The thought police hunt down people that do this because they are afraid of someone finding out that everything big brother does isn't good. The thought police watch your every move from television screens that they have in their houses. If you get caught doing a thoughtcrime you are punished and tortured. An example of a thoughtcrime is Winston's relationship with Julia. They don't allow romance, sexual desire, or love. In 1984 Winston says "The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak.", meaning that the people of Oceania are trained to stop thoughtcrime before it even occurs.
In many ways I feel like even today people are thought not to think or feel certain ways. Obviously we don't have "thoughtpolice " however, we do have people that tell us what we should think all the time. We have parents, presidents, teachers, employers, even friends that want you to think exactly like them all the time. Which is why we take outlets like social media, diaries, or even activities to try and find somewhere where we have a voice and can speak out on how we really feel.
I really like how you compared the "Crimestop" to our modern day version of societies expectations. What do you think would be different about this story if they didn't have "Crimestop" and vice versa? Do you think there are people like Winston that act a certain way to be accepted (even though Winston is doing it to survive in the beginning of the story) and once we're in a almost secluded enviroment we begin to shake loose the costume we've been wearing all day? A person that just came to mind is the president, Barack Obama. I feel like although he has to be a very polite and intelligent person in the public eye, once he is alone he gets to be more of himself. Don't you think once he's in his room at the White House or his mom's house he kicks off his Chelsea boots, rips off his Armani tie, and eats finger food while watching Modern Family or something? He expresses his true ideas and feelings more probably and that's the example I'm trying to drive across to why you said people need outlets. I really like this post, it was really "thought provoking".
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