Comparative Essay 1984 And Br Essay, Research Paper

In the novels 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the two societies have reached an almost utopian state of being. There is no world hunger, and although there may still be war (only in 1984), there is great prosperity. In both cases, the societies exist in many similar ways, such as the evident hierarchies and castes, and the ever-present means of population control. These societies, though, are established and maintained in different manners, such as the different means in which the populations are kept under control.

As one looks closely at the two societies, it becomes evident that there is a common desire to maintain a place wherein no one is poor or hungry, and where wealth is a commonplace status. This type of society has essentially been reached in both novels. The utopian state is also maintained at all costs in both situations as well. This is apparent with the Thought Police present in George Orwell s story, as well as with the exile of the Director in Huxley s story. Similarly, it is seen that there are social castes in both societies, which separate the high from the low , something which is evidently necessary to maintain a utopian society. The Proles and the Epsilon semi-morons are evidence of this. There is also a similarity between the main characters. Both Winston and Bernard desire to break free from main-stream society and to define themselves as their own individuals. This is almost a reality for Bernard because he is already smaller and smarter than the normal Alpha Plus:

Too little bone had isolated Bernard from his fellow men, and the sense of apartness, being a mental excess, became in its turn a cause of wider separation. (Huxley, 1932: 60)

One similarity between the two novels does become very strikingly apparent. The presence of any means of control and supervision was constantly present in both societies. In 1984, there was the Thought Police who watched one s every move. There was also the ever-obtrusive eye of the telescreen in every house and establishment:

Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer; though, as he well knew even a back can be revealing. (Orwell, 1949: 5)

Also wherever there weren t any of these, there were microphones to hear anything deemed unfit. In addition to this, there was the two-minutes hate which literally brain-washed citizens in hating the enemies of the Party, and Newspeak which was designed to limit the expression of the population so that a heretical thought should be literally unthinkable (Orwell, 1949: 312). In Brave New World, though supervision and control weren t as obvious, yet they were still present. This is because control started at birth with conditioning and hypnopaedia. Throughout their lives, they would consume vast amounts of soma which seemed to inhibit stress and fear, emotions that could lead to any sort of rebellion. It would seem that soma produces only shallow, and intellectually uninteresting people because it does not allow them to deal with their own problems, that which builds character. At present standards, these methods would be considered even more extreme than the devices implemented in 1984. Even though the citizens of this society did not feel that they were being controlled, the truth was that they had been for all of their lives.

Between the two societies there exist many differences as well. As mentioned before, there exists the similarity in the fact that there is an effective means of control in both societies, but the manner in which control is maintained is different. One society maintains constant watch on its population whereas the other concentrates on conditioning the children to obey and follow guidelines that govern the society. There are also the ways in which the leading parties (the Party in 1984 and the Controllers in Brave New World) dealt with sex in society. In 1984, sex without meaning (promiscuous sex) was regarded as completely wrong. The only kind of sex that was permitted was the sex for the Party in which childbearing was its purpose. This is essentially the opposite of the view of sex in Brave New World. In this society, the only sex that was acceptable was promiscuous sex, and sex for the purpose of childbearing was absolutely unthinkable due to the structure of the society where there were no family units only individuals.

In essence, the main difference between the two societies lies in the way in which they were established. In 1984, the Party gained control after a war, and established control over society by means of vast political restructuring. Through this came the establishment of the Ministries of Love, Peace, Truth and Plenty. These ministries governed almost everything that pertained to one s life. In Brave New World, the restructuring happened, due to the technology to create human beings artificially. This led to the end of the family unit, and the rise of an individual an individual that became easy to control through constant conditioning. Therefore the gain of control by world controllers happened through more of a social restructuring.

As we have seen, the two societies share many different characteristics. They both have obtained an almost utopian state, and they have created citizens almost completely obedient and loyal to the governing factions. Similarly, there are also many methods implemented by those factions to maintain constant control over the mass populace,but there exist significant differences in the way that the societies maintain control over the population, as well as differences on the views of issues concerning sex and promiscuity. Also, the social restructuring differed where one society was restructured politically and the other socially. In conclusion, many similarities are apparent when one compares the societies of 1984 and Brave New World, but also many differences in society and politics remain apparent as well.