George Orwell 's Brave New World

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Recommended: Comparison between Brave new world and 1984

The Perils of Totalitarian Ruling Powers A government that exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of its citizens’ lives is known as a totalitarian regime. 1984, by George Orwell, published on June 8, 1949, stands as a classic example of a totalitarian society. The ruling Party uses the telescreens and thought police agents to spy on its citizens; they constantly feed the public propaganda to brainwash the citizens to believe anything the party says, including the statement ‘2+2 = 5.’ Protagonist Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth and helps the Party distort historical records despite despising the tyranny. As an act of rebellion, he begins a diary in which he puts down the truths he believes about his society; however, this act is punishable by death. The movie, Brave New World, directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams, released on 19 April 1998, is about a society that manages to achieve maximum happiness for its people with the exception of the few individuals living on the edges of civilization. Society controls its citizens through conditioning and placing them into predetermined social categories that decide their futures. One individual from the conditioning team, Bernard, cannot help but feel there are ways to improve the level of happiness. By fate, he comes into contact with one of the ‘savages’ named John Cooper, who he brings back into his society as an experiment to further his cause. The dangers of totalitarianism are prominent in the novel 1984 and in the film Brave New World through symbolism, the suppression of natural human emotions and orthodoxy of the characters. Symbolism is used to show how the ruling powers exercise total control and keep watch over their citizens’ lives t... ... middle of paper ... ...cal manipulation, abuse of technology, the hallucinogen soma and conditioning. The Party forbids all intimacy for its members whereas the World State encourages the pursuit of pleasure, such as lust, while banning any relationships involving true love. Winston and Julia learn to love Big Brother after undergoing intensive physical torture, whilst Lenina and Bernard realize they love each other, which leads them to become rejected by their society. The Party and the World State maintained fake façades to appear as though they were all perfect, but in reality they were flawed, dangerous, power hungry oppressors that suppressed individual free will and the fundamental emotion love. Brave New World. Dir. Leslie Libman and Larry Williams. Perf. Peter Gallagher and Rya Kihlstedt. Dan Wigutow Productions, 1998. Orwell, George. 1984. California: California, 2014. Print.

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