The idea of utopia in 1984 and Brave New World

A detailed Summary of The idea of utopia in 1984 and Brave New World

"There is nothing like dream to create the future. Utopia to-day, flesh and blood tomorrow."

The idea of Utopia is one of the most prominent subjects portrayed in Orwell's novel, 1984 and Huxley's novel Brave New World. The Utopia in 1984 focuses on how governments can develop and the methods they use to keep the people they are governing in their power. In the novel Brave New World, the utopia displayed focuses on the misuse of science as a means of controlling people. Despite the difference between the two novels, they both have many similarities, which are shown. Although utopia symbolizes perfection, both novels demonstrate that as much as it sounds perfect, it is not. Rather, it is an exaggeration of the portrayal of an ideal society. In both novels, the idea of a totalitarian government, the concept of independent personalities, and the idea of anarchism and rebellion against the government policy are all present and represent great significance to the theme of Utopia.

Both novels focus on the idea of a totalitarian government that forces the people to live the way they want them to. In the novel 1984, a totalitarian government, or a one party government, keeps watch

over everybody. They use extreme measures to keep individuals in line. The Party in Orwell's novel is very powerful because it is a group whose primary purpose is to gain and keep their power over the world. The methods they use are harsh and efficient. They would punish anybody who tries to commit an independent act, including keeping a diary:

The thing he was about to do was open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death... (Orwell, 8)

Big Brother a god-like figure, who appeared on a telescreen, transmitting both Party propaganda and entertainment, and keeps and eye on Party members, looking for traces of thoughtcrime, such as thinking anything not approved by the Party. "The physical difficulty of meeting was enormous. It was like trying to make a move at chess when you were already mated. Whatever way you turned, the telescreen faced you." (Orwell, 115) Anyone apprehended for thoughtcrime would be vapourized. In other words, the person disappears and only Big Brother knew how. In the novel 1984, the people were forced to think and act by The Party, assisted by Big Brother; a fictitious character made up to scare people. "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU", is the capture which ran under Big Brother's picture. Also, both novels contained higher ranked people, who were portrayed as gods. In the novel, 1984 had a Big Brother figure to scare the people using means of control. Similarly, Brave New World depicted ten men to rule the world. In the novel, Brave New World, the people of the ideal state were bred to order, artificially fertilizing a mother's egg to create babies that grow in bottles. All of the babies were conditioned, physically and chemically, in the bottle, and psychologically after birth, to make them happy citizens of the society with both a liking and an aptitude for the work they will do. One psychological conditioning technique employed was hypnopedia, or in other words, teaching people while they sleep - not teaching facts or analysis, but planting suggestions that will make people behave in certain ways. Every human being in the new world is conditioned to fit society's needs. To like the work, he/she will have to do. The people have no choice in what they want to be like or what they want to become. They are forced how to live accordingly, before they even come into this world. The two books, 1984 and Brave New World, can be compared in many aspects. Both books focus on the theme of dictatorship. Basically, the citizens of each of the novels have no choice over their lives. In 1984, the citizens have to do and think whatever is expected by Big Brother; if they disobey the rules, they will be punished, brainwashed, or even vapourized. Likewise, the citizens of Brave New World are forced to live as they were conditioned, even though they do not know it. To them, it seems as if they can make any choices they like, but, they have to live according to the way they were conditioned. For example, if you belonged to a lower cast (e.g. Epsilon minus), you would be conditioned to enjoy or like the job you did, which was usually labour work. Also, both novels contained high ranked people, who were portrayed as gods. The novel 1984 had Big Brother

Some common words found in the essay are:
Brave World, Party Orwell's, Mustapha Mond, Winston Smith, Winston Party, Helmholtz Bernard, Bernard Helmholtz, Marx Alpha, Huxley Orwell, brave world, Party Winston, novel 1984, books 1984, novel brave, novel brave world, totalitarian government, books 1984 brave, scare people, approved party, government policy, 1984 brave, bernard helmholtz, 1984 brave world, scare people using, people using means,

Approximate Word count = 2245
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English