Surveillance

1984:
“blue bottle”
 So invasive
“st Clemens – mr charringtons room – “it was behind the picture”
 Art – they are being watched
“facecrime”
 Face reveals something – they give away true feelings through their facial
expressions
“for seven years I have watched over you”
 O’Brien has watched him for 7 years

AHT:
“she is my spy and I am hers”
 They are put in pairs for protection ? no there there to watch each other

“I know they’re watching these men who aren’t permitted”

 Offred enjoys their attention – sees it powerful
 Watching = a source of power

“I don’t want to be at the front or back”

 Paricution – has to be wary where she is

LOA:
1. Dystopian writers are fearful of technology’s power to watch and monitor
o AHT: commander = power , Offred = no power
o 1984: “bluebottle” – creation of helicopters
o F51: consumerism – tv, adverts – mechanical hounds hunts are recorded and
broadcasted on TVs// sea shell radios
2. In dystopia a panoptic existence creates powerful and powerless
o “it was behind the picture”
3. However, self-surveillance and McCarthyism witch hunts the most powerful in subduing
the population
o AHT: Atwood fears the use of people to spy on each other

Orwell: totalitarianism never happen in Britain, where he was writing – is it realistic?