English Extended Essay Word Count: 3131 The use of Satire in Aldous Huxley s Brave New World and George Orwell s 1984
Casavant 14990002 1 Abstract The goals of this Extended Essay is to examine the reasons behind the satire that Aldous Huxley and George Orwell use when writing their novels 1984 and Brave New World and by extension examine the fears that these authors had about the future when writing their novels. The question being examined is: How do Aldous Huxley and George Orwell use satire in their novels, Brave New World and 1984, to reflect the cultural fears of Western Society in the 20th Century? The investigation into this topic examines the different events that influenced Orwell and Huxley before and during the creation of their novels. It follows through with a study into the themes of Science and Technology in both novels. Then it analyzes the effect of Communism on the development of the governments of Big Brother and The World State in each of the novels and how the authors are able to satirize communist governments through their writing. Finally the essay inspects the major fears that the authors express especially in the case of oppression which is a major theme by examining the motif Doublethink in 1984 and the symbol of the drug soma in Brave New World. The essay concludes that Aldous Huxley and George Orwell were largely concerned with governments restricting their freedoms of speech and press and that they are able to express these fears fight against them in their novels through the satire that they implement. 1
Casavant 14990002 2 Table of Contents Introduction p. 3 Body: Huxley and Orwell s satire on Science and Technology p. 4 Communist and Governmental Satire in 1984 and Brave New World p. 7 Fears of Oppression p. 9 Conclusion p. 12 Bibliography p. 13 2
Casavant 14990002 3 Introduction: In both Aldous Huxley s Brave New World and George Orwell s 1984, the protagonists, Huxley s Bernard and John as well as Orwell s Winston Smith, fight against mainstream society for a variety of reasons. Bernard and John fight against the governmental system of using soma and clones to control the caste system of the dystopian novel, whilst the protagonist of 1984 struggles against the extensive surveillance used by Big Brother to keep the population loyal and servile to their totalitarian government. Huxley and Orwell both wrote their respective novels in a time where western society felt threatened by their government's ever increasing power over the individual citizen and their inability to increase the advancement of human society. Aldous Huxley published his novel in 1931 in the midst of a depression felt by all Western powers and when just over 10 years earlier democratic governments around the world began collapsing in favor of communist governments. George Orwell published his novel in 1949 at the inception of a war between the cultures of Western and Eastern society when there was yet another rise in support for autocratic governments around the world. Both authors experienced the same fear that many western citizens did at this time and they sought to fight against these totalitarian ideas through their fictional works of satire and the targets of the satire in the actual text are...power hunger in general and totalitarianism in particular (Crick, Essays on Politics and Literature ). Both authors are fighting against totalitarianism in their novels through the themes, symbols, motifs, and plot points that they develop. 3
Casavant 14990002 4 In some cases, such as with the themes of technology, science, and communism; which these novels both develop, the satire is clearly evident as it specifically references developments in their individual societies where they believe the government may be edging too close to an omnipotent nation. However, in certain aspects such as the symbolism of Huxley s Soma and of Orwell s telescreens that aren t quite as straightforward in their representation of the views these authors had towards society. The goal of this extended essay is to bring to light the meaning behind many of these satiric elements that aren t clearly noted by the author and to further explain the meaning behind the obvious satiric elements presented by the authors. Another major goal this essay hopes to accomplish is an understanding of the fears that Huxley and Orwell have developed such as what the major fears they have are and why they fear what they fear. Huxley and Orwell s satire on Science and Technology Throughout both these narratives all of the protagonists are constantly surrounded by the advancements in society through scientific and technological developments that have a great impact of the plots of these novels. Both authors spread the theme of technology being dangerous for society in basically the same way, the government takes the technology and uses it to control their citizens. In Huxley s Brave New World the book immediately brings you into a factory whose sole purpose is to use hypnopaedia-or sleep teaching-to teach clones how they are inferior or superior to other clones that belong to other social castes. The author promptly introduces the reader to the problems with this dystopian society and these problems are contingent on scientific 4
Casavant 14990002 5 advancements which allowed for psychological manipulation as well as cloning. This satire is quite evident in its goal of informing the reader on the dangers of science. However, there is another technological and scientific advancement that Huxley introduces early on in the book where its symbolism may not be just as discernable to a reader. The drug that Huxley describes as all the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects (Huxley Brave New World ), Soma, sounds as if it is a benefit to society. The novel describes several times that Soma enhances the pleasure and happiness that citizens receive and diminishes any pain and sadness that one might of felt prior to taking the drug. However, the point that Huxley appears to be making is that through this drug people are losing their free will. They lose their free will because they believe they re happy, even though many of them are oppressed, which causes them to not turn against their government. The lack of free will is essentially the problem that both Huxley and Orwell have with totalitarian governments. Similarly, Orwell s 1984 immediately introduces the different technological developments in this dystopian world with the description of the Telescreen as an instrument that received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it (Orwell 1984 ). The Telescreen is a symbol used by Orwell to satirize government invasion on the privacy of individuals and it s also used to show the ever increasing power that media (especially television) has in enforcing conformity. In the standardized societies depicted in both novels the media uphold conformity, denying individuals their own privacy and personal feelings (Varricchio) which can obviously have a profound impact on an individual. How does the government use the media to control the population? Very simply put, it s through the use of propaganda. Similar to how prior to World War I the 5
Casavant 14990002 6 United States used propaganda to convince American citizens that joining the war was the right move, Big Brother in 1984 uses Telescreens to create unity through the Two Minutes Hate against traitors such as Goldstein. This control over an individual allows the government to manipulate free will so that it is no longer free will but rather the will of the government which is the point that Orwell is trying to satirize in his dangers of technology. Another tool that Orwell uses to satirize these dangers is through the motif Doublethink. Doublethink, the ability to hold contradictory ideas in one s mind and accepting both as the absolute truth, is a psychological advancement that allows Big Brother to control members of the Ministry of Truth....others accepted the lie which the Party imposed... Who controls the past, ran the Party slogan, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past (Orwell 44) and this ability to control not just the truth, but all of history, allowed Big Brother to restrict the free will of citizens in the superstate of Oceania. All the censorship power that Big Brother and the World State have over citizens result from the advancement of science and technology. Huxley s Soma, the ability to clone, and Hypnopaedia are all used to satirize the dangers of technology and science likewise Orwell s Telescreens, and Doublethink allow the government to restrict the free will of their citizens. The power that science and technology give the government reveals the fears that Orwell and Huxley have. A government that can control a society in every aspect is what these authors fear because these are the governments set up as the antagonists. During the time that Brave New World and 1984 were written events such as the Red Scare and the Second Red Scare respectively occurred. These events were both largely centered on a fear of communism in how it restricts the freedoms of the individual and how it creates a very powerful oppressive regime. Through their novels, 6
Casavant 14990002 7 Huxley and Orwell reveal these fears of communism and how the advancement of science and technology can lead to governments such as the tyrannical administrations in Big Brother and The World State. Communist and Governmental Satire in 1984 and Brave New World As mentioned previously, the fears of Orwell and Huxley are largely centered around the real life fears of the spread of Communism into the Western world and the fear that federal governments could take too much power away from the people. This fear was largely brought about by the events occurring when these novels were written. Huxley and Orwell both let the fears that were instigated by these events influence their writing, and they also seem to be trying to fight these problems using the satire in these novels. Aldous Huxley s novel, Brave New World, was written in 1932. One year prior, in 1931, the Herbert Hoover administration in the United States decided that an appropriate action to prevent the spread of communism in the United States was through legalizing the Bureau's surveillance of the revolutionary propaganda and activities of the Communists in the United States (Schmidt 329). This act would allow the government to secretly conduct surveillance on the private lives of citizens. Obviously this is something that might worry Huxley, as it means the government might plan on taking power over people rather than respecting privacy, which inspired his novel. Huxley himself revisits his novel years later and reiterated the fears he was trying to express, But even in those coun tries that have a tradition of democratic government, this freedom and even the desire for this freedom seem to be on the wane...which I had situated 7
Casavant 14990002 8 in the seventh century After Ford, has emerged from the safe, remote future and is now awaiting us (Huxley), which just goes to prove the point that Huxley was worried about governments restricting freedoms and the spread of communist government. Huxley uses The World State in his novel to express this danger. The World State, it seems, is meant to represent communist government through its command economy (where it controls every aspect of prices, production, and trade), and its motto of Community, Identity, Stability (Huxley 1). Community echoes a sense of everything being equal, which is what a communist society aims for, while Identity and Stability show how the government takes a major part of everyone s life with a One-for-all and all-for-one sort of feel to it. George Orwell s novel, 1984, was written in 1949 and in the same way was influenced by the cultural fears at the time. Just over 4 years prior to writing 1948, a global war had been raging. This war, World War II, was the result of a fascist government trying to spread their influence over all of Europe, and with future plans to spread this to the entire world. Obviously this had an impact on Orwell s development of the governments in his novel, however another event had its inception right around the publication of this novel. This event was the Cold War. The Cold War was a war of ideologies, capitalism vs communism, and in Western countries it was a fight between freedom and oppression. Due to this, I believe that Big Brother, in Orwell s 1984, was designed largely with two goals, to satirize Communist governments and to express the dangers Orwell believed Communism and Fascism created. The major event in 1984 that reveals Orwell s dismay towards totalitarianism is at the end where O Brien claims a complete and total victory over the main character, Winston Smith, and some authors see this autobiographical element in Orwell s anguished depiction...at the end of Nineteen 8
Casavant 14990002 9 Eighty-Four... as something that...suggests Orwell s pessimism about the ability of his most deeply held values to endure in what he regarded as the Age of Totalitarianism (Gleason and Goldsmith 6). What this means is that Orwell was so intensely worried about the spread of communism that he believes even those most prominent morals that people hold would fall to the evil of communism. Both Huxley and Orwell displayed the governments and ruling nations in their books as communist or at the very least totalitarian powers and both take place many years in the future. One key element that both authors include is that they portray the governments as the main antagonist in both novels. Winston Smith in 1984 is hiding from the government throughout the entire book, and at the end he ends up being defeated by O Brien a character which represents the Big Brother government. Bernard is exiled from The World State for his defiance against this government, and John who has come to the realization that he failed to defeat The World State ends up committing suicide as a final solution to getting away from the oppressive nation. Oppression in these novels is another key theme that both authors used to satirize the dangers of totalitarian and communist governments. Fears of Oppression In 1984 and Brave New World one theme that keeps recurring is that each of the governments have the ability to oppress. Not only do they have the ability to oppress civilians, but they can oppress citizens without any fear of rebellion or even a sense of ungratefulness from the population. As mentioned before the governments used science and technology to 9
Casavant 14990002 10 accomplish this feat, but what was not discussed is why the governments were given this power in the novels. In 1984 Big Brother was able to control people through the idea that people couldn t accomplish the psychological ability to Doublethink without conforming to Big Brother s lies. The novel describes Doublethink as meaning the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them (Orwell 214) and if, as Winston Smith was able to do, someone was able to accomplish Doublethink than the government wouldn t be able to control the mind of this person. Doublethink is a motif in 1984 which symbolizes the extreme power that Big Brother had over every citizen. Citizens could no longer have individual opinions on anything, it was all systematic which allowed Big Brother to force citizens to conform. In Western Society the freedoms of speech and press are prized and as an author Orwell must ve felt incredibly threatened if there was a threat to the freedom of press. One thing that isn t often included when listing freedoms that are inalienable to the individual is the freedom of thought. The freedom of thought, to most people, is obviously innate because no one believed that it was possible to peer into someone s mind. Orwell, however, was worried an oppressive government could develop a technology that allowed governments to control the mind and restrict thought. Orwell gave the government in his novel the ability to control thought because that s as bad as it could possibly get. Once a nation is able to control your mind it becomes nearly impossible to oppose said nation and thus creates and endlessly oppressive regime. Orwell s Big Brother not only has the power to restrict one s thought, but through this the government is also able to prevent every form of self-expression. Winston Smith represents the last chance that the people in 1984 have to end the oppression and once that light gets 10
Casavant 14990002 11 extinguished, there is no longer any hope for the citizens. Orwell s fears don t lie in the fact that he is afraid to lose economic power to a command economy, he is worried about oppression, and the inability for himself, as an author, to think and speak his own thoughts. Brave New World in a similar fashion, expresses the oppression the society is forced into by the government. But in this novel the oppression isn t quite coming from the government. Huxley has the people being oppressed by science and religion. Sure, the government uses this science and the religion to control population, but as opposed to 1984 the government isn t directly affecting the minds of civilians for their entire life. At the beginning of the novel the clones are all being trained psychologically through Hypnopaedia, in their sleep. But throughout the book the only constant thing that affects the minds of people is the drug, soma. But, the government doesn t force people to eat it, they encourage it, but eating the soma is entirely voluntary. Thus Huxley creates a setting in which the government is not controlling the population, they re oppressing themselves through science....every one belongs to every one else (Huxley 43) is a phrase repeated often in the novel. This phrase represents the power that science has over the individual. It forces them into an oppressive situation where everyone oppresses everybody else through the encouragement of each other to use this mind numbing drug. Once again the fear of a loss of the freedom of thought is exposed in soma. Soma is symbolic in how it limits the emotional state of the people using it. Emotion is a way in which humans are able to express themselves, and when you are able to restrict that it basically is forcing humans into that endless oppressive regime once more. The ability for the governments in these two novels to stop humans from thinking for themselves allow these governments to hold their power. The two authors suggest that this power 11
Casavant 14990002 12 could come into existence soon when they express their fears for the future in these novels. In both cases the government was given this power because it represents the major fear that the authors have about the spread of totalitarian and oppressive regimes. This fear is the restriction of the Western ideals of freedom of speech and freedom of press. They re both authors, so they express their thoughts and opinions in every one of their novels, writing is literally their livelihood and so a restriction of that is probably their major fear. Conclusion The purpose of writing 1984 and Brave New World was evidently to express the fears that George Orwell and Aldous Huxley had for the future of the Western world, or just the entire world in general. The reason they have developed these fears in due to circumstances related to when they were publishing their novels, George Orwell had just witnessed one of the largest global wars in human history where a fascist regime tried to spread its influence and was in the midst of the Cold War in which the ideologies of capitalism and communism were fighting for control of the world. 10 years before Aldous Huxley wrote his novel just 10 years after World War I had ended and economically deprived countries began falling to communism and was currently witnessing traditionally democratic nations such as the United States and Great Britain begin trying to amass power to control personal opinions on radicalism and communism. They express these fears in a form of satire through the use of many symbols, motifs, and plot points. Some of which include the use of technology and science which allowed these governments to control the individual s mind and oppress the entire society. Or the use of antagonizing the governments in both novels as the main characters struggle to overcome the regimes of Big 12
Casavant 14990002 13 Brother and The World State. Finally, the authors satirize totalitarianism in their use of motifs such as Doublethink and the idea that every one belongs to every one else. The points that these authors express are characteristics of common fears that much of the Western society had had and clearly the purpose of these novels was to fight against these fears and to protect the future by getting their fears noticed. 13
Casavant 14990002 14 Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Bros., 1946. Print. a. A novel written in 1932 that takes place 600 years later in a dystopian future. This future has a caste system, in which each caste has a greater or lesser value than another. A group of World Controllers rule the world (sort of a communist regime), and a drug called soma makes everyone never feel pain or unhappiness. Dean, Mike, and George Orwell. 1984. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2008. Print. b. A novel written in 1949 that takes place in a dystopian future. This future has 3 world superpowers that are in a constant state of war. The main character lives in a society where Big Brother is always watching every civilian, and if someone steps out of line in any fashion they are reprogrammed to love the country they live in again. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World Revisited. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. c. An essay about how the earth is transforming into Brave New World faster than Huxley had expected. This essay was written in 1958 and it describes the problems that the world currently has and how it relates back to the book Huxley had written just about 30 years earlier. Schmidt, Regin. Red Scare FBI and the Origins of Anticommunism in the United States. N.p.: Museum Tusculanum, 2004. 14
Casavant 14990002 15 d. This is a nonfiction book about the fears of communism in post World War I United States. It describes the reasons behind the fears, and the culture of the United States and of England during this time. Hutner, Gordon. American Literature, American Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. e. These two parts (Part II and Part III)of this nonfiction book describe how American literature was changed during the 1930s to the 1950s. This source can show how literature was effected by the Red Scare in the United States and in England. Gleason, Abbott, Jack Goldsmith, and Martha Craven Nussbaum. On Nineteen Eighty-four: Orwell and Our Future. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2005. f. This essay is about the reasons behind Orwell s 1984 and how people viewed it then compared to how they view the values and themes of it now. This source can provide valuable information on the themes of Orwell s 1984. Crick, Bernard. Essays on Politics and Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1989. g. These chapters (Chapter 11-13) from this source are about the literature during the 1930s to 1950s and how the reflected the western culture during this time. These chapters also include an in-depth look into George Orwell s 1984, and how it reflects the culture of England and the United States during this time. \ Varricchio, Mario. Power of Symbols/Images of Power in Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 15
Casavant 14990002 16 h. This essay or source provides useful information on the two novels and how they relate back to the culture of the United States and England. This essay also includes details on the symbolism behind some of the symbols in these two novels. Baugh, Albert C. A Literary History of England. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1948. i. This source (Book IV) provides information on the literature during the 1920s and 1930s in England. It will help to discern information about the change in literature due to anti communist movements in England, which will provide insight into Brave New World. Congdon, Brad. "Community, Identity, Stability": The Scientific Society and the Future of Religion in Aldous Huxley's: Brave New World. N.p.: n.p., n.d. j. This final source provides insight into the specifics of the society developed by Aldous Huxley in Brave New World and it shows how the society represented in the novel is comparable to a communist regime. 16