Aldous Huxley’s Dystopia as Relating to Society Today

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment. It concerns itself with such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science and pure science and is utilized for practical purposes. Though technology offers a variety of gadgets that work to the advance of humanity, it can also harm society extensively by dispersing a certain degree of power to individuals that can be abused. In his essay, Neil Postman, a social critic contrasts the proposed future of George Orwell's in his novel 1984 (1948) with that of Aldous Huxley in Brave New World (1932). Postman maintains that Huxley's vision of the future is more pertinent to today's society than Orwell's mostly because the themes that he includes in his dystopian society are present and are very similar to those in Brave New World. Overall, it is safe to say that Huxley’s vision of the future is an indulgent one and is one that today’s society is prone to experience because of the increasing dependency on technology.

Though the problems that Orwell fears do exist and have been present throughout the history of the United States, they are not as likely to ruin us as a society as Huxley’s predictions. In Orwell's negative utopia or dystopia, there is a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives including their private life, what they think, and what they believe. In 1984, a political body known as the Party rules the state Oceania. One technique that the Party utilizes to control the people of Oceania is psychological manipulation in which the government uses propaganda and doublethink to send contradictory messages such as...

... middle of paper ...

...s. These factors exist today and are impediments in starting families. Overall, Huxley’s vision of the future is precise because technology has made society indulgent and succumbing to their passions.

Ultimately, Orwell’s fears for the future are reasonable, but are not as probable as Huxley’s. Though Brave New World was written almost eighty years ago, Huxley was able to use his knowledge of science, technology and politics to create a not too far-fetched nation where human individuality is suppressed. Thus, Brave New World has the same voice as Henry David Thoreau when he claimed, “men have become the tools of their tools”.

Work Cited

Richtel, Matt. "Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction." New York Times 21

Nov. 2010: A1. The New York Times. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.

.