1984 vs. Brave New World - Essay Example

"1984" vs. "Brave New World" Although many similarities exist between Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984", they are more dissimilar than alike in their basic idea. The structures of the societies depicted in the novels are different, however the goal of both governments is the same - total control of society, to keep the majority in ignorance and submission. The governments use different tactics of manipulation, the Party from "1984" uses torture to subdue those who might oppose it, Utopia of "Brave New World" controls people by showering them with pleasure, which is ultimately more effective because pleasure-based control makes the victim want to feel good by submitting to it. "1984" is the story of Winston who finds forbidden love within the hypocrisy of his society. "Brave New World" is a novel about the struggle of Bernard Marx, who rejects the tenants of his society when he discovers that he is not truly happy. In both cases, the main character is in quiet rebellion against his government which is eventually found to be in vain. "Brave New World" is more scientific and uses more religion. "1984" is more political and uses force, power, fear, and anger to keep people in line. The governments in "1984" and "Brave New World" weakened their citizens with ignorance and silenced them with fear. In "1984" the proles were considered to be completely without thought, and regarding the actions of the Party they in fact were. The ignorance of the proles allowed them to continue on with their lives without the burden of knowledge of the Party. Those in the Party who had somewhat of an idea of the motives and deception of the higher members were silenced with the fear of death and torture. This enabled the Party to prevent a revolt from ever occurring. However, the people who were caught and subjected to torture were not killed or injured to confess their crimes, instead they were physically, intellectually and emotionally reborn. They loved the Party and more importantly they loved Big Brother. In "Brave New World" this triumph over the individual and destruction of the sprit of man does not happen in the same way. The citizens in "Brave New World" have almost no need to be reborn to love the Party, or the State in their case. This is so because they truly had no human spirit in the beginning, for without true love from parents and real interaction with others at young ages, and without even a real birth, those in "Brave New World" do not need to be changed by the State because all that they have learned has been taught by the State itself. However, there is a precaution: the citizens grow up with the fear of being shipped to a far off island for a life of intense manual labor if they do not succumb to the standards of their society. The control of the people in both novels is to assure the power of the main leaders, such as Big Brother and the World Controller. For the societies of "1984" and "Brave New World" to exist, the manipulation of the citizens must occur. In "1984", the Party has control over everything, including the minds of its people. Doublethink is a kind of manipulation of the mind, used by the rulers of Oceania. This makes people accept contradictions, and believe that the party is the only institution that distinguishes between right and wrong. Doublethink ensures orthodoxy and loyalty in spite of anything that may occur. The Party also created newspeak as a tool to promote and enforce doublethink. Newspeak manipulates its citizens into thinking a certain way. The reduction of words to a bare minimum, or newspeak, disables the citizens from producing true thoughts of their own that may stray from the path of Big Brother. In "Brave New World" the citizens are not only manipulated into conformed thoughts, but their behavioral patterns are preconditioned. They are taught the laws and rules of their society, so as to prevent them from ever producing thoughts that differed from those of the government. The children are taught to love the social status in which they are granted. This creates stability for the society as the citizens have no motives to move up the social scale. The inhabitants of "Brave New World" are indoctrinated, and brainwashed in their sleep. In this society, traditional notions of love, motherhood, monogamy, romance have long been disregarded and despised. The society values, "A Community, Identity, Stability," (Huxley 1) supersede everything else in a collective effort. Soma, the magical ultimate drug is what keeps the population from revolting - it possesses "all the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects" (Huxley 14). The drug is used as a form of recreation, like sex, and its use is encouraged at any opportunity, especially when great emotions begin to arise. They are conditioned to accept soma to calm and pacify them should they begin to feel anything too intensely. The conditioning also provides them with their place and prevents them from participating in social activities which they needn't take part in. The conditioning is begun at an extremely young age: "The screaming of the babies suddenly change the tone. There was something desperate, almost insane, about the sharp spasmodic yelps to which they now gave utterance" (Huxley 20). The children's conditioning with electric shocks is later compared to the wax seals which used to grace the seams of letters. In "Brave New World" the State makes babies hate books and nature by shocking them when they touch them. Naturally, when they grow up they hate books and traveling far. Thus, the entire society in Huxley's novel is conditioned to shrink away from intense emotion, engage in casual sex, and take their pacifying soma. Another form of manipulation, yet much less subtle in both novels, is the formation and distribution of propaganda. In this regard, the role of science in both books is extensive and complicated. In "1984" propaganda was distributed through the use of telescreens in each room and political pamphlets. 1984's telescreens cannot be turned off, as "Brave New World" has "feelies," an advancement on "talkies" which added sound, "feelies" add tactile senses to a movie as well. In "1984" the entire apparatus of government was divided between the four Ministries: the Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts; the Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war; the Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order; and the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. "Their names in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty." (Orwell 8) All members of the Party were required to attend the "Two Minutes Hate," a propaganda film that repeated each day. Every year there was "Hate Week," which was an enormous propaganda event. In "1984" the Party rewrites history and makes everyone believe that the government is always right. They have "wars" against other countries so the people will support their government and hate the other countries. This gives the government more power because the people are angry towards the other countries, and feel the government will take care of them. It gives people pride in their country and they love their leaders and will support them. In "Brave New World" there were propaganda houses which had vast studies for emotional engineering. These displays of propaganda induced the citizens of Oceania and the State to follow the standards of each ruler. In both novels the traditional family is abolished. Although the reasons for eliminating parenthood are similar, the methods in which it is done are quite distinct. Wanting the citizens to feel as if the state is their family is the main reason for abolishing the family in "Brave New World". If the citizens have family-like ties to the state then they can more easily surrender their power to the control of the government. The same is true for "1984", although the ties are implemented between the citizens and Big Brother. Love for Big Brother is the key idea in the Society of "1984", for that keeps the key people of the Party in control at all times. In "1984" though, family is not looked upon as obscene and unnatural. Sexual conception is permitted and is regarded as a "duty to the Party.". The difference to normality is the relationships between children and parents. It is one of illusion, for the children are taught to report the thought crimes of their parents, and they do so even more willing then others. Parents are terrified of their own children. In "Brave New World" there are no parents at all, for every man, woman and child are laboratory-grown clones, bottled and standardized from the hatchery. "Just try to realize it, try to realize what it was like to have a viviparous mother. Try to imagine what 'living with one's family' meant." They tried; but obviously without the smallest success. "And do you know what a 'home' was" They shook their heads" (Huxley 98). People in "Brave New World" do not have families because they are made synthetically. They never know what it is like to have a family or to really love someone. This is a significant difference between "1984" and "Brave New World" in the lives of their citizens. In "1984", whether it is low, middle or high class, or some form of the previous, almost all societies have classes in which each person exits: the classes are that of the inner Party, the outer Party and the proles, the majority being with the proles. The higher the class a person found themselves in, the more knowledge they would have of Oceania and how it worked. With that knowledge came more responsibility. Those found in the proles were regarded as little more than beasts, but at the same time were allowed more freedom than any others. They were not watched over twenty four hours a day, or even at all. The proles were allowed to have the freedom of thought because they were thought to be incapable of it. Anyone in the party must have direct and orthodox thought patterns. All educated citizens were constantly monitored on telescreens, in order to prevent "ungood" words or actions. In "Brave New World" the classes were just as distinct. The Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons were the different levels of intelligence and also the names of the castes. Each caste had its own duties that were to be fulfilled. No one in any class wished to change over, a result of hypnopeadia (the repetition of phrases during sleep akin to post hypnotic suggestion). The classes in "1984" kept most knowledge in the hands of the inner Party and assured that all jobs that could result in destruction of the party were confined to elite members. The castes in "Brave New World" created relative stability for the citizens and allowed the state to stay in control. In "Brave New World" history is ignored completely whereas in "1984" it is literally rewritten in order to suit the present. "1984" was written as a warning against the results of having a totalitarian state. In both novels, the birth of the totalitarian society is brought on by a catastrophic war that probably involves the entire world. However, in "1984", the war is in the process of being fought, giving the reader the impression that somewhere in this world, there is still a non-totalitarian government which could defeat this police state. In "Brave New World", the war that preceded the creation of Utopia has long since passed; it often appears as though Utopia has always existed. "1984" contains a historical basis that detracts from its ability to remain relevant in any time period. However, it is easily inferred from both the nature of Big Brother and the era in which the novel was written that the nation or political group which started the global conflict is Communist or Communist-controlled (in at least one instance, a character refers to another as "Comrade"). Huxley's Utopia has no historical basis to ground it in a particular era; therefore, it is more likely than the society of Big Brother to occur in the present. The society depicted in "Brave New World" is more likely to appear in modern times because it is easier for civilization to be taken over from the inside out than by the external power suggested by Orwell. Unlike in "1984", the government that runs the "Brave New World" doesn't need weapons,or Thought Police; it never has to suppress opposition because there can be none. Winston bears the blunt of his mistakes, the crime of individuality and dissention. "Brave New World" is as much a satire on the reality of Huxley's day as it is a novel about the future. Huxley seems to feel that society is progressing toward a materialistic and superficial end, in which all things of real value, including the relationships which make people human, will be squashed. "Brave New World" is the Huxley's expression of a fear that mankind will create a utopia by way of foregoing all that makes life worthwhile. The hypocrisy is much more evident within "Brave New World" as well, owing to the Controller's having had a son. Both books forewarn of a day when humankind might fall slave to its own concept of how others should act. The two books don't ask whether societies with stability, pacification, and uniformity can be created, but whether or not they are worth creating. Too often people desire things and in wanting romanticize it. Thus disappointment what is finally obtained in the end. The characters serve as a reminder that it is necessary to have pain to compare with joy, defeat to compare with victory, and problems in order to have solutions. Both books end on negative notes; Bernard is exiled to work in Iceland and Winston is subjected to psychological treatment. Neil Postman in his book summed up the main difference between the two novels concisely and precisely: "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture In "1984" people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us" (12). Works cited 1. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. First Perennial Classics ed., New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998. 2. Orwell, George. Nineteen-Eighty-Four. London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. 3. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. USA: Penguin USA, 1985. Read More