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The Eyes


Image result for big brother on a coin
"Even from the coin the eyes pursued you. On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrapping of cigarette packet- everywhere. Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed- no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your brain." (pg. 26)

          This passage was a description of the surrounding protagonist Winston Smith was consistently in. He was surrounded by watchful eyes that where everywhere. Furniture to small pocket items, there were images of eyes stitched into items creating a sense that there was always something watching where ever he would go. There was no privacy, except for the confines of your mind, and even that had its limits. The thought police was created to prevent people from having their own ideas. Another way to interpret this (excluding that last sentence) is that there is always someone watching your back. People may feel more secure or safe if there was a constant surveillance going on. However, I highly doubt that is true. Big Brother is made out to be a sort of tyrant who makes people act accordingly to what he wants. He needs these eyes to make people feel scared of him. They need to know that they are being watched at all times. The only downside to Big Brother's plan is that he can not read the minds of people. Though he can still cripple the thinking process of his subjects to think of what he wants them to think.


Comments

  1. LGarciaMCHSOctober 24, 2017 at 10:52 PM

    I thought that this whole "eye" thing was very interesting because throughout the whole story so far it is seen that their is always some sort of surveillance going on. Everything seems so under control and Big Brother seems to limit or narrow the amount of thinking that is going on through people. I agree with you in stating that these people probably don't feel very safe with a constant surveillance because this forces them to act and live in a specific way limiting their freedom.

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  2. LserranomiddlecollegeOctober 25, 2017 at 3:46 PM

    This is a society that is very different from ours, they have no right to think for themselves because they are always being monitored. Their beliefs are already set for them and that is why the party tries their best to always see what they're doing 24/7. I agree that Big Brother is a tyrant.

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  3. mmerinomiddlecollegeOctober 25, 2017 at 5:46 PM

    I think the quote you picked was great and it perfectly summarizes the society that Winston Smith lives in. Now that you mention it, I find it very interesting how they can't control an individual's thoughts but they can greatly influence it. This is done at a young age in Oceania as is seen with the junior spies and so on.

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  4. UnknownOctober 25, 2017 at 9:10 PM

    This issue with the eyes always watching you and stuff is another major negative to the quality of life. Like I stated in Luis Garcia's post, stepping away from the moral issues and conflicts that arise with t his topic, its just annoying and simply weird to have to feel like eyes are always watching you. I guess for some people, this might seem like a form of protection or security but that fact is countered by one simple fact. There are eyes EVERYWHERE. I don't thing even for a secure environment, that is necessary.

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  5. UnknownOctober 25, 2017 at 11:21 PM

    Hey Jason!
    Your evaluation of the eye being a way to intimidate the public is very well thought out and detailed. I like to bring another idea that supports your claim. Eyes symbolizes clairvoyance or the ability to see everything similar to how big brother see all of society. However, eye can also symbolize a seeking of the truth, something Big Brother is obviously trying distract society eye's from the truth. Its almost ironic that the most used symbol for the party is also a symbol of the truth something the party is trying to hide.

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  6. jzamoramiddlecollegeOctober 25, 2017 at 11:41 PM

    I agree with you on the fact that having eyes on everything might freak people out, but why interpret it as being watched and not being protected? Also people know that if there is an eye on a coin, nobody is going to see through it, so why be afraid of these little things?

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  7. JNguyenMiddleCollegeDecember 10, 2017 at 9:34 PM

    I think that the whole eyes everywhere is kinda creepy since there is no privacy! The only sensible "safe" place is our minds but that's where the thought police comes into play to catch us if we were to express our true intentions by accident.

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