Brave New World versus 1984
Brave New World versus 1984“… The goal is to be unified: Take my hand be my brother. The payment silenced the masses, sanctified by oppression. Unity took a backseat, sliding further into regression.” — Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti, Creed.
Every human civilization has a logical concept behind their methods of existence. They plan philosophies and techniques to suit, as well as benefit the society. Without a plan, different circumstances may determine the route that the society will take. Therefore, the social destiny of the group may end up in chaos and disorder. In order to prevent this, Mankind should select its own objectives and devise a plan to achieve them . The only way to achieve complete order and peace is to direct the community into a utopian society. Seriously- take a step back and think about it. Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a land free of crime, hatred, disease, and poverty? A utopia is generally defined as a place of ideal perfection in all aspects of existence. Within that concept, there are five basic elements to achieving an utopia according to the Utopia by Thomas Moore . The elements are as follows : Everlasting life; All good and no evil; Infinite terms of all tangible needs and wants for existence, without any required effort to obtain those provisions; A perfect balance between the individual and society; and Complete knowledge. When all of these elements exist in a single society, one has achieved a complete Utopia. However, the road to the Utopian society is not a smooth one. There are many obstacles one must overcome. If all does not go well the people begin to realize that they lead a controlled life. Their futures are pre-determined. They are all grouped into social classes and are conditioned to benefit the society, without expressing their own opinions. That dreadful aspect has become a reality in the lives of the characters in George Orwell’s 1984 an Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. A supposed “utopian” society has mutated into a contrasting “dystopian” society. While both authors write with the same concept in mind, “Perfection gone wrong”, their novels compare and contrast in other aspects as well.
A strong similarity between the novels 1984 and Brave New World is the chance for a revolution against the government. ‘ Rebellion’, defined as “an organized attempt to overthrow a lawful government by force of arms” by Webster’s Dictionary, 1991 ed., is not even in the vocabulary of the people of 1984, an accomplished goal of Big Brother. The Party is trying to rewrite history as well as create a new language, Newspeak in which their goal is to eliminate all chance of crime and opposition, two aspects not in agreement with a utopian society. Also, in 1984, there is a chance that a secret society, known as the Brotherhood, may exist, and plan to overthrow the Party. Winston believes that O’Brian is a member of this secret society and that he can confide all his strong feelings against Big Brother with O’Brian. Later, Winston learns that O’Brian is actually a spy for the Party and ends up turning him in, thus leading Winston to realize that there is no chance for rebellion within the grips of the Party. In Brave New World, the people are conditioned so that the possibility of revolution against the government can never exist. Not only is the word “rebellion” absent from their vocabulary, the thought of it or anything even remotely pertaining to it are existent. They live their lives seemingly pacified enough to wear a constant smile. Yet, if the people ever found out that they are actual individuals who could have the opportunity to make a difference in this world and attain their own opinions, they would be sure to rebel against Mustapha Mond and the beliefs of Ford. However, when a society becomes distracted by entertainment, and people find themselves ceaselessly placid by drug use, the culture comes to an abrupt end. There is no progression toward evolution and change, but rather toward a superficial and rapid termination.
A strong difference between the visions established in the two novels is that pertaining to human emotions, especially happiness. In 1984 , the greatest example of emotions lies within Winston and Julia’s relationship. Winston lusts for Julia, yet believes she does not possess the same urge for him. Julia is a member of the anti-sex group, and therefore Winston concludes she is unattainable. Yet in Winston’s society , sex is against the laws of the party, causing him to feel ashamed for even suggesting the chance of getting together with Julia. Yet Julia has had sexual encounters multiple times and doesn’t stress about the laws or the fact that she is supposed to be setting an example; she just simply likes the physical feeling. But eventually, Winston and Julia do make love, and Winston gets a rush just from knowing that he is breaking one of Big Brother’s ridiculous laws. It is just that reason for which the Party has eliminated sex. Too much thought and energy is diverted into sex, causing thousands of emotions to arise, which would lead to destruction of their utopia. The Party therefore wants nothing but monotonous, dull lives for its people, whom are forced to appear satisfied no matter how evil and corrupt they believe their lives are. Yet in almost complete contrast, emotions play an everyday factor in Brave New World. They have promiscuous sex all the time, because it feels good and brings about pleasure. There is no love behind the sex, however, like there is between Winston and Julia. Love, mothers, and family are all obscene ideas in the world of Ford. The people of Brave New World are also pacified by the thoughts of production and consumption. They are pampered by means of material items and especially the use of the hallucinogen Soma, a drug used in order to retract from any unpleasant feelings, therefore making them oblivious to the actualities of the world. Happiness is an important component of the lives of the people of Brave New World, because it diverts their attention away from the actualities of the real world.
A second differentiating factor between the two novels is that of the approach taken to create the utopian society. It is true that in both novels the government is determined to create an absolute utopia. They strive to maintain a stable society in which the people live in a uniformed, orderly fashion with no thoughts of rebellion. The government will then become so controlling that it cannot be stopped by its people-thus creating a totalitarian society. However, in 1984, Big Brother and his party believe that if they can control what people believe, a utopian society will exist. They go about this by eliminating all forms of entertainment, pleasure, and material items. They have been given the bare necessities and are forced to live with that. But because no one is given any more than anyone else due to equal distribution, there is no cause for jealousy or for competition. Also, the people of Oceania are told to believe in and follow three basic rules. “War is peace”, “Freedom is slavery”, and “ Ignorance is strength.” They learn to live by these rules, not realizing the deception behind them all. The workers are forced to change historical documents so that they make the government look productive and progressive. The people believe that they are producing an economic high. The party wants to pacify the people by making them believe what isn’t so. The society members don’t question the actual existence of Big Brother , nor the relevance of his rules and regulations. Instead, they live life hiding behind a forced smile to prevent conviction of Thoughtcrime. If any disagreement occurred between Oceania and a opponent, either war or violence would erupt. Thus, the people of Oceania will be so caught up in anger that they would not notice the corruption in their own society. In Brave New World, they undergo a different concept. The leaders believe that if they control what the people are taught and the knowledge they inquire, the society will become ignorant to anything and everything except what they should know. From the day they are conceived they are fed information for the well-being of the state. The people know of only what everyone else knows, eliminating the chance of disagreement and rebellion. The knowledge the citizens possess is conditioned so that their actions do not cause any consequences. Everyone is created equal according to their social class and forced to act for the good of the society, thus creating a loss of individuality and diversity. There is no chance of opposition of any form . Therefore, war is not an aspect of Brave New World. Instead they believe in mass production and a certain orderliness. Huxley believed that along with the invention of the car, Henry Ford brought about one of the first violations of human rights. The assembly line was work without interaction and skills. A task is completed day in and day out without any sense of accomplishment or any change in life. The people ruled by Ford in the novel live life the same way everyday, completing the same tasks on a scheduled basis. They never feel that they are worth anything for they know nothing of competition or status, because they are no better than anyone else in their class. There is no jealousy, hatred, or any other conflict-provoking feelings between classes, thus eliminating rivalry. The people are just pacified enough by their use of Soma to keep a smirk on their face. By keeping people overly happy and giving them more material items, they become pacified enough to be satisfied and maintain a stable civilization.
Another similarity between 1984 and Brave New World is that neither society possesses passionate feelings, especially in the arts. There is no real love (except for the supposed love for Big Brother), no use of creative language, no actual history, nor any kind of literature. The first aspect, love, is one of the most obvious of them all. In 1984, there is no love because there is no intimacy nor close bonds between people. There is no such thing as a relationship nor a family. Winston has faint memories of his mother yet knows that he should not have any feelings toward her: No sorrow, no anger, and most of all no love for her. She means nothing to him as he means nothing to her. In Brave New World the love is mostly portrayed in a sexual manner. Promiscuous sex is the only sex that takes place, and it is part of everyday life. There is no exchange of love or intimacy in the action , just sex. There is no freedom of language in either society as well . In 1984, Newspeak is being created in order to override the current vocabulary, thus creating a language where Thoughtcrime cannot exist. In Brave New World, people are condition to learn things that can not harm them nor their society. They speak of only appropriate, good-natured things. There is no true history in both novels either. In Brave New World there is no such thing as a book. All that their memories consist of is knowledge they’ve been brainwashed into believing. There is no history at all. And there is no need to find historical documents for it is not in their understanding. There still are books in Oceania, yet they are historical books, but not of actual history. In 1984 Winston’s job is to delete all historical records by rewriting them in accordance with the Party. He changes the past in order to make the party look good. In either novel, there is no literature such as Shakespeare, which has many referrals in both 1984 when Winston’s wakes up from a dream with the word “Shakespeare” on his lips, and in Brave New World in the books which John reads and truly adores.
In the end, both novels are trying to send the same message. If taken into the wrong hands, the government can create a society that is nothing more than an illusion. People always try to perfect everything, even society as a whole, trying to create a utopia. But a utopian society is a stable society, in which all conflict is minimized, as well as any risk of inconsistency and any change in development. When people are conditioned to fit the needs of a society, they become mindless drones in a state of monotony. Nothing is created, nothing changes, and nothing advances. The world is stuck on hold forever for no one knows hot to get it out of this stagnant position , because they have denied themselves the knowledge to do so. What people do not realize is that humans have a basic desire to be free and uncontrolled. It may appear idealistic having equality throughout a society. But it is necessary to learn to separate fiction from reality. For the reality is , if the government does begin to interfere with an individual’s privileges and rights , the society will become far worse than the ones imagined by Huxley and Orwell. Science is far more advanced and people are becoming far more gullible. While 1984 and Brave New World may seem absurd and unrealistic, they are much bleaker than what happens today. The two books ask not whether societies with stability, subduing, and steadiness can be created, but whether or not they are worth creating. Very often, one wants something, and in wanting it, overexaggerates it, thus creating disappointment when they actually achieve their goal. They serve as a reminder that it is essential to have pain to go along with pleasure, failure along with success, and solutions to solve problems. Both characters end up exiled from their confused rebellious states to show that in the end, the government always wins. And how does one know they’re not winning today?