How People Are Affected By The Characters In 1984, And The Circle

Characters in 1984 and The Circle are affected by their perception of what is normal in many ways. In 1984, the people of Oceania are constantly being analyzed by the Party through telescreens and the way they act in front of other people. The fact that they are constantly in the presence of somebody else causes them to not be their true selves. This physiological tactic is also referred to in Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, “all turn their eyes on themselves...someone might always be watching so it doesn’t matter if, from time to time, someone actually is. As long as you are not doing anything wrong, you're safe” (Turkle 4). The citizens of Oceania dwell on the fact that someone may be watching them, so they constantly follow all of the
Another aspect of life through technology is that opinions aren’t expressed in person. There is no way to know what people are really thinking and get the bigger picture, so everything is over analyzed. An example of this is when Mae gets 368 frowns on a question asking how awesome she is. She reads into the situation and makes the frowns out to be something more than they are when she says, “Now I have to walk around campus not knowing who wants me dead”(417). Mae’s justification of people wanting this is based upon a few frowns directed towards her that she has no capability of knowing the reasoning behind. Another normality at the Circle is a lack of communication skills because they are never necessary. Technology is so natural to Circlers that they don’t realize how they are almost always truly alone and are only involved with others through technology. Another normality in the Circle is the constant push for a perfectly run society, with no crime or accidents. There need for being completely safe causes them to not realize how they are willingly giving the Circle total power over them. The majority of society believes the Circle’s ideals are perfect so they don’t even think to question any of the Circle’s