Preview

Compare and Contrast 1984-Brave New World

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1326 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare and Contrast 1984-Brave New World
“ Do you see, then, what kind of world we are creating?” (Orwell, 1950 p.267)George Orwell, author of 1984 released in 1950, present the idea of a society that proves to be a dystopia as it is completely based on fear and rarely does one see happiness while in the other hand, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World presents the idea of a functional utopia were feelings are destroyed and no one is unhappy because they don’t know happiness but all this could change by the hands of one outcast. These two societies ruled in different ways-one through fear and the other through psychological and physical manipulation- present successful ways to maintain order and power, although they differ greatly and outcasts have different aims and uses. In a society where fear is predominant, physical and mental capacities reach a stagnant state as the will to survive and loyalty become predominant. In a different society where men are created to the liking of their rulers and are controlled with drugs instead of fear, the meaning of a utopia can disappear but yet subjects will think everything is perfect. Finally a sense of false equality, manipulation, and fear allow total and utter control. In societies like the ones depicted in these two books, nothing is perfect and nothing is true. Members of these communities cannot know what is true because this will make them become dangerous to their leaders.

The use of fear in 1984 and the idea of Big Brother facilite control as the idea of constant surveillance and Thought Police puts everything a member of this society does to the test and when they make a false move, they know they are done for. The scene where Winston talks about two plus two not being for or if Gravity is a force that works really depicts the kind of fear installed by the party. “The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not only that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that



Bibliography: Huxley, A. (1946). Brave new world. New York: Harper &Bros.. Orwell, G. (1950). 1984: a novel. New York, N.Y.: Signet Classic.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Both Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World portray a dystopian societies where authoritarian control has been established and has replaced the individual’s freedom and identity by effectively altering the thoughts and actions of its population through the use of various control methods which will supposedly protect the majority against the threat this poses to their happiness and stability. But is in reality, a method through which they can maintain totalitarian control. In both novels, leaders have attempted to create a Utopian society, one that they consider to maintain peace and stability but in which have become oppressive and tyrannical. To do this, history is distorted or ignored completely and control is used as a means to keep…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although the modern dystopian novel and dystopian works of the early 20th century may share many of the same principles and components, the overall purposes behind them are poles apart. The popular novel, The Hunger Games and its sequels can be considered prototypical of our contemporary dystopian themes that emphasize; the act of rebellion against a state of oppression, the power that comes with being motivated by love, the presence of hope and the triumph of the protagonist over a totalitarian regime. George Orwell and Alex Huxley—authors of 1984 and Brave New World respectively—did not write stories that inspired resistance. They used allegory to pinpoint the faults in society and prophesy the end of human intelligence and freedom. Orwell…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Imagine living in a world where politics are everything and all forms of individuality and personal identities are shattered. A world where everybody is stripped of their rights to talk, act, think, or even form their own opinions, simply because they do not agree with the government’s beliefs. These aspects are just a few of the examples of things dictators would have control over in a totalitarianism form of government. Aggressive leaders such as Hitler and Joseph Stalin are examples of such dictators. They used their power for terror and murder, and their motive is simply to maximize their own personal power. George Orwell had witnessed World War II, the fall of Hitler and Stalin’s dictatorships, and the fatal outcomes that have come from these governments. To warn future generations of the harsh effects of totalitarianism governments, he wrote the book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Published in 1946, Nineteen Eighty-Four describes life in a totalitarianism form of government, following the main character, Winston Smith, as he takes risks in discovering how he believes life should truly be. Literary critic Irving Howe states, “Were it possible, in the world of 1984, to show human character in anything resembling genuine freedom...it would not be the world of 1984” (62). In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government uses its power to suppress individuality among the people.…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The contemporary critic Neil Postman contrasts George Orwell’s vision of the future, as expressed in the novel 1984, as well as Aldous Huxley’s in the Brave New World. Orwell makes assumptions about society as a whole, that by the year 1984 a totalitarian government would take over the country. In Orwell’s novel, society is revealed as a dark vision of the future “controlled by inflicting pain”. On the other hand in Huxley’s novel, Huxley fears that what we love will ruin us and society is “controlled by inflicting pleasure”. Postman’s assertion that Huxley’s vision of the future is more relevant today than Orwell’s is correct as revealed by society’s rising need for instant gratification for technology, as well as the need for distractions from important concepts.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children in many stories are depicted as small and insignificant, but in 1984 and Brave New World they are much more. The governments in both books realized that the power lies within the kids. Both governments figured out that if they could control the children they would control the future. Both governments went about gaining their power in slightly different ways, but each method was very powerful. The children in both Brave New World and 1984 are taught their belief systems by their government, but the children who live in 1984 are much more of a danger to those living in their society.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to John Wooden, "You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one." John Huxley's novel Brave New World has received a lot of mixed criticism that dismissed this book as one that would stand the test of time. When the novel was first released in 1932, critics like John Chamberlain dismissed the novel as being farfetched. He said, "The bogy of mass production seems a little overwrought…" (233). Critics in recent times seem to enjoy this novel because Huxley shows us a utopia in the future that might be similar to ours. On July 1973, critic Bernard Bergonzi stated, "There is a gloomy fascination in seeing the ingenious horrors of Brave New World realized, not hundred of years into the future, as Huxley conservatively supposed, but here and now before our very eyes" (244). Even though some critics may not agree in the worth of this novel, I believe the public has proven its worth. Even after 73 years since the book was first published, people have heard about the book one way or another and educational institutions continue to teach it to students.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you have a person in your life that, without them, nothing would be the same? From your spouse, to your kid’s coach, everyone plays a role. Just like in real life, stories have small characters, that make big differences. Every character in a story has a reason to be there. Without them, important parts of the plot would not be illustrated. We see this in the novel, 1984, with the characters Julia, O’Brien, and Parsons. While all different, they also have similarities.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 vs. Today

    • 849 Words
    • 3 Pages

    George Orwell created a dystopian future in his novel 1984. Winston Smith is an outer party member who works in the records department in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite the past so it is in accordance with the present. Winston is not like the others in Oceania. He secretly hates Big Brother and The Party. Winston has a love affair with another outer party member named Julia. Winston and Julia elope to a room above an old antique shop owned by Mr. Charrington. O’Brien, an inner party member, senses Winston’s discontent for the The Party and invites him to his home to become a part of “The Brotherhood” an underground organization with the intent of bringing down Big Brother. One day while Winston and Julia are in the room above the antique shop the “Thought Police” charge into the room and arrest Winston and Julia for being “thought criminals”. Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love to be interrogated. While there Winston discovers that O’Brien is actually a supporter of The Party and set Winston up. While in the Ministry of Love O’Brien explains he will make Winston “love Big Brother” which he eventually does. In the novel 1984 George Orwell correctly foresaw public surveillance, and people willingly giving up their right to privacy out of fear. Orwell incorrectly predicted the government trying to break the ties people have with their families and each other, and trying to abolish the act of sex.…

    • 849 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Examining Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984, there are some accurate depictions of public discourse in 1984, but Huxley’s novel includes more relevant examples. Postman bounds the idea of television, a cherished part of our life, as the means of self-destruction in accordance to Huxley’s views. Postman’s assertion of the more accurate Brave New World is evident in freedom, technology and the media.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aldous Huxley and George Orwell were British 20th century writers famous for writing dystopian novels. Their novels describe fictional near future society’s that have gone wrong and although they are fictional the events and the setting of the novels were based on the history and events of the contemporary early- mid 20th century – the time when both novels were written. It was the time of events like World War 1 and 2 the rise of capitalism and communism and of people like Hitler and Stalin. The events of those days disillusioned both men and inspired them to write powerful satires on society and to worn people about the possible dangers that can happen in the future and to raise issues in politics, social matters and etc. The two books try to enlighten the reader and show him what is happening and what can really happen if societies take the course of totalitarianism, elitism and the downgrading of humans and human wrights, which was common at the time and still is, but less, in today’s world.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984 and Brave New World

    • 1193 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the weekend I watched Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I have always been a sucker for the futuristic movies, the viewing depictions of what the future might look like holds a fascination that, I trust, need not be explained as I watched 1984 and Brave New World in particular, I was struck by both the similarities and differences between the movies.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Utopia, 1984 Comparison

    • 2294 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Love is without a doubt one of the most powerful emotions in the world. Most people in the world who have experienced this emotion know that with love, almost anything is possible. ¡§When in Love, the greater is his/her capacity for suffering, or anything else in that matter¡¨ (Miguel de Unamuno, The Tragic Sense of Life). The governments in both Brave New World and 1984 understand that eliminating love and loyalty is important in their continual process of domination over their societies. In Sir Thomas More¡¦s Utopia, his Utopian society understands the importance of love and loyalty. There is a huge contrast between the way love is treated in Utopia, and Brave New World & 1984. In both Brave New World and 1984, the governments have replaced love and loyalty, with suspicion and hatred, while in Utopia it is treasured.…

    • 2294 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the totalitarian worlds of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and V for Vendetta the ruling regimes have exploited technology that could be used for the benefit of humanity and tainted it with the purpose of securing their absolute control over humanity. They do this by censoring information released to the public, enforcing their own version of the past and present, and dismissing citizens’ right to privacy to spy on them.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Brave New World - Dystopia

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Dystopian novels have become more common over the last century; each ranging from one extreme society to the next. A dystopia, “A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control,”[1] through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, criticizes about current trends, societal norms, or political systems. The society in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is divided in a caste system, in which humans are not individuals, do not have the opportunity to be individuals, and never experience true happiness. These characteristics of the reading point towards a well-structured society; a society where the government controls the people to create “perfection”, robbing them of their freedoms, in other words Brave New World is, with no doubt, written in a dystopian mindset.…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 A Dystopian Essay

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Just like the language in the book, the setting and environment help create the dystopian feel in the book. The contrast between Winston’s vision of a perfect world and his reality is quite shocking. Orwell uses symbolism to depict the loss of privacy in the novel. He uses language to show loss and the loss of mental control. The thought police in the book strike fear into the citizens. The thought police could be anyone, they are meant to blend in with society. Like when Mr. Charrington offered the room to Winston and Julia as a hide out so they could be with each other. Then the thought police busted through the door and Winston found out that he had been a thought police the whole time. This shows the fear in the fact that you can’t trust anyone in this society. The inner party even recruited kids to spy on their parents, and there were many accounts of people getting vaporized because their kids turned them in. The party also disliked the idea of pleasure, for example you could only have sex for the purpose of reproduction. They made sure that people lived in misery all the time. They would lie about the rations they gave out to people to make them seem like it…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays