Brave New World And 1984 Comparison Essay

In 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, both authors convey a warning to society about allowing governments to have too much power and control over their people. In 1984, the Party controls Oceania and practically brainwashes its people through means such as the telescreens. On the other hand, in Brave New World, the government controls its people through conditioning from birth and soma in order to make everyone oblivious to the government’s control. In both novels, the protagonists struggle against their governments, but Winston, from 1984, loses his individuality, whereas John, from Brave New World, manages to remain true to himself and not lose his individuality.

In 1984, Oceania is controlled by the Party, which

is led by Big Brother. The Party controls its people through trickery and fear. Throughout the novel, there is war occurring in which the enemy changes between Eurasia and Eastasia. The Party uses this war as a distraction; the Party tricks its people into thinking that they are helping the soldiers at war, while the government is just being greedy with power. One example is that the Party reduces the rations, just to prove their power and to leave the people without basic luxuries: “...the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grams to twenty grams at the end of the present week” (Orwell 39). The Party says that the ration will be reduced to help the soldiers at war, and the people of Oceania are not complaining because mentally they think that they are actually helping, when they really are not. This shows that the Party is deceitful and devious.
The Party also controls its people through fear with the use of telescreens. Telescreens are all over Oceania, including people's houses, and they monitor and record everything. Unfortunately, the telescreens “...could be dimmed, but there [is] no way of shutting it off completely”(Orwell 2). This results in the government always watching its people, who must be constantly careful of what they do and say. This creates fear of being caught in the people of Oceania; as a result, most people do not rebel due to this fear; this is one example of how the Party control its people through the use of fear. Through the use of trickery and fear, Big Brother and the Party control the people of Oceania.
Even with the Party’s oppressive control, Winston Smith manages to rebel against the Party and Big Brother.

Winston’s first act of rebellion is when he writes in a journal, which is illegal because it involves thoughtcrime. Later in the novel, Winston has an affair with Julia as another act of rebellion because the Party only wants people to have relationships for reproduction. Winston’s most significant act of rebellion is when he believes he joins the Brotherhood: “... a vast shadowy army, an underground network of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State”(Orwell 13). Because Winston joins the Brotherhood, he agrees to do whatever the Brotherhood ask of him, which includes giving up his life, committing murder, and much more. Since Winston joins the Brotherhood, it shows that he is fully devoted to rebelling against the Party. But, later in the novel, O’Brien betrays Winston because O’Brien pretends to be part of the Brotherhood, when O’Brien actually works for the Party. Winston gets tortured to his breaking point. While Winston is being tortured, he betrays Julia and loses all of his individuality. Winston fails because he gives in to the dominant Party, and he does not retain any of his individuality. For example, at the end of the novel, the narrator says, “[Winston] [loves] Big Brother” (Orwell 298). This shows that the Party has complete control over Winston and he is like all of the other people in Oceania. If a government acquires too much power and

control over its people, it is nearly impossible to retain one's individuality.
In Brave New World, the government controls its people through conditioning from birth and the use of soma. In the novel, everyone is born in test tubes and go through conditioning. They control and modify the genetics of the babies, while they are in the test tubes. This results in the government having control of what the people like and dislike. When the babies get older, they still go through conditioning. Every time the children go to sleep, a message is played, so that the children will remember the message. For example, while a group of Beta children sleep, they listen to this message: “ ‘Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever… And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid’” (Orwell 27). The government can manipulate the children’s opinion towards other people and towards anything.