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Brent H

Is it the right thing to do to replace all the freedoms and rights this country has worked for, to get some safety? In //1984//, by George Orwell, there is a communistic society where Winston lives. Telescreens are constantly watching the citizens of Oceania to see if any people are disagreeing with the government. Whenever people are caught, the thought police come and make them disappear from society. This happened to Winston after words in his diary that went against the government. After he was caught they tortured him into believing Big Brother was a good thing. The other book, [|Cory Doctorow's] //Little Brother//, is about a terrorist bombing on the San Francisco bridge. Marcus and his friends witnessed this and were accused of terrorism. The DHS ([|The Department of Homeland Security]) interrogated them and they were all released except for Darryl. Marcus spends his time coming up with a solution for bringing down the DHS. He gathers many people through his X-Net and tells his parents he was interrogated and tortured by the DHS. Marcus is captured again for confessing to his parents but the CHPS (The California Highway State Patrol) rescued him. The DHS lost power due to the video of Marcus' torture being released. Government power, controlled by technology, pushes citizens to challenge that system if they disagree with governmental decisions like the characters in //Little Brother// and //1984//.

The characters Marcus and Winston help release information regarding the power of government, with the help of technology, and challenging the system. Power is abused when in the hands of wrong leaders, parties, or branches of government. //1984// and //Little Brother// include societies with the power distributed unevenly, because they are not being run constitutionally or fair. '"You unlock the phone for us today. If you do that, you'll get the outdoor and bathing privileges.... Tomorrow, we'll, bring you back and ask you to decrypt the data on these memory sticks. Do that, and you'll get to eat in the mess hall'" (Doctorow 54). This form of torture, from the severe haircut lady, makes Marcus have to give up some privacy for some simple privileges, needed in everyday life. The privacies include some passwords, for email or his phone, which should only be known by him. Winston is also tortured, but by the party following [|Big Brother's] orders. Winston is in a [|communistic] society where everything is monitored by government officials. He was captured for the same reason as Marcus, rebelling against the government. Mr. Lukes' lecture taught about the different forms of communism and who the creator was. Winston and Marcus both attempted to improve the government and were caught, interrogated, and tortured. Both books include corrupt government and their wrongdoing to some of the citizens. Some of the wrongdoings include death, torture, or banishment from society. To control the thoughts and actions of the people, the government and leaders use technology to keep an eye on them. They then remove them from society for interrogation, if caught. The thought police, in //1984//, and the DHS, in //Little Brother//, capture anybody against the work of the government. "'The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper would be picked up by it..." (Orwell 3). is the government of Oceania's technique for watching their citizens. This shows the government's power and how they can do whatever they want. If they want to see what someone is doing all they have to do is track everyday items, like a phone, or watch with cameras which are everywhere. Anything is possible when technology can do basically anything. One bad part is that both sides, good or bad, can use the technology. Challenging a system includes doing something that is against what the government wants. In //1984,// Winston challenges Big Brother by writing "Down with Big Brother..."(Orwell 18). Winston threw out his true beliefs and will be soon punished by the thought police for it. //Little Brother//, also expresses this with Marcus leading a group to bring down the DHS. Both novels show characters expressing their true feelings of the government. Marcus and Winston present that anybody should go through with what they believe in; although, the punishments may include torture, death, or being removed from society. For example, in today's society after the [|terrorist act] on September 11, 2001 the [|airport protection] went way up and they started to be much more cautious on what gets inside the plane. Technology plays a serious role in government power, because it helps with the controlling of the country. Without technology, the country would be more chaotic and would have much less power because they would have no way of controlling it. Through time, technology will be found everywhere and it will be almost impossible to challenge anything. media type="youtube" key="3-VqG-XI9uE" height="344" width="425" align="center"

Technology is made to make lives easier and more efficient, and it can be used to help the government keep their country in one piece; however, there are some down sides to having technology at every corner in life. Challenging a system doesn't always turn out how anybody wants it, so there may be consequences and government power, depending on how the power was distributed, may determine how bad the discipline is ​how did you go from technology to challenging the system in consecutive sentences?. Electronics might do more harm to some than good and maybe vis versa for another group of people. “…moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment” (Orwell 3). This is a quote explaining how in this society there were no secrets. The telescreens were always watching, no way turning them off, and you couldn’t do anything without the party leaders watching. So when Winston wrote in his diary, the leaders were watching. What is unclear is the [|variety of different technologies], and what the different uses are? Both novels, //1984// and //Little Brother//, have technology which helped find what the main characters were doing at any time. Marcus was tracked through WIFI and which connection he was accessing. Technology has many different uses, but some may involve bad plans or courses of action. One example, is just a small mic that may have the same purpose but achieves that differently. Power can be shown in many different ways, but the most common is torture. Power is usually abused, by giving cruel and unusual punishents to criminals and rebels against the government, to obtain more power. “Back to the cell, but they cut loose my hands and they gave me a shower and a pair of orange prison pants to wear”(Doctorow 62). This is a quote that shows the cruelty of the DHS, when Marcus had done nothing. This punishment is not unusual but still is They kept him in prison and acted like he was a criminal. He had no trial or attorney, and was just taken for no reason. After being taken he was [|interrogated and tortured]; this also happened with Winston when the party took him and tortured him with his greatest fear, rats. What are some other punishments for challenging authority? The consequences did not seem like they were appropriate for a rebellion. Torture is usually used to get something out of the victim, not used as a punishment for something. One possible consequence that fits in with these situations is life in prison until they change their mind about the government. “I’d given Xnet discs to hundreds of people, and they’d done the same. I knew the people I gave the discs to pretty well” (Doctorow 148) What other techniques are successful in challenging a system? Winston’s small steps were not effective because he ended up achieving nothing, while involving others is very efficient because Marcus succeeded in bringing down any decisions made by the government and put them in a cruel prison. Challenging systems can be achieved through many different actions, such as slowly taking small steps or take a giant leap that includes involving others. A quote that shows an example of the DHS. Another technique is fighting for what you believe in, and take a big chance to try to overthrow a government. The novels, //1984// and //Little Brother//, showed a lot of information regarding the power, challenging, and technology, but did not have much variety in the groups so giving fewer choices.

The different techniques of challenging the system, technologies and uses, and punishments from government power lead to many variations of bringing a system to an end. A person may be strong in one area but extremely weak in another; this variation allows people to have an equal chance of succession. Different people have different techniques of challenging a system and will be more comfortable if they are used to starting a rebellion in their own way. “’I was in jail. After the [|bridge] blew. I was in jail for that whole time’” (Doctorow 251). This direct quote explains the technique Marcus took to expose the DHS. He took the step of bringing in other individuals. Winston took a different route and shows variations to the reader which shows each person has a different way of approach. Technology is an important role in rebelling against the government, because it makes it faster and more efficient. Different electronics have high efficiency, but low speed and some are vis versa. The [|telescreen], in //1984//, is very slow but will get almost everyone who is a rebel. The following quote explains the importance of telescreens and how they are needed in a controlled country. “He accepted everything. The past was alterable. The past had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia”(Orwell 277). The telescreens caught Winston in his attempt to get away with his negative comment towards Big Brother in his diary. Without them the leaders could not have turned Winston’s life completely around. Marcus could never have been found the second time for interrogation without the tracking electronics the DHS used. The novels show the technologies effect on the rebellion in each society. It is preference whether you want faster speed or better efficiency. Easier [|consequences] may lead to bringing this rebellion to a farther point than if the government had harder punishments. People will be scared out of going through with their rebellion, therefore ending quicker."The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate…”(Orwell 81). This quote shows the fear in Winston’s eyes of the other Party members because of their power. Their power was placed in this society through fear. In //Little Brother//, Marcus has fear from the DHS and that is the reason for waiting so long to tell his parents of the interrogation because they would capture and torture him for it. The variations of everything is just preference for everybody because there are ups and downs to both approaches.

Technogy keeps the chaos levels in the country to a minimum, but brings the people to rebel against the government. Without the technology, the political leaders would never know what citizens are going to do to bring down them. Punishments, such as prison or torture, put fear into the lives of civilians, so they do not think of attempting the same thing. Different techniques fit into the citizen lives, but the price may not be worth it, depending on the thought of the human.

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