Loss of Individuality in Brave New World And 1984 Essay

Loss of Individuality

In this monochrome world I will search the depths of the earth and the limitless skies for you (Silver Stitch). Stitchs riveting words reveal the truth behind a world that has no emotions and is under complete control. A monochrome world lacks color, creativity, and individuality in humans which is a necessity for societies to thrive. George Orwells, 1984 and Aldous Huxleys, Brave New World describes a scary futuristic world under a totalitarianism government. These novelists written about dystopian literature in which have underlying cautionary tones, warning society that if we continue living in the view of each man for himself, this will be the consequence. Each dystopia that these authors describe features different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack of total absence of individual freedoms and expressions and constant states of warfare or violence. In both Brave New World and 1984, both authors illustrate the use of suppressing human potential and how that creates one to lose his or her own identity.

Dystopias often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and how humans individually and collectively cope with technology that has evolved too quickly. In Orwells, 1984, Big Brother is in total control of the state Oceania. In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens, that watch your every action. The people in Oceania are constantly reminded of the phrase "Big Brother is watching you"(Orwell 2), which holds the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. In Oceania, the people believe that they are in war with another state, Eastasia. Most often times, war brings about fear and when humans are in fear, they are most vulnerable for abuse and suppression. One of the ways the government suppressed individuals was by erasing all documentation of life or creation, And when memory failed and written records were falsified, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested (Orwell 93). Orwell emphasizes how ones understanding of the past affects ones attitude about the present. Winston had a frustrating conversation with an old man about life before the Revolution, and he realizes that the Party has deliberately set out to weaken peoples memories in order to render them unable to challenge what the Party claims about the present. If no one remembers life before the Revolution, then no one can say that the Party has failed mankind by forcing people to live in conditions of poverty, filth, ignorance, and hunger. Rather, the Party uses rewritten history books and falsified records to prove its good deeds. With government using tactics such as telescreens and destroying documentation, humans begin to lose their sense of individuality. However, at the same stance, the power still does lie within the individual in that Winston's initial defiance of the government demonstrates the individual's ability to think for himself. In the end, Winston's own fear and cowardice, not the governments power which allows Winston to be as tamed as brainwashed as he is at the end of the novel.

A dystopian society is also often characterized by widespread poverty and brutal political controls such as a large military-like police. In Huxleys Brave New World, the worlds motto states community, Identity, and Stability (Huxley 3), in contrast to 1984s, War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, and Freedom is Slavery motto (Orwell 4). The novel Brave New World shows that in order for a dystopian society to achieve a state of stability, a loss of individuality, and the undoing of mother nature must occur. Successfully engineering these conditions produces a world where people are finally living "happily ever after," but at a great cost. The main element of what makes a person unique are the emotions that inhabit their minds, which they can control to some degree, "Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery" (Huxley 150). However, in Brave New World, the government uses the drug soma to suppress humans from having negative emotions. Emotions are personal; intimate feelings of such overwhelming individual influence which to no amazement that the government in Brave New World discourages these intense human characteristics. Another way in which the government suppresses human potential leading to ones loss of individuality is through hypnopaedia or sleep teaching, which attempts to convey information when a person is sleeping through sound recordings; in this case the information is been given to newborns. The purpose of this method teaches children the morals of the World State. Huxley also shows that humans are suppressed when tampering with Mother Nature and the miracle of life ensures that early off in life there are few, if any emotional ties. The people of Brave New World are not born to a mother or father; instead a single fertilized egg is cloned repeatedly. With the suppression of human potential taken place in this novel, such as using sleep teaching methods or forcing people to take soma, this illustrates how suppression brings upon fear. When humans are in fear they often start aligning themselves with strong leaders. However, towards the end, the novel reveals that no matter how much freedom and creativeness you take away from individuals, there will always be one individual that does not follow. The individual, John the Savage, became raged with anger after seeing the suppression in the world; he decided to kill himself after seeing the horrors of the world.

George Orwells, 1984 and Aldous Huxleys, Brave New World, was significantly written after the horrors of World War II. Both these authors purposely created a world where humans are restrained to their highest potential, even sometimes lubricated as a simple object that lacks sincerity and emotions. The authors were both trying to convey how technology can play a significant role in the development in humans. In both worlds, the use of technology has become corrupted in the hands of people in high power positions. In 1984, the government used telescreens and erased documentation of early life; in contrast to Brave New World where government used methods such as hynopaedia and soma to control humans. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley both touched based upon how suppressing human beings causes one to lose his or her identity and individuality. A world without expression, freedom, and individuality simply leaves a world where no one can live in.

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