four is a dystopia or an alternate future. The concepts discussed in the novel like control through fear and the severe invasion of privacy would’ve been seen as completely alien to the reader in 1949 when the book was first published. looking back at 1984 we can see his timing wasn’t quite right, however in today’s world, we can see his predictions on the horizon. To me, this text appeals to the generation I was born into, the generation with the opportunity to save the world from irreversible decay. It is relevant to compare and contrast Nineteen eighty-four’s setting to the reality we live in as we can begin to see his key themes such as control through fear, extreme surveillance, and though crime.

In nineteen eighty-four Thoughtcrime is any thought which goes against the government or the governments’ beliefs. This crime is punishable by vaporization, people who are discovered vanish in the night never to be seen again. The totalitarian state uses newspeak (a heavily restricted version of English) and constant surveillance via telescreens in an attempt to counter thoughtcrime. In the Novel we see George Orwell’s interpretation of how humans would react living constantly this is done through the protagonist Winston. Winston relays all his thoughts and feelings straight back to the reader which allows us to get a sense of his personality and interpret how we (the readers) would react to a reality in which thought crime exists. Wintons constant fear of exposure to the government makes the reader very biased towards him as he’s made out to be the victim in this scenario The rest of the population seem to mindlessly have no control over their thoughts or actions as if constant surveillance has mentally and physically exhausted them. As this quote reiterates “power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” However I don’t believe the totalitarian state has brainwashed the population on the contrary we see that the population lets the state control them as it takes the stresses of decision making away. The state does have corrupt greed for control over its population although what causes the conflict is Winston’s equal greed for knowledge and the truth.
After all, there is nothing a totalitarian state wants more than power. This reshaping of humans minds as a bi-product prevents emotion in the population, as they are not allowed to think or express the way they feel due to newspeak. the government seems to even reassure them saying “ignorance is strength.”George Orwell’s language alone regarding thought crime is enough to open our eyes to what could happen to our expressive society today, having no control over daily decisions. Even Just the concept of losing freedom is sobering.

“Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” In order to stop thought crime and beliefs that go against that of the parties. To me “orthodoxy” is what will take hold in the future as a result of thought crime. George Orwell conveys orthodoxy as the polar opposite of committing a thought crime. Instead of having thousands of thoughts each day which some could consider against the state why think at all. In today’s society, you would think that orthodoxy would relieve people of the stresses and anxieties of life.like the saying “ignorance is bliss” which is another way of saying your happy because you have no idea what’s going on and nothing to worry about. However, Orwell shows us that in this dystopia Orthodoxy makes you a slave to the state you may not worry about being taken in the night but you will not have proper control over yourself. In nineteen eighty-four as a result of the thought crime counteraction, you will be told what to believe and how to act eliminating what defines both independence and consciousness. In today’s society, we are so focused on being the ideal person without distinctive flaws and strengths that we lose that sense of character that distinguishes us. we constantly look to people with a large following and a larger bank account and that’s where orthodoxy comes into play we follow these people with the hope and in some ways greed that one day we can be as successful as them. However, they use their large followings to control what people are like and what they do thus limiting their ability to develop character and succeed over others.

The last way the state attempts to control its population’s thoughts is through manipulation of historic events. Now in today’s society, we have a general knowledge of our world’s history but more specifically the worst events in history like the two world wars and the 9/11 terrorist attacks these events have changed how our society acts and how we have developed over the years. now imagine being able to change it in a matter of minutes. This enables the state to not only wipe the existence of its mistakes throughout history they can change history to glorify themselves as heroes. This seems like it could never happen in the present day as there are too many nations with records of world history however if the scenario that is described in nineteen eighty-four becomes a reality and the world was controlled by a select few people it cannot be hard to change history. The purpose of this change in History is so that people do not rebel against the state for casting aside their rights and for removing their freedom. It seems like the ultimate means of controlling a large population, the state controls what the population knows through education and available records and can influence their beliefs and values through the figurehead that is Big brother.

Thoughtcrime today is societies criticism and shaming of individuals beliefs due to our rights. In the present day, we should be able to say and think whatever we want. However, our fellow individual’s in society will criticise others if their beliefs contradict another individual’s. In a way, this is prosecution, not nearly as severe as the prosecution seen in nineteen eighty-four however with our fellow citizens trying to pass a bill to ban hate speech we can see that nineteen eighty-four’s take on thought crime may soon become a reality. In today’s society, we are told that we have “free speech” however in New Zealand what we have is an altered version called “freedom of expression”. This is because hate speech is currently outlawed in New Zealand now I do not condemn hate speech but I do believe we should have complete freedom over what we say and think even if it is seen as offensive by some. In the United States, every citizen has the right to free speech and free thought, they can think and believe whatever they want as long as “they do not act upon those ideas in order to deprive others of their rights.”In New Zealand we don’t have a constitution like America as they are difficult to alter, our system involves parliament and the high court this means laws can be relevant with the times and must be signed off with a majority vote. However, Ocianas laws are created and enforced by the government. After researching and analysing this subject I have come to the conclusion that the concept of thoughtcrime George Orwell warns us of whilst it is very real in the novel nineteen eighty-four and we can see similarities between his dystopia and our reality. In reality, they are merely similarities not huge threats to our standard of living like global warming. Throughout history we have fought for freedom, but is it really something we need to argue about and dispute in today’s society.