Intricacies of State Power and Knowledge in The Lives of Others and Orwell’s 1984

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Intricacies of State Power and Knowledge in The Lives of Others and Orwell’s 1984  
When a person gains vital knowledge, the individual may use it in whichever manner they deem fit. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others dissect a common theme, intricacies of state power and knowledge. The idea shows the audience how different people in possession of the same piece of information can use it in drastically different ways to suit their particular purposes. The audience can witness this fact in various ways in both materials. From mass scrutiny for espionage or security goals to strict recordkeeping to warp or retain the truth, and finally, to physiological or medical progressions aimed at deliberately deforming and harming people or solving their problems, one is forced to consider two famous maxims, and to choose between the power of knowledge and the bliss of ignorance. 
In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the audience encounters a position concerning what the situation would be like if mass surveillance developed comprehensively. Having read materials that discuss how the freedom of people can be curtailed in an assumed free democratic state, it is clear that freedom means different things to the subjects and the ruling class. For democracy to prevail, people should be allowed to live their lives the way they desire as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others. However, this is not the case in Orwell’s 1984 and The Lives of Others film. In these materials, the power of knowledge, the central idea, is just a farfetched notion that the subjects only hear about or merely imagine as they bow into submission to the oppressive regimes. 1984 and The Lives of Others, creatively and carefully dissect freedom, bringing into sharp focus not only the adverse consequences of freedom deprivation but also how its lack leads to betrayal and disloyalty to oneself and family in the effort to please the government, even within otherwise expected closely-knit relations.
The introduction of the government presence in Oceania homes through the installation of telescreens by The Party presents the most pre-eminent and pernicious apparatus of mass surveillance as it gives complete access to individuals’ behavior in the secrecy of their homes. Although Winston finds a loophole by distancing himself from the telescreen’s range, The Party ultimately extends its mass surveillance to a professedly improbable third level, thus introducing the state into ‘the few cubic centimeters inside the skull.’ This same situation replicates in the lives of others. While Georg Dreyman, a socialist playwright, lives an honest and virtuous life, Lieutenant-Colonel Anton Grubitz, using Gerd Wiesler, initiates “Operation Lazlo” to have Dreyman’s activities monitored (A. O. Scott, 2007). This strips the citizens of their privacy.
Thirsty for total control and power, the German Democratic Republic in The Lives of Others movie, commands its infamous Stasi, secret po...