Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, the British authors of two of the world’s most famous dystopias, both wrote their predictions about the future world. Today, there is an ongoing debate about whether Huxley’s prediction of a society based on satisfaction and pleasure, in Brave New World, or Orwell’s prediction of a society based on terror and misery, in 1984, is most similar to today’s world. Both novels reflect future terrors, however Brave New World is a more accurate vision of today’s society.
In 1949, Orwell published his novel, 1984. This post World War II novel, written in the time of the Cold War, and Britain’s movement toward socialism, illustrates Orwell’s prediction for the year 1984. During this time period, authoritarian governments
…show more content…
As he explains, “People will come to love their oppression, to adore their technologies that undo their capacities to think” (Postman). In 2016, when an individual wants to learn about something, the internet allows him or her to obtain information that “Google” has filtered and refined. With technological advancements, there is an obsession with obtaining the newest products in order to maintain maximum speed. Presently, technology is used to a point of dependence. High-tech adaptations to life can be found almost anywhere, whether it is a dishwasher, cell phone, car, or computer. People are “addicted” to their cell phones, choosing social media over actual interaction. The society in Brave New World is also surrounded by technology. Neil Postman says, “What we love will ruin us” (Postman). This idea is very important in the sense that individuals in the novel, and today, center their lives around …show more content…
In Brave New World, sex is a unifying activity, separate from love. Promiscuity is a normal thing. In the “World State,” “every one belongs to every one else” (Huxley 40). In other words, exclusive partnerships are abolished. As a result, sex has become a meaningless act, and everyone has sex with everyone else. An example of of this is when Lenina is on a lift with men from the Alpha Changing Rooms. As Huxley describes, “...Lenina’s entry was greeted by many friendly nods and smiles. She was a popular girl and, at one time or another, had spent a night with almost all of them” (Huxley 56). Even at a young age, children are involved in sexual activity. In Brave New World, at the hatchery and conditioning centre, children play erotic games. Although the sexual promiscuity today is not to the extreme, seen in Brave New World, sexual activity is becoming more common among adolescents and often separate from love. Advertisements have sexual overtones, and children are exposed to sexual imagery at a young age. Additionally, in our society today, many people have “one night stands,” proving that sex today can sometimes be separate from
According to events from the past, history today has repeated itself due to the sustained and increasingly high levels of drug and alcohol use as well as the popularity of casual sex displayed on media platforms. Huxley’s idea of the “utopian” society is manufactured, just as it is being artificially created today; in the modern world, euphemisms are frequently used to cover up the real truths. Similarly, the “brave new world” hid
George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is a dystopian literary text that illuminates the tenets of totalitarian and authoritarian governance in most areas where the leaders seek total loyalty and near hero worship. It was published in 1949, but has since remained relevant because its details promoted authoritarian political constructs and the political leadership concepts that evolved in the globe over time. Set at Oceania province in Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, the book displays an omnipresent government that institutes constant state surveillance on the people that it suspects to be a threat to its regime and agitators of rebellion. It infringes on human rights
As analyzed by social critic Neil Postman, Huxley's vision of the future, portrayed in the novel Brave New World, holds far more relevance to present day society than that of Orwell's classic 1984. Huxley's vision was simple: it was a vision of a trivial society, drowned in a sea of pleasure and ignorant of knowledge and pain, slightly resembling the world of today. In society today, knowledge is no longer appreciated as it has been in past cultures, in turn causing a deficiency in intelligence and will to learn. Also, as envisioned by Huxley, mind altering substances are becoming of greater availability and distribution as technology advances. These drugs allow society to escape from the problems of life instead of dealing with reality. With divorce rates higher than ever in the past few decades, it has become evident that lust has ruined the society's sexual covenants. People are indulging in their sexual motives; lust runs rampant, thus strong, long-lasting relationships are becoming a rarity.
The novel 1984 is one that has sparked much controversy over the last several decades. It harbors many key ideas that lie at the root of all skepticism towards the book. With the ideas of metaphysics, change, and control in mind, George Orwell wrote 1984 to provide an interesting story but also to express his ideas of where he believed the world was heading. His ideas were considered widely ahead of their time, and he was really able to drive home how bleak and colorless our society really is. Orwell wrote this piece as a futuristic, dystopian book which contained underlying tones of despair and deceit.
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
In 1984, Winston felt like sex was a rebellion. He is drawn to his lover Julia because she is corrupt and she enjoys sex, although she hides it by being a member of the "anti sex rally". In Brave New World, sex isn't looked upon as a crime, nor is pleasure. In fact, sex is promoted. As long as everyone uses regulation birth control and no one gives birth to a child naturally, then sex is considered perfectly normal.
In the article excerpt, social critic Neil Postman describes two dystopian novels: George Orwell’s 1984, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Postman compares which novel is more relevant to today’s society, and leans more towards Brave New World. When both novels are compared side by side, it is evident that Huxley’s world is indeed more relative to modern day civilization.
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.
They both warn us of the dangers of a totalitarian society. Both books express a utopian ideal, examine characters that are forced into this state and are compelled to deal with this society and all the rules involved. The impracticality of the utopian ideal is explored in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World. Both authors suggest that a lack of familial bonds, the repression of human individuality, and the repression of artistic and creative endeavors in order to attain a stable environment renders the achievement of a perfect state unrealistic. The lack of familial bonds, in both novels, contributes to the development of a dystopian society.
Upon my reading of the 1984 novel, I was fascinated by George Orwell’s vision of the future. Orwell describes a world so extreme that a question comes to mind, asking what would encourage him to write such a novel. 1984 took place in the future, but it seemed like it was happening in the past. George Orwell was born in 1903 and died in 1950; he has seen the horrific tides of World War II and. As I got deeper into this novel, I began to see similar events in world history built into 1984.
Alduos Huxley, in his science fiction novel Brave New World written in 1932, presents a horrifying view of a possible future in which comfort and happiness replace hard work and incentive as society's priorities. Mustapha Mond and John the Savage are the symbolic characters in the book with clashing views. Taking place in a London of the future, the people of Utopia mindlessly enjoy having no individuality. In Brave New World, Huxley's distortion of religion, human relationships and psychological training are very effective and contrast sharply with the literary realism found in the Savage Reservation. Huxley uses Brave New World to send out a message to the general public warning our society not to be so bent on the happiness and comfort that comes with scientific advancements.
The concepts of the Utopian society placed in Aldous Huxley’s novel, A Brave New World, reflect the fearful thoughts of the future of our society and mirror certain components of the present. Certain concepts of the great society in the novel are severe and do not apply to our society, but components of these ideas are increasingly being dispersively observed throughout our present society. The warnings developed by Huxley are reflected in the present through the intellectual castes of the workforce, the concept of sex being less based on marriage, and the mind being enslaved by conditioning.
One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have.
Works Cited for: Orwell, George. 1984. The 'Standard' of the ' London: Penguin Books, 2008. Print. The.
Imagine living in a society where there is no such thing as mothers or fathers, where you look exactly like the 500 people standing next to you, where casual sex and drug use is not only allowed, but is encouraged. Well, the society in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, is just that. While the prophecies from the Brave New World society are quite different from those of today, they can be argued as both right and wrong, but , and the technology to make them happen may be just around the corner.