Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurism. Huxley answered this book with a reassessment in an essay, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final work, a novel [edit] The Introduction (Chapters 1–6)
The novel
The World State, an eternally peaceful, stable global society, in which goods and resources are plentiful (because the population is permanently limited to no more than two billion people) and everyone is happy. In this society, natural reproduction has been done away with and children are decanted and raised in Hatcheries and Conditioning Centres.
Huxley has described an ideal world where women no longer are forced to give birth. Society is divided into five castes, created in these centres. The highest caste is allowed to develop naturally while it matures in its "decanting bottle". The lower castes are treated to chemical interference to cause arrested development in intelligence or physical growth. The castes are Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, with each caste further split into Plus and Minus members. Each Alpha or Beta is the product of one fertilized egg developing into one foetusAll members of society are conditioned in childhood to hold the values that the World State idealizes, which improves stability and their quality of life. Constant consumption is the bedrock of stability for the World State, providing every and any opportunity for women to indulge their perpetual need for shopping.
Everyone is encouraged to consume the ubiquitous drug, soma, Soma is a hallucinogen that takes users on enjoyable, hangover-free "vacations", and was developed expressly for this purpose. It is also stated that it provides a replication of religious experiences, obviating the need for religion.
Recreational heterosexual and homosexual sex is an integral part of society.
In this egalitarian society, everyone is treated equally. According to The World State, sex is a social activity rather than a means of reproduction and is encouraged from early childhood; the few women who can reproduce are conditioned to take birth control. The maxim "everyone belongs to everyone else" is repeated often, and the idea of a "family" is considered taboo; sexual competition and emotional, romantic relationships are rendered obsolete because they are no longer needed.
Marriage, natural birth, parenthood, and pregnancy are considered too obscene to be mentioned in casual conversation. Thus, society has advanced to a new level of reproductive comprehension.
Spending time alone is considered an outrageous waste of time and money. Admitting to wanting to be an individual in the social group is shocking, horrifying, and embarrassing. This is why John is later afforded celebrity-like status. Conditioning trains people to consume and never to enjoy being alone, so by spending an afternoon not playing "Obstacle Golf," or not in bed with a friend, one is forfeiting acceptance.
In The World State, people typically die at age 60[8] having maintained good health and youthfulness their whole life. Death isn't feared; anyone reflecting upon it is reassured by the knowledge that everyone is happy, and that society goes on. Since no one has family, they have no ties to mourn.
The conditioning system eliminates the need for professional competitiveness; people are literally bred to do their jobs and cannot desire another. There is no competition within castes; each caste member receives the same food, housing, and soma rationing as every other member of that caste. There is no desire to change one's caste.
To grow closer with members of the same class, citizens participate in mock religious services called Solidarity Services. Twelve people consume large quantities of soma and sing hymns. The ritual progresses through group hypnosis and climaxes in an orgy.
In geographic areas non-conducive to easy living and consumption, The World State allows well controlled, securely contained groups of "savages" to live.
1984
The novel of George Orwell, published in 1949, takes place in 1984 and presents an imaginary future where a totalitarian state controls every aspect of life, even people's thoughts. The state is called Oceania and is ruled by a group known as the Party; its leader and dictator is Big Brother.
Winston Smith, the central character, is a thirty-nine year old man living in London. He secretly hates the Party and decides to rebel by starting a diary in which he reveals his rebellious thoughts. Through keeping a diary, Winston commits thoughtcrime and knows that one day he will be discovered by the Thought Police and probably killed.
Winston is fascinated by "proles," the lowest class in the social hierarchy of Oceania. They are the only group allowed to live pretty much as they like without heavy police surveillance. He befriends Mr. Charrington, the prole owner of a junk-shop, who shares his interest in the past and life before the rule of Big Brother.
At work, a dark-haired girl who works in another department approaches Winston in the corridor. She pretends to fall and hurt herself; when he helps her up she slips a piece of paper into his hand. It says "I love you." Winston is surprised and disturbed by this; any sexual relationship between Party members is strictly forbidden. Nevertheless, he is intrigued. They secretly arrange to meet in the country. He begins a love affair with the girl, who finally introduces herself as Julia. They have to be very cautious and meet in places that aren't watched: a clearing in the woods, an old church. Winston and Julia eventually rent the room above Mr. Charrington's junk-shop as a long-term private place for the two of them.
A member of the Inner Party, O'Brien, finds an excuse to give Winston his home address, an unusual event. Winston, noticeably excited, has always believed O'Brien may not be politically orthodox and could sympathize with his hatred of the Party. Winston and Julia go to see O'Brien and he enlists them into the Brotherhood, a secret organization dedicated to fighting Big Brother. He arranges to give Winston a copy of "The Book," a document that contains the truth about Big Brother and the development of the super-states. Winston and Julia go to their room above the junk-shop to read the book. The Thought Police burst in to arrest them and they discover that Mr. Charrington is a Thought Police agent. They are taken separately to the Ministry of Love. There, Winston learns that O'Brien is in fact an orthodox government agent and has deliberately tricked him. O'Brien takes charge of the process of "re-integrating" Winston, torturing and brainwashing him until he fully believes in the Party and its doctrines. As the final step of this process, Winston is forced to betray his love for Julia, and his feelings for her are destroyed.
Winston is released to live out his final days as a broken man. Soon, the Thought Police will execute him. Winston has submitted completely and loves Big Brother.
REVIEW
1984 is one of the most famous dystopias ever written (along with a predecessor like Brave New World or a successor like The Handmaid's Tale). And with good reason -- this book is incredibly intense. Orwell's picture of the future describes the boot and its stamping of a human face in all the detail necessary to frighten everyone from the pessimistic misanthropes to the idealistic optimists. Which camp would Orwell himself belong to? Perhaps both. The book could only be written from the most profound conviction that such a future could indeed happen, a conviction motivated by societies where Big Brother already existed in large part when Orwell wrote the book. But 1984 has become a touchstone of our culture in the way that it functions as a warning. Can we prove the optimist in Orwell correct, and proceed to take the book's warning as a corrective for certain tendencies in our own society? We have survived the bloodiest century in human history without the final annihilation of nuclear war, and without the kind of Big Brother society envisioned by Orwell (although that is debatable). Frankly, that's not much of an accomplishment to brag about, and a fresh re-reading of 1984 for everyone on the eve of the new millennium might just help make a few things turn out differently.
My comments so far have been based on the assumption that a book can change society. 1984 certainly takes itself seriously, and the possession of a book like Orwell's in the Big Brother society it depicts would be a thought-crime of the first order. At this point, I would like to say that a self-righteous society that ignores warnings like Orwell's in 1984 frightens me. Perhaps more so than Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. Is this descriptive of Western culture at this juncture in history? If we do not have Big Brother as such, there might be other, more subtle things to worry about. As I was reading 1984, I was struck by many echoes of Foucault, and his theories of discipline. And Foucault makes it clear that he thinks power and discipline permeate all areas of society, whether totalitarian or democratic. In another parallel, I think that Orwell's idea of doublethink is not restricted by any means to the fictional society of Oceania. An example from the book deals with the Party's claim that the revolution happened to liberate the proles: "But simultaneously, true to the principles of doublethink, the Party taught that proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the application of a few simple rules" (65). I see doublethink in the way that European powers colonized the rest of the planet, and in the continuing economic domination of poorer countries. I see doublethink in certain attitudes towards women, where the double standard is alive and well. These ideas raised by Orwell are more than a little disturbing, if all of the implications are examined.
However, the book's lasting power lies not in all of this social theory, but rather the concrete details of its story. From the smell of boiled cabbage in the hallway of Winston's apartment building to the political architecture ensuring that the powerful stay in power -- the entire range of human experience is here. And Winston Smith is a strong centre for the novel. Like many dystopias, we don't find out how the main character becomes rebellious. Winston Smith is a thought criminal when we first meet him, and his story is premised on that leap. We follow him in his job, where he alters history according to instructions. We follow him through a love affair with the woman named Julia, and it's a strange romance. Winston says to Julia, "I hate purity, I hate goodness!" (112). And possibly with good reason, if such virtues are associated with the Party and its attempts to channel sexuality into avenues less destabilizing to society. Winston and Julia still participate in the Two Minute Hate, another effective form of catharsis and social control.
Unfortunately, the last half of the book is not very interesting. Yes, Orwell continues to use many fascinating ideas, and the images of Winston under torture are indeed horrific. But the story comes to a crashing halt. First, Winston reads chapter after chapter from a rather dry book of political theory -- and no one is terribly surprised when we find out that the author is not who Winston thought it was. And when Winston is under torture, the book also bogs down, dramatically speaking. Perhaps the story has become too familiar, but we know that Winston will break when confronted with Room 101. This Big Brother society is too well-constructed to break apart in the face of one man's resistance. I found my interest picking up again when Winston was released, and his meeting with Julia might be some of the best writing in the novel.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of the last half of the novel is Orwell's blunt answer to the question of why. Winston has read a book describing how the Party stays in power, but he is plagued by the question of why. When he asks O'Brien this question, the answer is as blunt as could be imagined: power for the sake of power. And we are confronted, not with some abstract homily about absolute power, but the reality of complete and utter social power perpetuating itself, confident of its own immortality. There should be tears in our eyes at the ending, for different reasons than Winston's tears, as Winston sits in the Chestnut Tree, thinking about how much he loves Big Brother.
