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Divergent or Alike: Comparing Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984

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Divergent or Alike: Comparing Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984
Future Predictions…Anyone? Although many similarities exist between Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984, they are more divergent than alike. A Brave New World is a novel about the struggle of Bernard Marx, who rejects the tenants of his society when he discovers that he is not truly happy. 1984 is the story of Winston who finds forbidden love within the hypocrisy of his society. In both cases, the main characters are in quiet rebellions against their government, which are eventually found to be unsuccessful. Huxley wrote A Brave New World in the third person so that the reader could be allotted a more comprehensive view of the activities he presents. His characters are shallow and cartoon-like in order to better reflect the society in which they are entrapped. In this society, traditional notions of love and what ideally should result have long been disregarded and despised, "Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet". The comparison to a wild jet is intended to demonstrate the inherent dangers of these activities. Many of the "Brave New World's" social norms are intended to "save" its citizens from anything unpleasant by depriving them of the opportunity to miss anything overly pleasant. The society values, "A COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY," take the place of everything else in a combined effort. Soma, the magical ultimate drug is what keeps the population from revolting. "What you need is a gramme of soma...All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects". The drug is at the forefront of their daily lives supposedly providing freedom from life's every problem. The drug is used as a form of recreation, like sex, and its use is encouraged at any opportunity, especially when great emotions begin to arise. They are conditioned to accept soma to calm and pacify them should they begin to feel anything too intensely. The conditioning also
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