A Colossal Mask
“It is like the battle between certain ruminant animals whose horns are set at such an angle that they are incapable of hurting one another.” – 1984 by George Orwell
Governments require control to establish a sense of stability in their utopian societies. In most examples of utopias, totalitarianism (total government control) is a very essential element to create and maintain a utopian society. In “1984” by George Orwell and “Brave New World” (BNW) by Aldous Huxley, synthetic happiness established by the government controls the entire population. In order to establish and control this synthetic happiness, the governments in 1984 and BNW force an opinionated, crafted view of truth and beauty on their society.
Truth is something that pierces your conscious. It is a fact or figure that your brain defines as correct and can feel pleasant or intolerable. Truth may be forced upon you by the government, your community, or from yourself. When totalitarianism exists in a society, the government is likely to introduce their concept of truth into the society.
In the context of BNW, truth is a subconscious concept enforced upon the society by the government. The children are taught all of their social norms through hypnopædia, or sleep teaching. Through hypnopædia, the children are taught the truth of their society: “‘ Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind… But all these suggestions are our suggestions!’” The power of the government in this world has escalated to a point that anything whispered during naptime may become the truth in a child’s mind.
To efficiently control the adults’ minds in BNW, the government created an antidepressant drug called soma. Soma is a pharmaceutical drug that relaxes the mind and causes deep sleep, often called a “holiday” or a “soma coma”. The government distributes soma to moderate the minds of stressed adults. To avoid rebellion, the government provides soma to mask the people from their genuine emotions. This government-initiated drug was created to keep the people of the world happy with the government and hidden from the actual truth. Soma is an immense factor in BNW as it is frequently referenced and is used as a weapon of control.
How do you get someone to obey you in our society? Violence or negative forces are constantly used to make people follow orders. When you break curfew, your parents may ground you in order to establish that your behavior is not acceptable. In BNW, the government provides soma, a positive reinforcement, to persuade people to abide by their rules, but in 1984, if the thought of rebellion even crosses your mind, you are hunted down, arrested, and tortured to the death.
The people in 1984 look up to the government for advice and guidance, therefore give credence to everything the government implies: “He could not follow the figures, but he was aware that they were in some way a cause for satisfaction.” This quote is referring to a man who is watching a report on the improved living standards in Oceania (the setting of 1984). During the program, the narrator announces that rations of bootlaces, chocolate, and food have been raised by a generous amount. After a genuine thought, Winston, the main protagonist of 1984, comes to a conclusion that the rations have in fact decreased by a large portion. This is Winston’s primary point of realization. He begins to realize that the Party, the government of 1984, has placed a substantial mask upon the authentic world.
In 1984, the government contains the distinctive power to alter history. If the government makes an incorrect prediction, a team of workers is assembled to find every source, from books to newspapers, that quotes the inaccurate prediction. After the mistakes are pinpointed, they are revised to make the governments prediction correct: “The reporting of Big Brother’s Order for the Day in the Times of December 3rd 1983 is extremely unsatisfactory and makes references to nonexistent persons. Rewrite it in full and submit your draft to higher authority before filing.” In this world, whatever the government says should be history, will be history.
Though these two books take place in two contrasting worlds, the governments both established the same principle in their worlds; the governments have trained their people to credit any information the government directly feeds them. In that sense, the two worlds, though varying, survive on the same concept of totalitarianism: “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.” When totalitarianism exists, the government maintains power over all values of the society, including truth.
Truth and beauty are partners in crime, and both truth and beauty exist in the dystopian societies of 1984 and BNW. Beauty is something that pierces the mind or heart as especially unique or appealing. Beauty exists in shape, form, or color, and is something that you find aesthetically pleasing or pleasing to the mind.
Beauty in the world of 1984 is somewhat nonexistent. Unlike BNW, monogamy is enforced in 1984. You are assigned one partner who you should stay with for your entire life, and if you are unfaithful to one another, you are captured by the thought police, arrested, and tortured to death. The people in 1984 can ultimately only see beauty in their one partner and their family. Beauty can’t be discovered in appearance, it has to be discovered in love for one another.
Contrary to 1984, in BNW, the entire civilization thinks of beauty as only appearance. The people of BNW are very concerned about what the other people of their caste think of them. The population is broken up into five groups: Alpha, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, and Gamma. Alphas are the highest in ranking, and the Gammas are the lowest: “‘Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able…’” During this section of BNW, the children are taking part in hypnopædia, or sleep-teaching. While the children sleep, a tape is played, effortlessly socializing them. The lessons vary from caste to caste, but throughout one caste, all of the children are taught the exact same lessons.
Despite countless similarities between these two societies, one major difference that I found between the two dystopian novels is that in BNW, the citizens are bathed in luxury, but in 1984, the world is living in poverty and has the necessity of rations: “The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats… …It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way.” The Party has declared luxury in 1984 nonexistent, causing beauty in their world to be discovered in other ways such as through family or friends.
In BNW, the people of the world are spoiled with fabulous treats: “Liquid air, television, vibro-vacuum massage, radio, boiling caffeine solution, hot contraceptives, and eight different kinds of scent were laid on in ever bedroom. The synthetic music plant was working as they entered the hall and left nothing to be desired. A notice in the lift announced that there were sixty Escalator-Squash Racket Courts…” In this context, it is a straightforward concept that beauty is within the push of a button or a turn of a doorknob. This luxury influences the society to find beauty in simple appearances. A trait as simple as wearing perfume can be thought of as beautiful.
Totalitarianism is a vital trait to creating a utopian society. When the government finds control in truth and beauty, the world is literally theirs. The government of 1984 manipulates its power to deprive the world of knowledge as well as luxury, launching their people into instant depression. The government of BNW bathes their society with luxuries and drugs, creating a deadly synthetic happiness that masks the world. Truth and beauty is the chosen tool of control by the governments and a governments’ view on truth and beauty rudimentarily masks the worlds.
“It is like the battle between certain ruminant animals whose horns are set at such an angle that they are incapable of hurting one another.” – 1984 by George Orwell
Governments require control to establish a sense of stability in their utopian societies. In most examples of utopias, totalitarianism (total government control) is a very essential element to create and maintain a utopian society. In “1984” by George Orwell and “Brave New World” (BNW) by Aldous Huxley, synthetic happiness established by the government controls the entire population. In order to establish and control this synthetic happiness, the governments in 1984 and BNW force an opinionated, crafted view of truth and beauty on their society.
Truth is something that pierces your conscious. It is a fact or figure that your brain defines as correct and can feel pleasant or intolerable. Truth may be forced upon you by the government, your community, or from yourself. When totalitarianism exists in a society, the government is likely to introduce their concept of truth into the society.
In the context of BNW, truth is a subconscious concept enforced upon the society by the government. The children are taught all of their social norms through hypnopædia, or sleep teaching. Through hypnopædia, the children are taught the truth of their society: “‘ Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind… But all these suggestions are our suggestions!’” The power of the government in this world has escalated to a point that anything whispered during naptime may become the truth in a child’s mind.
To efficiently control the adults’ minds in BNW, the government created an antidepressant drug called soma. Soma is a pharmaceutical drug that relaxes the mind and causes deep sleep, often called a “holiday” or a “soma coma”. The government distributes soma to moderate the minds of stressed adults. To avoid rebellion, the government provides soma to mask the people from their genuine emotions. This government-initiated drug was created to keep the people of the world happy with the government and hidden from the actual truth. Soma is an immense factor in BNW as it is frequently referenced and is used as a weapon of control.
How do you get someone to obey you in our society? Violence or negative forces are constantly used to make people follow orders. When you break curfew, your parents may ground you in order to establish that your behavior is not acceptable. In BNW, the government provides soma, a positive reinforcement, to persuade people to abide by their rules, but in 1984, if the thought of rebellion even crosses your mind, you are hunted down, arrested, and tortured to the death.
The people in 1984 look up to the government for advice and guidance, therefore give credence to everything the government implies: “He could not follow the figures, but he was aware that they were in some way a cause for satisfaction.” This quote is referring to a man who is watching a report on the improved living standards in Oceania (the setting of 1984). During the program, the narrator announces that rations of bootlaces, chocolate, and food have been raised by a generous amount. After a genuine thought, Winston, the main protagonist of 1984, comes to a conclusion that the rations have in fact decreased by a large portion. This is Winston’s primary point of realization. He begins to realize that the Party, the government of 1984, has placed a substantial mask upon the authentic world.
In 1984, the government contains the distinctive power to alter history. If the government makes an incorrect prediction, a team of workers is assembled to find every source, from books to newspapers, that quotes the inaccurate prediction. After the mistakes are pinpointed, they are revised to make the governments prediction correct: “The reporting of Big Brother’s Order for the Day in the Times of December 3rd 1983 is extremely unsatisfactory and makes references to nonexistent persons. Rewrite it in full and submit your draft to higher authority before filing.” In this world, whatever the government says should be history, will be history.
Though these two books take place in two contrasting worlds, the governments both established the same principle in their worlds; the governments have trained their people to credit any information the government directly feeds them. In that sense, the two worlds, though varying, survive on the same concept of totalitarianism: “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.” When totalitarianism exists, the government maintains power over all values of the society, including truth.
Truth and beauty are partners in crime, and both truth and beauty exist in the dystopian societies of 1984 and BNW. Beauty is something that pierces the mind or heart as especially unique or appealing. Beauty exists in shape, form, or color, and is something that you find aesthetically pleasing or pleasing to the mind.
Beauty in the world of 1984 is somewhat nonexistent. Unlike BNW, monogamy is enforced in 1984. You are assigned one partner who you should stay with for your entire life, and if you are unfaithful to one another, you are captured by the thought police, arrested, and tortured to death. The people in 1984 can ultimately only see beauty in their one partner and their family. Beauty can’t be discovered in appearance, it has to be discovered in love for one another.
Contrary to 1984, in BNW, the entire civilization thinks of beauty as only appearance. The people of BNW are very concerned about what the other people of their caste think of them. The population is broken up into five groups: Alpha, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, and Gamma. Alphas are the highest in ranking, and the Gammas are the lowest: “‘Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able…’” During this section of BNW, the children are taking part in hypnopædia, or sleep-teaching. While the children sleep, a tape is played, effortlessly socializing them. The lessons vary from caste to caste, but throughout one caste, all of the children are taught the exact same lessons.
Despite countless similarities between these two societies, one major difference that I found between the two dystopian novels is that in BNW, the citizens are bathed in luxury, but in 1984, the world is living in poverty and has the necessity of rations: “The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats… …It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way.” The Party has declared luxury in 1984 nonexistent, causing beauty in their world to be discovered in other ways such as through family or friends.
In BNW, the people of the world are spoiled with fabulous treats: “Liquid air, television, vibro-vacuum massage, radio, boiling caffeine solution, hot contraceptives, and eight different kinds of scent were laid on in ever bedroom. The synthetic music plant was working as they entered the hall and left nothing to be desired. A notice in the lift announced that there were sixty Escalator-Squash Racket Courts…” In this context, it is a straightforward concept that beauty is within the push of a button or a turn of a doorknob. This luxury influences the society to find beauty in simple appearances. A trait as simple as wearing perfume can be thought of as beautiful.
Totalitarianism is a vital trait to creating a utopian society. When the government finds control in truth and beauty, the world is literally theirs. The government of 1984 manipulates its power to deprive the world of knowledge as well as luxury, launching their people into instant depression. The government of BNW bathes their society with luxuries and drugs, creating a deadly synthetic happiness that masks the world. Truth and beauty is the chosen tool of control by the governments and a governments’ view on truth and beauty rudimentarily masks the worlds.