The Citizens of Brave New World

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In 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote a book entitled Brave New World. It was an image of a dystopian future where pleasure and science were carefully combined to control the average citizen. The book was received with a variety of opinions ranging from impressed to scandalized. Seventeen years later, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four, a novel that was yet another detailed picture of what a dystopian future might look like. While similar in its depiction of what can happen when ordinary people no longer have any power, Orwell’s book took a very different look as to how that power would be taken away. In 1984, the government uses peoples’ fear and lack of knowledge to make them submissive. When the novel was published in 1949, it too was met with a mix of both praise and criticism. Both of these narratives present the ideas of lack of individual freedom, the loss of history and truth, and the degradation of inter-personal relationships. The books both include these themes, but they present them in exceptionally dissimilar ways. At the advent of their publication, both novels, depending on the readers’ opinion, were considered accurate pictures of what the future of society could be. However, with the passing of time, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World has become the most accurate representation of our societies’ departure from the family unit, personal freedom, and informational veracity. The idea that Brave New World has proven true to prediction is apparent in the rapid change taking place in our society today. Before that change can be examined, however, the differences between the two novels must be discussed.

One important factor of difference are the time periods in which the two books were written. George Orwell wrote 1984 ...

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“Brave New World -Themes, Motifs, and Symbols.” Spark Notes, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012.

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Herr, Norman. “Television & Health.” The Sourcebook for Teaching Science. California Stat University, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012. .

“When Did the Great Depression Start and End?” wanttoknowit.com, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012.

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Wilde, Robert. “When did World War 2 end?” About.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 9.Apr.2012.

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Aldous, Huxley. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Row, 1932. Print.

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four.

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