citizens because they will constantly obey any orders when under constant surveillance.
This is similarly with Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the Panopticon prison system. The concept of the design is to allow all (pan) inmates of an institution to be observed (opticon) by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. This concept has been used in a number of prisons around the North America which include, but are not limited to Statesville penitentiary and Presidio Modelo Prison. Despite Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon having no direct correlation to that of George Orwell’s Big brother figure, both are very similar and provide common characteristics of constant monitoring and the unknown presence. First and foremost, the most noticeable commonality between these two are the features of constant surveillance. In the novel 1984 main character, Winston Smith, along with all the other citizens of London live in a forever state of despair knowing that their city is always monitored. Particularly in London, every
citizen is always bombarded with posters, signs, and radio adverts that remind everyone of a presence that is felt anywhere at any time: big brother. In spite of the novel being a fictional piece, it is based on very real events seen in Soviet Russia and Germany during World war two: Events seen by George Orwell. The dangerous reality about big brother is that it is all controlling and will probably never be overthrown unless there is a massive civil uprising. Until that point occurs, big brother will continue to reek havoc across the city. Despite Winston’s best efforts to inspire change and influence the government, he fails and gives in to the orders given by big brother. On the other hand, Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon would simply create the exact same scenario. In Crest Hill, Illinois there is a maximum-security prison nicknamed the roundhouse. The prison is nicknamed roundhouse because it is exactly like the Panopticon. It is a circular prison with single watchtower containing one sniper watching over 300 to 400 inmates at a time. In his book, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of a Prison, Philosopher and Historian Michael Foucault called the Panopticon a “Cruel, ingenious cage”. In a journal article written by Jerome Dobson and Peter Fisher, they constantly compare and contrast the two ideas of Orwell and Bentham calling CCTV “Modern day Panopticon” (Dobson and Fisher 309). They say the Panopticon is a thing of the past and the newly invented CCTV (Closed circuit television) because there is no need for one large person to oversee when there are hundreds of different high quality cameras. Next, there is the entire notion of the people feeling as if they are being watched all the time. The main component of why the Panopticon is so effective is having the feeling of constantly being watch despite the guard or big brother never actually being there. With that instilled frame of mind, the control flows from physical control to phycological control. In 1984, because there is so much propaganda that the government indoctrinated upon the people, they get used to it and that becomes their reality. In the National Geographic show lockdown prisons, such as the roundhouse, are examined for a few weeks and made into a documentary. In the episode presenting the roundhouse prison, prisoners always felt on edge and aggressive because they never felt alone. Not only did it feel as if they were constantly being watched by a sniper from a tower, the imamates were also being watched by other because of the prisons 360-degree design. While some made the most with their lack of privacy, others did not fair well and panicked or went mentally insane which prompted a visit to an extreme isolation chamber. Presently, in almost every retail store there are always cameras monitoring shoppers that are live and videotaping. Even though customers walk into a store and see a sign reading “Smile, you’re on camera”, many, if not everyone, usually do not care or just ignore the warnings and act no different. Finally, this concept can also be seen in suburbia. The way a subdivision is designed, all the homes are in very close in proximity – separated by eight or nine feet – and usually, face each other. In the blockbuster film, The Burbs, the audience is shown the realistic paranoia that homeowners face daily. The film shows a man and his friends grow suspicious of his neighbour, thinking he had committed murder. The film stresses that the man, Ray Peterson, is on vacation and has nothing better to do with his spare time. Because both of the homes face one another, the main character, ray, is always snooping through the window to look at the home. Always feeling pressured because he constantly being watched, the neighbour finally confesses to the murders and is arrested. Ultimately, the whole concept of constant surveillance is great for security purposes but poses the risk to the mental health of the inmates. The simple fact of even seeing the tower itself is enough proof to start feeling trapped. While Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon is efficient in many aspects, it fails to provide prisoners with a sense security from the guards. The entire reason for being locked up in prison is to rehabilitate inmates and deter them from committing another crime, not scaring them from the guards. Author George Orwell brings about a different method of the Panopticon through government. Instead of the “watchman” being a random guard with a weapon, the leader is an elected government official. But not just any government official, the leader, and president of the given city. The main differences between the two are the threats they impose and the freedom given to the people. While in both situations citizens are stripped of their basic rights, at least with the Big Brother people still have a sense of freedom because they are only being told they are being watched, not actually seeing it. Today, in modern society, the idea of using Closed Captioned Television has actually been a huge bust. According to the Telegraph, the number of crimes recorded by a CCTV has fallen nearly seventy percent from 416,000 in 2004 to 121,770 in 2009.