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Essays on dystopian literature
Dystopia in brave new world
Dystopian literature characteristics
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Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World, George Orwell 's 1984, and Anthony Burgess ' A Clockwork Orange all present a distinct, multi-faceted dystopia. Elements of the human psyche are exploited in order to preserve each civilization. Any threat of defiance is thoroughly investigated and the three governments engage strategies to handle them. Although the customs and laws are different in the respective societies, each demonstrates the extremes of behavior, the power of conditioning, and the innate need to belong. Orwell, Burgess, and Huxley present a metamorphosis for their protagonists to display that radicals are bound to emerge in authoritarian governments, but often eventually succumb to its command. In 1984, Winston 's insubordination escalates …show more content…
Normative social influence, the pressure to conform in order to be accepted by others, is the reason the characters behave in certain ways. At the close of A Clockwork Orange, Alex is re-conditioned to be like his former self, once again committing crimes. However, when he sees his old friend, Pete, with a wife and plans for a family, his goals change. Because of this encounter, Alex considers "finding some devotchka...who would be a mother to [his future] son" (Burgess 212). After seeing how his peers have matured since he was released from prison, Alex is emboldened to settle down and be more like an adult as well. Likewise, Winston is compelled to include himself into the melee of the Two Minutes Hate. He concedes that "to dissemble your feelings...to do what everyone else was doing, was...instinctive" (Orwell 18). Although Winston is also throwing off suspicion, he knows he is incapable of resisting anyway, demonstrating conformity is inherent. Moreover, Brave New World depicts an attempt to create a perfectly uniform population in both appearance and acuity. From an early age, children are exposed through hypnopaedia to phrases like " 'Alpha children wear grey...[Gammas] wear green, and Delta children wear khaki '" (Huxley 27). This conditioning instills in every child that one belongs to a certain caste and their group is the best to be in. Each human is predestined to be in a specific class, unable to move between ranks, and is forced to
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
It is said that 1984 is one of the greatest books ever written, a literary work that remains as transcendent as ever since its publishing date sixty-four years ago. It is a grimly realistic story crafted together by George Orwell, who takes upon particularly effective literary elements, such as the limited third-person point of view, to follow the life of Winston Smith, the average everyday, resentful civilian who attempts to fight against the seemingly omnipotent and ubiquitous powers of the Ingsoc Party. The Ingsoc Party, a totalitarian government that governs the fictional country of Oceania, holds a casket of brilliantly intelligent individuals, some of who are members of the terrifying Thought Police and the notorious Inner Party, who employ informal language against the uneducated masses of Oceania civilians. Symbolism is also a key literary element in the novel, for anything ranging from ubiquitous telescreens to the infamous Big Brother ultimately contribute to Winston’s realization of how unbreakable the power of the Ingsoc Party truly is. All throughout 1984, George Orwell exercises the elements of diction, point of view, and symbolism to bring out the novel’s theme of how futile resistance is against established totalitarian governments.
Between the poem, ¨ No one died in Tiananmen Square¨ by William Lutz and the novel, 1984 by George Orwell there are multiple similarities. Subjects such as their government, their denial of history, and the use of doublethink and re-education are all parallel between the novel and the poem. For instance, both the governments have a highly strict government. Their governments are so controlling of their people that they use brute force in order to help re-educate them. For example, in 1984 the main character, Winston Smith was trying to go against their government, The Party, and because he tries to do so, he is placed in The Ministry of Love and brutally beaten by the man whom he assumed was a part of the Brotherhood, O'Brien. O'Brien claimed
George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.
In 1984 and V for Vendetta, the different behaviours of the anti-heroes, Winston and V, illustrate their approach to attaining freedom from the totalitarian government. George Orwell’s 1984 and James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta use the anti-heroes’ behaviour to identify their approach to their cause—liberation from the totalitarian government. For example, Winston is the typical citizen who rebels against the government in a quiet and peaceful way, whereas V is a revolutionist in an excited and violent way. This comparison helps classify the key behaviours, which explains the different approaches the anti-heroes took towards liberation.
George Orwell’s haunting dystopian novel 1984 delves into the closely monitored lives of the citizens of Oceania as the Party tries to take control of society. In totalitarianism, propaganda and terrorism are ways of subjugation with a main goal: total obedience. He aimed to create a “what if” novel, what would happen if totalitarian regimes, such as the Nazis and Soviets, were to take over the world. If totalitarianism were to happen, the leader would be the brain of the whole system. Orwell emphasizes the theme of individualism versus collective identity through Winston, the protagonist, and his defiance to the Party and Big Brother, with a frightening tone, surreal imagery and a third person limited point of view.
In the article excerpt, social critic Neil Postman describes two dystopian novels: George Orwell’s 1984, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Postman compares which novel is more relevant to today’s society, and leans more towards Brave New World. When both novels are compared side by side, it is evident that Huxley’s world is indeed more relative to modern day civilization.
Imagine a society in which its citizens have forfeited all personal liberties for government protection and stability; Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, explores a civilization in which this hypothetical has become reality. The inevitable trade-off of citizens’ freedoms for government protection traditionally follows periods of war and terror. The voluntary degradation of the citizens’ rights begins with small, benign steps to full, totalitarian control. Major methods for government control and censorship are political, religious, economic, and moral avenues. Huxley’s Brave New World provides a prophetic glimpse of government censorship and control through technology; the citizens of the World State mimic those of the real world by trading their personal liberties for safety and stability, suggesting that a society similar to Huxley’s could exist outside the realm of dystopian science fiction.
The constant theme of betrayal in 1984 is being used by George Orwell to show how hopeless Winston’s struggle against the Totalitarian system is, giving the reader an idea of how bad this type of government is. The reader is introduced to this dark time and given hope in the form of the rebellious protagonist, Winston. However, the reader soon realises how hopelessly alone Winston is in his silent battle when they see that the government is against him, he has no support or allies, and that even his own mind can be turned against him. The message is clear and makes readers who live in a democracy happier with what they have.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
This dream of forming and maintaining a utopian society was immortalized in two novels dealing with the same basic ideas, 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Both of these novels deal with the lives of main characters that inadvertently become subversives in a totalitarian government. These two books differ greatly however with the manner in which the government controls the population and the strictness of the measures taken to maintain this stability. This essay with compare and contrast the message and tone of each novel as well as consider whether the utopia is a positive or negative one.
They both warn us of the dangers of a totalitarian society. Both books express a utopian ideal, examine characters that are forced into this state and are compelled to deal with this society and all the rules involved. The impracticality of the utopian ideal is explored in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World. Both authors suggest that a lack of familial bonds, the repression of human individuality, and the repression of artistic and creative endeavors in order to attain a stable environment renders the achievement of a perfect state unrealistic. The lack of familial bonds, in both novels, contributes to the development of a dystopian society.
Political struggle for power through dictatorship has been apparent since the birth of civilization. This dates back to World War II when German Nazis and communists from Russia fought for control of the world's perception. In 1984 by George Orwell, a totalitarian government, The Party, utilizes their immense power over the weak citizens of Oceania to further their own agenda. O'Brien, an official, works as a missionary to prevent people from having oppositional thoughts about The Party. His newest target, Winston, the protagonist, has been developing heretical thoughts which go against the party's orthodoxy. To reverse such thoughts O'Brien takes certain actions that ensure Winston's altered stance is permanent. Although Winston does not conform
In the dystopian worlds from Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and 1984, by George Orwell, both governments have supreme control over their citizens. The authors use hypnopedia, doublethink, and the restriction of language to portray that governments have the ability to control their citizens and strip them of their free will without their consent or realization. Both governments rely on the sacrifice of individuality and a state of mindlessness to reach an ultimate goal of stability and everlasting peace. They still have extreme regulations and punishments for those who do not conform, because it seems like the citizens have the ability to break out of the mold that was created for them. However, these additional techniques to make the
1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale are staples of dystopian literature. Each respective author creates a scenario that resonates with their audience. Although these scenarios are different, there are key similarities present in each. In each novel, the government employs psychological stratagems designed to maintain control over their citizens. In each novel, literary works are deemed to be volatile, and are treated as such. But perhaps most interesting, is the approach each author takes in presenting a scenario that appears to be utopic, and presenting it in a way that is dystopic.