Oppression as Exemplified in Brave New World and 1984
Oppression as Exemplified in Brave New World and 1984 Huxley Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four "Oppression that cannot be overcome does not give rise to revolt but to submission." This concept can be clearly seen in both Brave New World and 1984, even though the structure of their societies are different. The goal of their respective governments is the same, total control of society. The governments use similar tactics of manipulation, with the purpose of keeping the majority in ignorance and submission. The governments in 1984 and Brave New World weakened their citizens with ignorance and silenced them with fear. In 1984 the proles were considered to be completely without thought, and regarding the actions of the Party they in fact were. The ignorance of the proles allowed them to continue on with their lives without the burden of knowledge of the Party. Those in the Party who had somewhat of an idea of the motives and deception of the higher members were silenced with the fear of death and torture. This enabled the party to prevent a revolt from ever occurring. The people who were caught and subjected to torture were not killed or injured to confess their crimes, instead they were physically, intellectually and emotionally reborn. They loved the Party and more importantly they loved Big Brother. In Brave New World this triumph over the individual and destruction of the sprit of man does not happen in the same way. The citizens in Brave New World have almost no need to be reborn to
love the Party, or the State in their case. This is so because they truly had no human spirit in the beginning, for without true love and nurturing from parents and real interaction with others at young ages, and without even a real birth, those in Brave New World do not need to be changed by the state because all that they have learned is that which the state as imbued them with. There is, however, precautionary measures of fear, used in case the preconditioning of an individual was reversed at some point in time. The citizens grow up with ...
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love the Party, or the State in their case. This is so because they truly had no human spirit in the beginning, for without true love and nurturing from parents and real interaction with others at young ages, and without even a real birth, those in Brave New World do not need to be changed by the state because all that they have learned is that which the state as imbued them with. There is, however, precautionary measures of fear, used in case the preconditioning of an individual was reversed at some point in time. The citizens grow up with the fear of being shipped to a far off island for a life of intense manual labor if they do not succumb to the standards of their society. The control of the people was to assure the power of the main leaders, such as Big Brother and the World Controller. For the societies of 1984 and Brave New World to exist, the manipulation of the citizens must occur. In 1984, the Party has control over everything, including the minds of its people. Double think is a kind of manipulation of the mind, used by the rulers of Oceania. This makes people accept contradictions, and believe that the party is the only institution that distinguishes between right and wrong. It denies the citizens any possibility of questioning rapid and hypocritical changes in the policies of the Party. Doublethink ensures orthodoxy and loyalty in spite of anything that may occur. The Party also created newspeak as a tool to promote and enforce doublethink. Newspeak manipulates its citizens into thinking a certain way. The reduction of words to a bare minimum, or newspeak, disables the citizens from producing true thoughts of their own that may stray from the path of Big Brother. In Brave New World the citizens are not only manipulated into conformed thoughts, but their behavioral patterns are preconditioned. They are sleep taught the laws and rules of their society, so as to prevent them from ever producing thoughts that differed from those of the government. The children are taught to love the social status in which they are granted. This creates stability for the society as the citizens have no motives to move up the social scale. The inhabitants of Brave New World are indoctrinated, and brainwashed in their sleep. Another form of manipulation, yet much less subtle in both novels, was the formation and distribution of propaganda. In 1984 propaganda was distributed through the use of telescreens in each room and political pamphlets. All members of the Party were required to attend the "Two Minutes Hate," a propaganda film that repeated each day. Every year there was "Hate Week," which was an enormous propaganda event. In Brave New World there were propaganda houses which had vast studies for emotional engineering. These displays of propaganda induced the citizens of Oceania and the State to follow the standards of each ruler. In both novels the traditional family is abolished. Although the reasons for eliminating parenthood are similar, the methods in which it is done are quite distinct. Wanting the citizens to feel as if the state is their family is the main reason for abolishing the family in Brave New World. If the citizens have family-like ties to the state then they can more easily surrender their power to the control of the government. The same is true for 1984, although the ties are implemented between the citizens and Big Brother. Love for Big Brother is the key idea in the Society of 1984, for that keeps the key people of the Party in control at all times. In 1984 though, family is not looked upon as obscene and unnatural. Conception is still allowed between specific people. The difference to normality is the relationships between children and parents. It is one of illusion, for the children are taught to report the thought crimes of their parents, and they do so even more willing then others. In Brave New World there are no parents at all, for every man, woman and child are laboratory-grown clones, bottled and standardized from the hatchery. This is a significant difference between 1984 and Brave New World in the lives of their citizens. In 1984 sexual conception is permitted and is regarded as a "duty to the Party." Whether it be low, middle or high class, or some form of the previous, almost all societies have classes in which each person exits. In 1984, the classes were that of the inner Party, the outer Party and the proles, the majority being with the proles. The higher the class a person found themselves in, the more knowledge they would have of Oceania and how it worked. With that knowledge came more responsibility. Those found in the proles were regarded as little more than beasts, but at the same time were allowed more freedom than any others. They were not watched over twenty four hours a day, or even at all. The proles were allowed to have the freedom of thought because they were thought to be incapable of it. Anyone in the party must have direct and orthodox thought patterns. All educated citizens were constantly monitored on telescreens, in order to prevent "ungood" words or actions. In Brave New World the classes were just as distinct. The Alphas, Betas, Gamma’s, Deltas, and Epsilons were the different levels of intelligence, the were also the social order of castes. Each caste had its own duties that were to be fulfilled. No one in any class wished to change over, a result of hypnopeadia. The classes in 1984 kept most knowledge in the hands of the inner Party and assured that all jobs, that could result in destruction of the party, were confined to elite members. The castes in Brave New World created relative stability for the citizens and allowed the state to stay in control. Submission and control of a society can be easily achieved through the manipulation of its inhabitants. By using a variety of manipulation tactics, the governments in both 1984 and Brave New World were able to obtain and keep control. Both ruling powers played on the ignorance of its people while making sure those with any amount of information were silenced with fear. Both the Party and the State used many means of propaganda to instill lies into the minds of their public. The governments of 1984 and Brave New World also changed the family unit, as it was once known, so that the traditional love for the family would be replaced with new love for the Party, Big Brother, or the State. This was the ultimate goal. The loss of the peoples control as well as the peoples blind devotion for their rulers.
