The Orwellian Panopticon

Paper Summary:

When we read "1984" by George Orwell, with excerpts of Michel Foucault's work "Power/Knowledge" as a lens, we are able to see striking similarities between the Panopticon and Ingsoc. The paper shows that these similarities eventually lead us to the conclusion that the life of the people in Oceania, including Winston and Julia, are subject to the Orwellian Panopticon.

From the Paper:

"However, upon closer analysis, there exist significant differences between Foucault's idea of panoptical strategies and Ingsoc. While classical panoptical strategies, as described by Foucault, were used to instill discipline in minorities like prisoners and soldiers, it is a totalitarian approach in Nineteen Eighty-Four. With Ingsoc comes the use of violence and extreme measures like the "anti-sex league" (Orwell 69) and "doublethink" (Orwell 28). Omniscient surveillance in Oceania is present in the daily lives of the Party members even to the extent of having the Thought Police to monitor their minds."

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