Jason Caminitis Its Like 1984 All Over Again :: Its Like 1984 All Over Again Essays

Jason Caminiti's It's Like 1984 All Over Again "Most people have written this book off as a good science fiction work." Says Jason Caminiti, writer of the 1984 critical essay, "It's Like 1984 All Over Again." What he refers to is the public's reaction to 1984, a novel discussing the government's involvement in personal affairs. Caminiti believes that the book holds truer to modern times than people believe. Although there may be no Ingsoc, telescreens, Newspeak, or even helicopters darting in and out of windows, the government still has their own wicked methods of controlling and monitoring American society. Modern technology has just helped accomplish this feat. Caminiti explains how everything acts as a monitoring tool, from the Internet to the Social Security System, and even ID cards for schools and college campuses. "Our government is taking steps towards this type of Orwellian society all the time." He realizes. Jason Caminiti is right. 1984 is not just some nondescript science fiction novel, but a reflect ion on life today. Before the criticism on Jason Caminiti's critical essay, "It's Like 1984 All Over Again" can be distributed, a few unclear terms must be defined. A telescreen is a technological advancement, allowing "Big Brother" to peer into the homes of those who have them (And in 1984, they are mandatory.) The telescreen watches, day and night, and can never be shut off, and can also communicate back. Big Brother is the elusive government in 1984, never seen, only heard of. The Ministry of Truth is the office where Winston, an Outer-Party member works. Ministry of Truth is an ironic title, for all that the Ministry of Truth does is lie to people, changing facts and hiding facts. That's not truth at all, but deceit instead. A prole is another term from 1984, and is short for "prolitariat" or "prolitarian". Proles are pleasure-seeking human beings, representing the lower class of society. The government rarely concerns themselves with prolish matters. Lastly, the V-Chip is not a term from 1984, but a modern day invention. Advocated by former United States president, Bill Clinton, the v-chip is supposed to be used by parents to help block out any questionable material on television.