Dystopian Novels: Connections to Themes & Issues

In the world that we live in today, there are many things that the media covers that are related to different issues and events that occur. Some of the things that the media covers is censorship, surveillance, propaganda,and power/control.




Censorship-

There are many things in our society that are censored and this is because the government wants to maintain moral standards. One thing that is censored are  swear words. For example, if there is swearing in a music video, then that word will be censored so that you cannot hear the word. This is done mainly to protect minors so that they do not learn profanities at such a young age. A lot of music by rap artists contain inappropriate words. That is why rap songs have a clean version. Censorship is also used to stop truths or ideas from merging.  words. Some things that are said in speeches made by government officials are taken out. This is a form of censorship because it limits our freedom of speech and expression.

 Surveillance-

Surveillance in our society is used to monitor a person's behaviour, activities, or other changing information. An example of surveillance is  cellphone surveillance. Cellphone surveillance involves tracking, hacking, monitoring, and recording conversations and text messages on your cellphone. If someone loses their iPhone, they can use the Find My Phone feature that is pre-installed into their phone to locate their missing device. In America, law enforcement agencies can legally monitor the movement of people from their cellphone signals.

Propaganda-

 Propaganda use has been around for many years, and was used immensely during World War 1 and World War 2. A form of propaganda that was used a lot were posters. A specific propaganda poster that was popular during WW2 is the  "We Can Do It" poster of a working women flexing her arm muscles. During WW2, there were many posters made to convince men to enlist in the army, however there were also many posters aimed at the civilians who were to stay at home and work. The "We Can Do It" poster summarized the new power women had gained all across America. It was important to target women because they were an important part of the U.S. war effort.



Power/Control-
There are many ways the government keeps control of us and one of those ways is by making laws. For example, in Canada we have driving laws. Some of these laws include being able to get your drivers license at a certain age, driving with your seat belt on, not driving while under influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving with a license. To make sure we follow these rules, the police are allowed to pull us over and give a ticket to someone if they break the law. There are also surveillance cameras placed at intersections to capture images of those who are speeding. The government gives out tickets ,or prohibits people from driving because it lets us know that the government does not tolerate those who break the law and don't follow rules.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/distracted-driving-laws-across-canada-1.2576880