The Essentiality of Freedom
There are many types of freedom in modern societies that are taken for granted. A number of famous authors have written novels based on the subject of freedom. In Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 the authors share many of the same criticisms about the societies of their time. It seems both authors wanted to express their individual interpretations of society at the time. Although both novels end in tragedy, each shows its readers different interpretations of a totalitarian society. These novels show a much more extreme type of controlling society. In the past and even to date, totalitarian societies still exist and the ideas that are present in the novels are believable. A Brave New World is set about six hundred years in the future. Everyone lives in a oppressive society that is free from war, hatred, poverty, disease, and pain. Published in 1948 and set thirty-six years in the future, 1984 is George Orwell's pessimistic view of the future. It has been referred to as "the most powerful science fiction novel of the twentieth century" (E-notes) due to its frightening realism. It is apparent after reading the novels, that they have many elements in common. One theme that seems
So it is easy to see that without these physical freedoms the main characters in both novels had no reason to live. In A Brave New World people were free to travel but first must gain permission from "the controller" (Huxley, 81). In A Brave New World, the main character John Savage, although allowed to fornicate was not allowed to express his feelings through marriage and it was looked down upon in the Utopian society to have children. Winston was confined to the state of Oceania while John was confined to the savage reserve and eventually the Utopian society. By taking away the characters mental freedom, the governing powers were able to mentally destroy the main characters, which in turn lead to their eventual deaths. Unlike the Utopian society in A Brave New World, fornication in 1984 was done only to procreate. He realized it was one without any freedom (Huxley, 201). In an attempt to convince a group of Deltas that "soma" was destroying them he was met with blank faces of incomprehension (Huxley, 167). This lack of happiness played a large role in the tragic outcomes of the main characters. Through the use of drugs like "soma" in A Brave New World (Huxley, 173) and "telescreens" (Orwell, 6) in 1984 the governing powers were able to drastically limit the amount of mental freedom the characters possessed. Soon after, John realized that these people were not able to think for themselves and his attempts to change the society were pointless. "Everyone belongs to everyone else" (Huxley, 47) was a idea that was drilled into the characters minds and living alone promotes individualism, something that is forbidden in the Utopian society. The societies described in the novels did not allow physical freedom to the main characters, which contributed to their deaths. Similarly in 1984 "Big Brother" did not want its inhabitants to leave the state. It is evident in both novels that the two main leads, John Savage from A Brave New World and Winston Smith from 1984 were deprived of their rights.
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