Brave New World
April 19, 2012
Brave New Comparisons
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World bears several similarities to Thomas More’s Utopia and George Orwell’s 1984. Brave New World and 1984, governments seize control of citizen’s personal liberties, such as freedom. Both plots feature a character recognizing the growing control of the government force, trying to escape the clutches of the government officials. While Brave New World and 1984 are similar in plot, they do differ slightly. For example, 1984 demonstrates a government incredibly similar to that of Nazi Germany under the rule of notorious Adolf Hitler, while Brave New World presents a less oppressive government maintaining a sense of calm but no doubt controlling the citizen’s everyday routine through conditioning and frequent use of soma.
While Brave New World compares significantly to the setting in 1984, I find Huxley’s futuristic novel compares to Thomas More’s Utopia in the sense both settings contain dystopian qualities. The plot of Brave New World features World State, a country with citizens operating under the direction of the Directors and Controllers. The definition of dystopia is a environment where pain, hard labor, and hatred are plentiful, while a utopia is defined as place where hardships, hatred, and ill will are eliminated, thus creating a world of perfect peace. While many refer to both Utopia and Brave New World as a utopian society, I classify both as a sodden dystopia. Both plots feature citizens blissfully unaware of the amount of control the government has over them, which allows the question, “If the citizen are happy, is the society truly a dystopia?” The answer is a complex yes. Brave New World reveals the citizens are separated as well as conditioned to be the type of people the government wishes. From birth they are “conditioned” to like/dislike certain things. For example, the Director leads young boys to the Nursery, where they observe a Delta boys being programmed to dislike
Brave New Comparisons
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World bears several similarities to Thomas More’s Utopia and George Orwell’s 1984. Brave New World and 1984, governments seize control of citizen’s personal liberties, such as freedom. Both plots feature a character recognizing the growing control of the government force, trying to escape the clutches of the government officials. While Brave New World and 1984 are similar in plot, they do differ slightly. For example, 1984 demonstrates a government incredibly similar to that of Nazi Germany under the rule of notorious Adolf Hitler, while Brave New World presents a less oppressive government maintaining a sense of calm but no doubt controlling the citizen’s everyday routine through conditioning and frequent use of soma.
While Brave New World compares significantly to the setting in 1984, I find Huxley’s futuristic novel compares to Thomas More’s Utopia in the sense both settings contain dystopian qualities. The plot of Brave New World features World State, a country with citizens operating under the direction of the Directors and Controllers. The definition of dystopia is a environment where pain, hard labor, and hatred are plentiful, while a utopia is defined as place where hardships, hatred, and ill will are eliminated, thus creating a world of perfect peace. While many refer to both Utopia and Brave New World as a utopian society, I classify both as a sodden dystopia. Both plots feature citizens blissfully unaware of the amount of control the government has over them, which allows the question, “If the citizen are happy, is the society truly a dystopia?” The answer is a complex yes. Brave New World reveals the citizens are separated as well as conditioned to be the type of people the government wishes. From birth they are “conditioned” to like/dislike certain things. For example, the Director leads young boys to the Nursery, where they observe a Delta boys being programmed to dislike
Cited: Huxley, First. Brave New World. New York: Harper Collins, 1932. Print. Olson, Matthew, and B.R Hergenhahn. An Introduction to Theories of Personality. 8. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2011. Print. Sigelman, Carol, and Elizabeth Rider. Life-Span Human Development. 7. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.