In this project we were given a very open-ended assignment. After reading the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, we were allowed to write about any topic that interested us. We could choose any writing style from an essay to a short story. This project was linked between two classes. We created a visual for our essay in the class Digital Arts and that is the piece that you see below. This section of the project was also very open ended. We were allowed to make any sort of visual from an original poster to a website to a sculpture. I decided to make an original poster and essay. I wrote about how the government forces their unique and crafted definition of truth and beauty onto their society in order to maintain more control over their world and to establish synthetic happiness.
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.
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“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.
Click Here To View More!
After we completed this project, we of course had to exhibit our work to the community. This exhibition took place in our school so it was up to us to create the space to present our projects. We exhibited in our Humanities teacher, Mr. Fisher's room. On the left is a picture of the classroom before we began the two day process of redecorating our room. The picture on the right is a picture of how we refined the room to hold all of our projects for the exhibition. We split the room down the middle with white sheets and the picture on the right only shows one half of the room. |
Seminar Reflection
1. What was the most interesting idea discussed in your seminar yesterday? Explain it and develop in detail.
I thought that it was interesting when we were talking about if we would rather live in our reality or in the reality of Brave New World. Throughout the discussion we concluded that if we lived in the reality of Brave New World, we would have to be oblivious to the fact that we wouldn’t be working for a reward in order to remain sane. The characters in Brave New World have been conditioned to expect no reward besides happiness for anything that they do. In our reality, we work towards a goal so that we can go on a vacation or earn our dream salary. This is where I found a large difference between the two realities. We concluded that if we were introduced into a determined caste in the reality of Brave New World without memory of the reality of our world, we would find ourselves at ease and perfectly content with our lives.
2. Quote one quotation from the novel you wished you would have included in the discussion, and explain why you wish you could include it.
I wish that during our seminar, I would have connected Brave New World to the additional dystopia that I am reading, which is 1984 by George Orwell. The connection between these two books is astonishing. The one big quote that I wish I would have brought up distinctively shows the connection between the two books: “Children will be taken from their mothers at birth as one takes an egg from a hen… There will be no art, no literature, and no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need for science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness.” When I read this paragraph, it screamed Brave New World to me. This passage in 1984 clearly reflects the philosophy of Brave New World.
3. What were you most proud of about your seminar performance yesterday?
Yesterday, I was mostly proud of stopping and listening to what everyone had to say. Usually, I am the person who holds strong to my opinion and I never listen to what everyone else has to say. Despite this statement, yesterday I actually listened and tried to think about their opinions. This resulted in me talking less during the seminar because I was trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to say. We will see how this approach affects my grade.
I thought that it was interesting when we were talking about if we would rather live in our reality or in the reality of Brave New World. Throughout the discussion we concluded that if we lived in the reality of Brave New World, we would have to be oblivious to the fact that we wouldn’t be working for a reward in order to remain sane. The characters in Brave New World have been conditioned to expect no reward besides happiness for anything that they do. In our reality, we work towards a goal so that we can go on a vacation or earn our dream salary. This is where I found a large difference between the two realities. We concluded that if we were introduced into a determined caste in the reality of Brave New World without memory of the reality of our world, we would find ourselves at ease and perfectly content with our lives.
2. Quote one quotation from the novel you wished you would have included in the discussion, and explain why you wish you could include it.
I wish that during our seminar, I would have connected Brave New World to the additional dystopia that I am reading, which is 1984 by George Orwell. The connection between these two books is astonishing. The one big quote that I wish I would have brought up distinctively shows the connection between the two books: “Children will be taken from their mothers at birth as one takes an egg from a hen… There will be no art, no literature, and no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need for science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness.” When I read this paragraph, it screamed Brave New World to me. This passage in 1984 clearly reflects the philosophy of Brave New World.
3. What were you most proud of about your seminar performance yesterday?
Yesterday, I was mostly proud of stopping and listening to what everyone had to say. Usually, I am the person who holds strong to my opinion and I never listen to what everyone else has to say. Despite this statement, yesterday I actually listened and tried to think about their opinions. This resulted in me talking less during the seminar because I was trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to say. We will see how this approach affects my grade.
Seminar Pre-Write
1. What is the overall message of BNW?
I think that the overall message of the book is that if we continue to run our society the way that we are, our world will become a dystopia like we see in Brave New World. Huxley does a fascinating job of introducing the world as a utopia and guiding us through its transformation to the dystopian society that we see in the end. He is giving us an example of where to draw the line. The world that he created is the perfect example of what NOT to have in your society. One of the main dystopian factors is that everyone feeds off of each other. The relationships in the books are not steady and I feel like the characters have no one to turn to when they need help. They don’t have any family or serious partners. They have nowhere to turn when they want to talk to someone or just hang out. As much as I enjoyed the book, I do believe that this isn’t a society that we should try to morph to.
2. Is BNW a dystopia or a utopia? Why?
I think that Brave New World is a dystopia. My main reason for this opinion is that their world is only perfect if there is a stock of soma. As soon as you take the hallucinogen away from the people, the whole society will fall apart. When you have people in this vulnerable world, such as Bernard, who refuse to take the soma you begin to see holes in the perfection of your society. Also, I think that a utopia should be a world if anyone approaches it they believe that they can blend into society well. John experiences the entire dystopian experience when he comes to this society. He finds that because he wasn’t “born” into a caste, he had almost no friends. Also, because his mother was addicted to the soma, he never took ANY. This resulted in John committing suicide. Within the miniscule loopholes of the society, Brave New World is defined as a dystopia.
3. What does John mean by saying that nothing in civilization costs enough? (p. 239)
I think that when John says that nothing costs enough in civilization, he is saying that it is too easy to achieve what you wish in Brave New World. When people want something, it is usually within reach, or easily attainable. John believes that even in the heart of civilization, people should have to work for what they want. On the reservation, John had to work for everything that he wanted, which is why he was surprised by the fact that whatever you want is given to you. (Within the flick of a switch, push or a button)
4. How much of our society is focused on comfort and how much is focused on truth and beauty? Explain and give percentages.
In our society, comfort comes before beauty. One common stereotype of Americans is that we are tremendously lazy. Americans generally don’t find comfort in exercise or the outdoors; we find comfort on the cushions of our couches and the faces of our friends from Grey’s Anatomy. I think that in our society, we focus about 30% of our energy to truth and beauty and about 70% of our energy towards our comfort.
I think that the overall message of the book is that if we continue to run our society the way that we are, our world will become a dystopia like we see in Brave New World. Huxley does a fascinating job of introducing the world as a utopia and guiding us through its transformation to the dystopian society that we see in the end. He is giving us an example of where to draw the line. The world that he created is the perfect example of what NOT to have in your society. One of the main dystopian factors is that everyone feeds off of each other. The relationships in the books are not steady and I feel like the characters have no one to turn to when they need help. They don’t have any family or serious partners. They have nowhere to turn when they want to talk to someone or just hang out. As much as I enjoyed the book, I do believe that this isn’t a society that we should try to morph to.
2. Is BNW a dystopia or a utopia? Why?
I think that Brave New World is a dystopia. My main reason for this opinion is that their world is only perfect if there is a stock of soma. As soon as you take the hallucinogen away from the people, the whole society will fall apart. When you have people in this vulnerable world, such as Bernard, who refuse to take the soma you begin to see holes in the perfection of your society. Also, I think that a utopia should be a world if anyone approaches it they believe that they can blend into society well. John experiences the entire dystopian experience when he comes to this society. He finds that because he wasn’t “born” into a caste, he had almost no friends. Also, because his mother was addicted to the soma, he never took ANY. This resulted in John committing suicide. Within the miniscule loopholes of the society, Brave New World is defined as a dystopia.
3. What does John mean by saying that nothing in civilization costs enough? (p. 239)
I think that when John says that nothing costs enough in civilization, he is saying that it is too easy to achieve what you wish in Brave New World. When people want something, it is usually within reach, or easily attainable. John believes that even in the heart of civilization, people should have to work for what they want. On the reservation, John had to work for everything that he wanted, which is why he was surprised by the fact that whatever you want is given to you. (Within the flick of a switch, push or a button)
4. How much of our society is focused on comfort and how much is focused on truth and beauty? Explain and give percentages.
In our society, comfort comes before beauty. One common stereotype of Americans is that we are tremendously lazy. Americans generally don’t find comfort in exercise or the outdoors; we find comfort on the cushions of our couches and the faces of our friends from Grey’s Anatomy. I think that in our society, we focus about 30% of our energy to truth and beauty and about 70% of our energy towards our comfort.