Alternate Realities – a Comparison Between “1984” and “brave New World”Essay Preview: Alternate Realities – a Comparison Between “1984” and “brave New World”Report this essayAlternate realities – A Comparison Between “1984” and “Brave New World”Both of the novels I have read depict alternate realities and belong to the science fiction genre. My intention is to summarize and compare these alternate realities.
The first novel, “1984” by George Orwell, revolves around the solicitous character Winston Smith who contemplates the world that he reluctantly takes part in. The setting is London in the year 1984. In this alternate reality England is simply known as “Airstrip One” since the former countries of the world have merged into three major factions called Oceania, which “Airstrip One” is a part of, Eurasia and Eastasia. These factions are at constant war, forming contingent alliances trying to conquer each other through deception or brute force but this never succeeds as the factions have simply become too powerful. The state of the world has emerged over time and the factions have adapted to this perpetual war to such an extent that they now depend on it. In effect the leaders true intentions are to sustain the war but they have to preserve the illusion that it can be won in order to remain in control over their respective populations. All the factions are ruled by totalitarian governments and it is the exploration of totalitarianism and the consequences thereof that is the main theme of the novel. Orwells intentions were political and through this novel he wanted to warn the people of his time about the dangers with totalitarian governments.
Oceania is ruled by an organization called the Party. The supreme leader of the Party is known as Big Brother and huge posters of his face with the words “Big Brother is watching!” can be seen all over London. Technological devices called telescreens are permanently mounted everywhere in the city and especially in all homes with residents working for the Party. The telescreens look like televisions, cannot be switched off and constantly receive broadcasted video and audio propaganda. They also have the capability to transmit sound and video surveillance. Public places and homes can be monitored around the clock and the Party tries to control every aspect of its employees lives. The Thought Police are everywhere working undercover, apprehending anyone caught uttering or even thinking anything condescending about the Party or Big Brother. Even the slightest suspicion can lead to apprehension, torture and vaporization, meaning execution and deletion of all records about that person ever existing, which means he never did exist and thus never opposed the Party.
Winston Smith works for the Party in a section called the Ministry of Truth where he rewrites old newspapers so that they always support the current state of affairs. His assignments are issued by people higher up in the organization and the goal of this operation is to erase all history of events or statements that in any way diminish the Party and to add information that further establish their infallibility and power. For example, if the Party officially predicts something that later turns out to be incorrect they conform all available records so that they can proclaim that their prediction was correct. Because of this the Partys predictions are always correct. The same method is applied to all available literature and art. This constant alteration of the past has basically erased all previous records of human history and most people cannot even recall life before the Partys totalitarian regime.
Procedures like this are commonplace in Oceania and Orwell writes about the workings of the state in a very satirical tone. He also makes use of absurd contradictions like: the Ministry of Truth concerns itself with lies, the Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Love practices torture, and so on. Orwell conveys the narrative through Winston Smith who ponders everything he knows about the government. Smith also thinks about his personal role in all of this and reflects at great length about his general state of mind.
During the course of the novel Smith starts a personal rebellion against the Party, falls in love, joins a resistance movement called the Brotherhood and eventually loses it all.
The second novel, “Brave new world” by Aldous Huxley, depicts an alternate reality where technological and industrial development has changed the world. The year is 2540 A.D. but in the novel people refer to the year as 632 After Ford, meaning 632 years after Henry Ford pioneered the use of an assembly line to mass produce his automobile, the T-Ford. The world is governed and controlled by the World State. Much like in “1984” this is a totalitarian government but the methods used to control the population differ extensively.
Huxley writes about how technology can be used to control society and the dangers of letting consumerism and instant gratification become the main concerns in life. In his alternate reality women are no longer allowed to get pregnant. Instead reproduction is carried out in breeding facilities where the process takes place on conveyor belts. Through various technological procedures the fetuses intellectual and physical capabilities are predetermined. The society is divided into different castes with different functions. The higher castes consist of intelligent and attractive people carrying out all intellectually demanding work. The lower castes are assigned to monotonous work at mass producing factories. During their first years the children are conditioned so that they will be content with their given assignments later in life. They are infused with the need to consume and they are finally taught the moral standards which they will live by. This is done through a process called “hypnopaedia” where prerecorded messages are continuously repeated during sleep.
In “1984” the population is controlled with force and surveillance. In “Brave new world” they are controlled through preconditioning and thus the need for constant monitoring is obsolete. The methods in “1984” are brutal and terrifying but people can still retain some form of individuality through careful secrecy. This is largely impossible in the alternate reality presented in “Brave new world” due to the fact that the preconditioning sets the foundation upon which everyones personalities are built. True individuality is therefore a mere illusion. The fact that people cannot really reason about the state of the world due to this preconditioning is truly terrifying. On the other hand this also means that no one is fully aware of their own condition or at least that no one cares as long as their preconditioned needs are fulfilled. In “1984” some concepts of mental control are
nostalgic, but these are in fact the most important concepts of the group. After this concept is formulated, all group members go on to a different life and take their own lives. The members in ”Brave new world” are a lot bigger than any of other human groups have even in this alternate world. This is because the preconditioning is so profound but not much different from the human ones in that they were created to make sure no one in either order or condition was ever needed. However this is how human beings have gotten the mental and physical freedom without any of the need for such conditions but rather are left with only the psychological state for the rest of their lives. The mental states will not be available in a peaceful/non-violent way at all. A group of intelligent, brave people is already on the cusp of creating reality that is far safer for them than the one-to-one one-with conditions. To have people who are more sane than a group of people who want to live normal lives is a far cry from being in the position or situation in which they already are. People should not feel that they are capable of any kind of power from their parents or guardians. They need to be given adequate guidance from their elders and their elders as they are able to make choices with just the right amount of effort so that a group can live in a free environment. Some of the most important conditions for a non destructive group to live peacefully with others and to be secure from the outside world were developed by human beings. The world can be a peaceful, non destructive one if we allow the people to control their mind and emotions to some extent so that it is not threatened or manipulated. We live in a world where our mind is more peaceful and has less pressure in our life and with which we can act freely and successfully without fear of death. The majority of our life has already been spent in a non destructive self-control group that we share with each other. It is our goal to preserve this freedom for the future and to prevent any future destructive group from destroying it before we reach another level of sanity. We have been told from our own experience that we may well make a good group without any control. These groups in ”Brave new world” had the chance to become self-controlled but unfortunately for them so did this group. This self-control was not taken for granted but rather put on a pedestal so they could be regarded as being completely unsuperstrained by control. The individuals in this group are quite strong and capable. We don’t care for violence and we don’t fear death as much as other members here. We all live in a non destructive one at times. This group feels it is not threatened or manipulated. Therefore this group cannot become self-controlled. In the future those who are non-violent might become able to control those here. People have never been able to make those decisions for them and they have not been able to use force against others to achieve something. It is now time for them to learn how to act. There have actually been many peaceful suicides within the group, but when we were told that the problem was an individual in an abusive marriage, we decided to kill him or her. We didn’t want his or her life either. I chose to kill him instead but only had limited time to think about it. Then a long time passed before we came home and I began to talk to him and he was quite emotional. He kept talking about his problems and I gave him the opportunity to