The Themes Of 1984 And Brave New World

1737 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: george orwell literary life

Vladimir Nabokov once said “It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but it is still harder to exceed my loathing of the very nature of totalitarian states in which massacre is only an administrative detail”. This quote connects to the themes of both 1984 and Brave New World. 1984 and Brave New World are both books about a totalitarian ran state. This also shows that neither of these novels care if there are lives taken as long as the world is perfect and everything is the same. Both governments in 1984 and Brave New World express how government control negatively impacts the lives of everyone. Also they both dehumanize people. One of the differences is that Brave New World focuses on scientific advancements
Doing this process to infants makes it so that the government will have full control in the future because they will grow up just listening to the government. The final reason why having a dictatorship is because you have no freedom to do anything and if you try you may get harsh penalties or even be killed. In the novel 1984 there are also three reasons why government control negatively impacts the life of everyone. The first example of this is that there is no privacy between anyone “the telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it…there was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given
In Brave New World people are dehumanized because of the Bokanovsky process. This dehumanizes people because there is no intimate connection between the infant and the parent because in this process everything happens inside of tube. The other reason why that is dehumanizing is because they are scientifically engineering DNA to get the result that they want. For example when the director succeeds on making ninety-six identical twins he says that they are machines and are not humans “ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines (Huxley 7)!” The Director also refers to humans as “Major instruments of social stability (Huxley 7)” The dictator trains infants and adults to only think about three things. The three things that they are brainwashed into liking are Henry Ford, Soma, and some kind of drug that they have, and lastly he teaches everyone to love sex. Another way that Brave New World dehumanizes people is they don’t allow anyone to have emotion about anything. “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 (Huxley 36)”? This just shows that the Director didn’t ever think about how the people feel but he just thought about himself. The final way that Brave New World shows dehumanization is the way he raises infants. The way that he trains the babies is by putting very colorful

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World ‘Humanity likes to think of itself as more sophisticated than the wild yet it cannot really escape its need for the natural world’ Despite different contexts both Aldous Huxley within his book Brave New World and Ridley Scott in the film Blade Runner explore the idea that humans feel themselves more sophisticated than the natural world, yet are able to completely sever relations between humanity and the nature. Through various techniques both texts warn their varied audiences of the negative ramifications that will come from such disdainful, careless opinions and actions. All aspects of the ‘New State’ within Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World indicate a belief that humanity is more sophisticated than the wild.

    Read More

  • The Role of Government and Technology in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the beginning of the novel technology has been a focal point. Brave New World is first set at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. This center is where all the humans are being produced and conditioned. Conditioning a method used to influence ones mind with a variety of different values and morals, predestines these new beings into five different classes Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. As written in Huxley’s Brave New World “All conditioning aims at that making people like their unescapable social destiny.” (16) This quote signifies that each group is designed by the World State to hav...

    Read More

  • 1984 Theme Essay

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    In George Orwell’s novel, 1984 the theme is a totalitarian government has the capability to physically and mentally break down individuals and then rebuild them the way they want by using torture and the destruction of emotions and personal thought.

    Read More

  • 1984 Vs Brave New World

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World both predicted that society would eventually be governed by a global totalitarian system; however, the key difference between both their predictions is the method by which society’s cognizance would be undermined. Orwell claimed that contemporary society would be controlled by overt modes of policing and supervising the social hierarchy, whereas Huxley stated that society’s infatuation with entertainment and superficial pleasure alone would be enough for the government to have absolute control over the public. Unfortunately, today’s society is not an Animal Farm. All jokes aside, Postman’s assertion of Huxley’s theory, “what

    Read More

  • 1984 and Fahrenheit 451

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Much can happen in a matter of minutes; a man can go from thinking he is happy to thinking his life is falling apart, or can change from hating someone to loving them. These experiences sound outlandish, but they happened to Guy Montag, the main character in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984. These two dystopian novels are about the characters discovering major problems in their societies, and then trying to fix them. Montag lives in a society where television controls people’s lives and books have become illegal. On the other hand Smith lives in Oceania, a territory led by a totalitarian regime. This regime is headed by Big Brother and is referred to as the Party. By examining Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, it is seen, not only through the dehumanized nature of society, but also through the theme of lies and manipulation that both Orwell and Bradbury wish to warn of a horrifying future society.

    Read More

  • The Social And Political Attitudes Of Brave New World

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his "ideal" society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has notionally vanquished - not a sense of joyful anticipation. Huxley's novel presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. His intent, however, is not humor. Huxley's message is dark and depressing. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people's freedom, is not a new idea. What makes Huxley's interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in a totalitarian government, but takes an embracive approach like mindless robots. For example, Soma, not nuclear bombs, is the weapon of choice for the World Controllers in Brave New World. The world leaders have realized that fear and intimidation have only limited power; these tactics simply build up resentment in the minds of the oppressed. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs, on the other hand, appear to have no side effects.

    Read More

  • 1984 vs. Brave New World

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are lots of ways to compare 1984 by George Orwell to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. They both have to do with very futuristic ideas.

    Read More

  • 1984 and Brave New World

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    This dream of forming and maintaining a utopian society was immortalized in two novels dealing with the same basic ideas, 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Both of these novels deal with the lives of main characters that inadvertently become subversives in a totalitarian government. These two books differ greatly however with the manner in which the government controls the population and the strictness of the measures taken to maintain this stability. This essay with compare and contrast the message and tone of each novel as well as consider whether the utopia is a positive or negative one.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of This Perfect Day, Brave New World, and 1984

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    This Perfect Day belongs to the genre of "dystopian" or anti-utopian novels, like Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984. Yet it is more satisfying than either.  This Perfect Day is probably Ira Levin's greatest work of his career. Levin's work, despite being written in 1970, is very plausible having realistic technology, such as scanners and computers which watch over the entire family, the entire population of the world. This novel could be used to show the dangers of a Utopian society as well as being full of anti-Communist and anti-racist sentiment. This Perfect Day also displays the feeling that communist and segregated institutions can be defeated, as the protagonist Chip over powers the "family" and their vile Uni Comp as well as rising above the segregated community he reaches after fleeing the family. This work could best be placed in an area of the curriculum where it is the students job to learn that although everyone might not be equal, nor should they be, they are still human and deserve to be treated with the respect and kindness we would expect to be treated with. This work could be used in conjunction with other works of literature that display the same ideals against communism and discrimination as well as a lack of compassion for others. Other works that could be used in cohorts with Levin's This Perfect Day, are Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and even the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Both of these novels show the dangers of trying to create a Utopian society and the chaos it causes. In Harrison Bergeron, handicapping has become an American institution and it is the governments responsibility to make sure that everyone is equal in every way which ends up causing chaos and rebellion. The Handmaid's Tale shows the dangers of when an extreme group takes over the United States after a nuclear holocaust, with women being placed in a submissive role to men, only being used to reproduce. This Perfect Day could also be used in a section with novels such as Uncle Tom's Cabin which portray the evils of racism and discrimination, just as the land where Chip ends up after escaping the family, is very racist and segregated. He is forced to endure the taunts and tortures of the folks who had fought Uni from the beginning, yet he rises above these bounds to return and destroy Uni Comp, thereby destroying the family.

    Read More

  • Comparing 1984 and Brave New World

    2395 Words  | 5 Pages

    Comparing Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World, the authoritative figures strive for freedom, peace, and stability for all, to develop a utopian society. The Utopian society strives for a perfect state of well-being for all persons in the community, and over-emphasizes this factor, where no person is exposed to the reality of the world. As each novel progresses, we see that neither society possesses family values nor attempts to practice them.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Technology In Brave New World

    1598 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley and 1984 written by George Orwell the dystopian societies depend on technology to create a totalitarian society. Brave New World is a sequel to 1984, because Brave New World is an established dystopian society which uses technology in a much more pleasureable way, whereas in 1984 the technology is used in a much more aggressive manner. The technology used in both novels aids both governments in creating a totalitarian society, technology helps the government take control over all citizens, influence all of the peoples actions, and determine the people’s emotions. In 1984 technology inflicts fear and pain, whereas Brave New World promotes happiness and pleasure.

    Read More

  • Brave New World Theme Analysis

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    "'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.

    Read More

  • Individuality Vs. Social Stability

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine living in a society where there is no sense of independence, individual thought or freedom. A society where the government uses disturbing methods that dehumanize people in order to force conformity upon them. Taking away any sense of emotion, It would be very undesirable to live in a society with such oppression. Such society is portrayed in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. The World State uses social restrictions to create permanent artificial personalities for people within the society. The World State also uses controlled groupings of people to brainwash them further to be thoughtless people with no sense of individualism. Lastly, the World State uses drugs to create artificial happiness for people, leaving no room for intense emotion which causes people to revolt against the World State. Within the novel Brave New World, it is seen that the World State eliminates individuality through social restrictions, government controlled groupings and the abuse of drugs to maintain control of the population.

    Read More

  • Major Themes Of The Setting In 1984 By George Orwell

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    The setting is important to the overall novel studied because it helps highlight major themes in the novel, it further characterizes the motivations of the characters, and helps explain the overall message of the novel. In 1984 by George Orwell, the overall setting of the novel is in London, which is called Airship 1 in Oceania.

    Read More

  • Totalitarianism Society In 1984, By George Orwell

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book “1984” by George Orwell is a fictional work that was penned as a discourse on Orwell’s views of what it would be like to live in a totalitarianism society. It is my belief that his views were based on his personal life experiences as he witnessed first hand many of the violent crimes perpetuated by those in positions of authority. Often, these crimes against one segment of society were carried out by other members of the same society in the name of political advancement or at other times out of fear for one’s life. Due to his experiences, Orwell began to write of his hatred of political power and the concept of a totalitarianism society. “1984” serves as a warning to readers of how a government can become abusive when seeking total control of it’s population. Furthermore, it showcases in great detail how a society can allow itself to be controlled through a series of psychological abuses and manipulation of historical information.

    Read More

More about The Themes Of 1984 And Brave New World

Open Document