JeremiahDias

ENG4U1
Mrs.Simon
FatherLeo.J.AustinC.S.S
01/12/2016

Manisneverfree
When citizens are born into a dictatorship, society cannot function due to
restrictionsplacedonthembythegovernment.Atotalitariansocietyconsistsofcitizens
beingdominatedbyinequality,belief,unhappiness andviolence.InGeorgeOrwells
novel 1984,hepresentshowtheindividualisbornfreeyettherearecertainlimitsone
cangothrough.Similarly,inAldousHuxleysnovel BraveNewWorld,heillustrates
howalotofindividualscanbemadeandhowthelivesofmanycanbepredetermined
throughscience.Bothauthorsusetechnologyintheirworkstoovercometheindividuals
mind.Thegovernmentlooksdownonrelationshipsinbothnovelsbecauseitexpresses
freewill.Inbothsocietys,thereisnoindividualityamongthecitizens.Lastly,totake
fullcontrol,thegovernmenttakesoverthemindsofeverycitizeninsociety.BothGeorge
Orwell and Aldous Huxley explore mans freedom and social conformity in their
writings;however,inHuxleysnovel,citizensarebiologicallybornintoasocietywhere
everythingispredeterminedforthem.
Technologyisthecentralfocusofthetotalitariansociety.InHuxleyandOrwells
novel,technologyismadetoseizethecitizensfromtheirfreedom.InGeorgeOrwells
1984,technologyisusedtospyonthecitizenscontinuously.Forinstance,whenWinston
andJuliavisitOBrien,theynoticethathehasacertainprivilege.Youcanturnitoff!
he said. Yes, said OBrien, we can it off. We have that privilege (Orwell 169).
Winstonisshockedtoseethatthetelescreencanbeturnedoffonlydependingonthe
castethatpeoplewereputin.CitizensofOceaniacannotescapethesurveillancebythe
government because they are always being watched; therefore, their freedom is lost.
However,inHuxleys novel, BraveNew World, thecitizensinstinctsarecontrolled
from birth by revolutionary technology to react to specific things. For example, the
directorisexplainingtothekidshowtheelectricshocksaffectpeoplelateron:They

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willgrowupwithwhatthephysiologistsusedtocallaninstinctivehatredofbooksand
flowers.Reflexesunalterablyconditioned.Theywillbesafefrombooksandbotanyall
theirlives(Huxley30).IntheWorldState,dependingonthecaste,peoplewereshocked
to dislike certain things. Unlike Orwells novel, the World State uses technology to
control the human instinct from the time of birth. Technology is very useful to the
governmentbecauseitcanstopcitizensfromrebellingagainstthegovernment.Thus,
Huxleysnovelpresentsasocietywheretheindividualisinchainsfrombirth.

Arelationshipisawayofexpressingonesfreewillinsociety.Inbothsocieties,
citizenscantrybutwillneversucceedinhavingarelationshipwithoneanother.Having
a relationship is crucial to the government in both works because it can lead to a
rebellion.In1984byGeorgeOrwell,citizensarenotallowedtohaverelationshipswith
othercomrades.WhenWinstonandJuliagotothepark,theyareonthelookoutfor
anythingthatwillrevealtheirouting:therewasnotelescreenorconcealedmicrophone
torecordtheirsmallactofrebellion(Orwell176).ThecitizensofOceaniaarenot
allowedtoexperiencefreewillorbeinarelationshipbecausethatcansteertowardsa
rebellion.WinstonandJuliaarebeingunorthodoxtowardsthePartybyexposingfree
will.Winstonisbornwiththefreedomtolive,however,hecannothavearelationship
withotherpeopleduetothegovernmentslimits.InBraveNewWorld,allthecitizensgo
by the hypnopaedic saying, everyone sleeps with everyone else (Huxley 46l). The
peopleinBraveNewWorldhavethefreedomtosleepwithwhomevertheywantexcept
theyareconditionedfrombirthtonothavefeelingsforotherpeople.Ifanyoneisina
longrelationship,theyarebeingnonconformisttowardsthegovernment.Thegovernment
knowsthatthepeoplewillnevercometoasenseofawarenessbecausethepeopleare
conditionedtoloveeveryone.Indoingso,thisensuresthattherewillnotbearebellion
againstthe government. The twonovels are similar however,inHuxleys novel, the
citizenswillnevercometoasenseofawarenesstorebelagainstthegovernmentbecause
oftheirconditioning. BothworksillustratethelossofmansfreedombutinHuxleys
novel,manandwomanisrestrainedfromfreewill.

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Asocietywhereindividualitydoesnotexistwillleadtoadystopicplacewhere
freedomissuppressedbyatotalitarianregime.Inbothworks,thegovernmentsgoalisto
eliminate individualism from every citizen. Anyone expressing individuality will be
removedfromsociety.In1984,thegovernmentistryingtoshapethecitizensmindinto
thinkingacertainway.SymeishavingaconversationwithWinstonandtheydiscussthe
languageinOceania:DontyouseethatthewholeaimofNewspeakistonarrowthe
rangeofthought?Intheend,weshallmakeThoughtcrimeliterallyimpossible,because
therewillbenowordsinwhichtoexpressit(Orwell52).InOceania,noonecanreveal
individualism.ThePartysmaingoalistoconformpeopleintocommunicatinginthe
Newspeaklanguagesonoonecangoagainstthegovernment.However,Symeshows
understandingwhenconversingwithWinston,whichmakeshimathreattoOceania.
Similarly,inBraveNewWorld,Johntriestohelpthepeopleseekrealityafterwitnessing
hismothersdeath.Free,Freethesavageshouted,andwithonehandcontinuesto
throwthesomaintotheareawhile,withtheother,hepunchedtheindistinguishablefaces
ofhisassailantsMenatlastHepickedupthecashboxandshowedthemitsblack
emptiness.Yourefree!(Huxley193).Johnisfinallyamanbecauseheendurespain.
Johnshowshisindividualitybypunchingthepeopleandwakingthemuptoreality.He
alsoattemptstohelpthepeoplestandinginlinewitnessthefalsethingsinsociety,such
assoma,thatmaketheirworldseembettereventhoughitisnotbyshowingthemthe
emptybox.Becausethepeoplekeeptakingsomawhenthingsarebad,thismakesit
betterforthegovernmentbecausenoonewillwakeuptorealityorgoagainsttheir
conditioning.Therefore,itisHuxleysnovelthattellsthereaderthatmanisbornfree;
however,inordertobeacceptedbythegovernment,theyshouldobeytherules.
The governments control of the mind is the most powerful when trying to
achieve a totalitarian regime. Both Huxley and Orwell present societies where the
governmentcontrolsthemindoftheindividualandintheend,thegovernmentalways
wins.In1984,afterthegovernmenthastakencontrolofthemind,theindividualhasto
conformtoalltheneedsandloveBigBrother.AfterthegovernmentcapturesWinston,
hismindtakenoverandcontrolledforhim:Butitwasalright,everythingwasalright,

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thestrugglewasfinished.Hehadwonthevictoryoverhimself.HelovedBigBrother
(Orwell298).Afterbeinginroom101,thegovernmenthastakenoverWinstonsmind
andhascontrolledhimtoloveBigBrother.Hecannotchoosetodowhateverhepleases
becauseheisnowconformedtoloveBigBrother.Furthermore, In BraveNewWorld,
JohnvisitsMustaphaMondandtellshimthathewantstobeapartofsociety.Hesaid
he wanted to go on with the experiment. But I'm damned," the Savage added, with
sudden fury, "I'm damned if I'll go on being experimented with. Not for all the
Controllersintheworld.lshallgoawaytomorrowtoo"(Huxley217).Johnisbeing
unorthodoxtowardsthesocietybytellingMondthathechoosestobefree.BecauseJohn
isnotfromtheMetropolis,heisnotconditionedtoconformtothePartysneedsandhe
doesnotknowthatfreedomisnotanoptionintheWorldState.InOrwellsnovel,being
freecomeswithacostandWinstonhastopayitbylovingBigBrother.However,in
BraveNewWorld,Johnchoosestobefreewithnoconsequencesyethelivesinaplace
where everything screams. Therefore, even if society is born free, the government
imprisonsthem.
Thegovernmentwillforeverimprisoncitizensinbothsocieties.Technologywill
continuetoruinthelivesofmany.Relationshipswillnolongerexist.Individualismwill
belostforevercausingthesocietytobebleakanddark.Thegovernmentscontrolofthe
mindwillcreatethecitizenstobemorefaithfultothegovernment. Forthesocietyto
continue,citizensofthelowercastesinbothworksmustcometoasenseofawareness
andrebelagainstthegovernment.

WorksCited
Huxley,Aldous.BraveNewWorld.NewYork:Harper&Bros.,1946.Print.
Orwell,George.1984.NewYork:NewAmericanLibrary,1949.Print.