Comparison of A Brave New World and 1984

Comparison of A Brave New World and 1984

A Brave New World is a story about Bernard Marx, who rejects his society because he

finds that he is not satisfied with living a controlled life. 1984 is a story about Winston who

finds forbidden love within the restrictions of his society. These books are both in the same

genre, so they can be easily compared and contrasted. The main similarities in the two pieces

are the topics of the novels, the endings of the books, the nature of the characters, the way

history is handled, and the role of science. There are many important differences between the

two novels. They are the way the societies perceive sex, the way the books are written, the role

of hypocrisy in the societies, the role of drugs in the societies, the way that the people are

controlled, the leaders in the two novels, and the message the author is portraying in each novel.

Although similarities do occur between A Brave New World and 1984, considering the fact that

they do deal with similar topics, there are definitely more differences than similarities.

First of all, the similarities of the two books are necessary to know before getting into the

complexity of the differences. The topic is the first, and most obvious similarity. The two

novels are both in the same genre of futuristic fiction. The endings of the books are similar

because they both end on a negative note. Bernard is sent to work in Iceland (which was

negative in his opinion) and Winston is taken to room 101, subjected to psychological treatment,

and then killed. The nature of the characters in each book are very similar. Winston and

Bernard are both rebels in an established system. The Savage and Helmhoz in Brave New Worl...

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...orld are always drugged so they don’t feel

fear of any kind. Lastly, the messages each author is trying to portray is different. Aldous

Huxley is expressing a fear that people will create a perfect world by getting rid of everything

that makes life worthwhile. Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning against the results of having a

totalitarian state and he is expressing more secret police paranoia.

In conclusion, these two books are similar and different in many ways. The differences

stand out more than the similarities do. However, these books do have one common similarity.

They both ask whether societies with stability, pacification, and uniformity are worth creating

and they prove by the endings they have proven that it is not worth creating. These books both

prove that in order for life to be worthwhile there needs to be challenges, problems, and pain.