The modern world is full of complications and the moments when it seems like a dystopia – the darkest version of the future. Today, during the pandemic and social constraints, people can see the similarities with the greatest dystopian masterpieces of the 20th century: the works Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, respectively. Although the two dystopias are dissimilar in the plot, they share some details, such as the vision of the writers concerning the weaponry of mass destruction, social division, and sex obsession. However, the question of whether the world would head towards Orwell’s and Huxley’s dystopian visions is still a point of many people’s concern.
Both authors saw the danger in the progressive technologies and ‘new’ thinking that came after wars. While in the case of Orwell, this was about nuclear weapons that posed an immense threat to modern society, in the grim scenario of Huxley, the danger grew within chemical weapons. Both authors were obsessed with the theme of a totalitarian regime and complete governmental control over citizens (Atchison and Shames, 2019).
While it is true that the government spies on their citizens to some extent, the possibility of America becoming the next Oceania is rather dim. However, this is true that some modern governments indeed follow the dystopian rules and create totalitarian regimes, which choke human freedoms on the root.
The authors considered that the future would be held by America, and the future governments would try to do everything for their citizens to be more productive. Moreover, both authors wrote warnings as the message of their books. For Huxley, the message was in an endless pleasure cycle, and humanity appeared too concerned with drugs, sex, and other ones, which may be partially seen in modern America (Biedenweg and Gross-Camp, 2018). Although the country is far from being totalitarian, its numerous citizens are obsessed with such pleasures as legal and illegal drugs, sex, social media, and the free expression of themselves.
At the same time, Orwell was more concerned over the totalitarian government built on brainwashing and complete fanatic love for ‘The Big Brother’. North Korea can be the perfect example of such a future, which can fit in the world of 1984. Brainwashing, totalitarian government, cruel punishments, isolation, and fanatical belief in the Kim family characterize the situation in this country, which is evidence of the lack of democratic freedoms and social regression.
The emotional theme of the two novels differs significantly: The Brave New World is playful, light, cheerful, colorful, and full of pleasures in comparison to the grim, depressed, and grey world of 1984. The difference is deep in the storyline and in the genetic modification. Huxley showcased his fascination with the new and intellectual ways of breeding, genetic improvements, and class division of the people based on the traits they were presented during the time in the artificial womb (Chan, 2019).
John was a result of a crime, and he was a criminal because natural procreation was forbidden by the government. If one observes modern society, some similarities may be found. Nowadays, people search for alternative ways to procreate by using artificial wombs, and these experiments were successful with animals. Therefore, one could state that modern society can end up as a Huxley’s character. However, with the development of human freedoms, it would be impossible to create the order of social division as observed in the discussed novel.
Huxley skillfully projected the trends that dominated society at the time into the future by creating an obscure world similar and dissimilar to modern tendencies. His guesses were well-placed since the author’s assumption about artificial procreation became true due to the developments in the area. Moreover, the author foresaw the change in the perception of sex. In the current society, sex is not a sacred act between husband and wife but rather an expression of sympathy, sometimes between strangers.
People have become free-minded when it comes to this delicate topic. Furthermore, nowadays, there is a distinct separation between sex for pleasure and the same act to procreate, similar to what was described in Huxley’s novel (Chan, 2019). Additionally, the author made a correct assumption in the sphere of new contraception and its consequences, which may be observed in modern society. In the novel, promiscuity is encouraged, and sex is a form of entertainment. Nowadays, these tendencies can be observed in dating apps, overly sexualized mass media, and the general attitude towards a sacred act. In this sphere, Orwell appeared wrong since, within his dystopian future, sex was discouraged.
Orwell wrote about the 1940s, a grey and sensually restrained time, which was identical to modern North Korea. Huxley, in turn, looked towards the future and saw the pleasant world or delights, the world overly-populated by unchallenging entertainment, which is similar to social media, movies, and modern cartoons. The core of Huxley’s society is in distractions from boring lives they are living, which is in line with the current tendencies.
People seek distractions in music, movies, drugs, clubs, computer games, social networking sites, and other entertainments. Citizens in Brave New World strive to escape from themselves, in particular, from experiencing strong emotions that are forbidden by the law. While this is unrealistic to assume that feelings would be banned in the near future, this is true that modern people tend to escape from their routine with all sorts of entertainment.
The importance of data is also a common theme not only in modern society but also in Huxley’s novel. To be more precise, some Facebook features appear similar to what was described in Brave New World. The themes of the absence of privacy and the need to share one’s personal and social status are what Huxley predicted. The absence of privacy is also the leading theme of Orwell’s vision. The crime of free thinking is the most serious one in the novel, which one can observe in such totalitarian and near-totalitarian countries as North Korea, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Iraq, Iran, and some other states (Gruszewska-Blaim, 2020).
The probable future described in the novels seems less funny as one can observe the same obsession with sex, entertainment, and drugs in today’s culture. Moreover, some political leaders rewrite history deliberately to suit their needs, which is also similar to both dystopian worlds.
Although modern society does not possess the ‘Two Minutes Hate’ as in Orwell’s dystopia, social media may be considered a similar phenomenon since people often express their hatred on these online platforms. The idea of the permanent state of war resonates within the current society since there is always a threat that some country would decide to throw an atomic bomb onto the opponent’s state. The idea of inheriting social standing is reflected in unequal societies where people take their jobs and statuses with doing nothing to deserve them.
A dominant totalitarian society ruled by a strong leader, the one who spies after their citizens, is remotely similar to the modern China. The country has a feature that fuses the vision of the two authors together, such as the ‘citizen score’, which is based on a person’s reputation and financial state. The marker is used to determine whether a citizen can travel, get access to healthcare, receive education, and count on other social freedoms (Kania and Costello, 2018). This feature showcases the danger of dystopia coming to life.
To conclude, although Huxley and Orwell wrote their books as a warning, modern society still has the features similar to the ones described in both novels. However, although similar in some features, for instance, totalitarian norms and the lack of social freedoms, society can change and can achieve the perfect future scenario instead of the worse ones. No one should despair and repeat the experiences of the main characters of the two dystopias.
Both authors succeeded in determining the future tendencies within the society, but their success is in their failure. They tried to prevent the issue from occurring, but instead, they just made elaborate prophecies. Nevertheless, the change is still possible in case society turns particular attention to human freedoms and rights. Even a small step in the right direction counts and can save millions of people from living in the worlds created by the two prophets.
Reference List
Atchison, A. L. and Shames, S. L. (2019) Survive and resist: the definitive guide to dystopian politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Biedenweg, K. and Gross-Camp, N. D. (2018) ‘A brave new world: integrating well-being and conservation’, Ecology and Society, 23(2), p. 32.
Chan, J. (2019) ‘The brave new worlds of birth control: women’s travel in Soviet Russia and Naomi Mitchison’s We Have Been Warned’, Journal of Modern Literature, 42(2), pp. 38-56.
Gruszewska-Blaim, L. (2020) ‘The dystopian beyond: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four’, Utopian Studies, 31(1), pp. 142-163.
Kania, E. B. and Costello, J. K. (2018) ‘The strategic support force and the future of Chinese information operations’, The Cyber Defense Review, 3(1), pp. 105-122.