Theme Of Authoritarianism In Brave New World

Since the beginning of modern history, oppression in the form of sexism, ableism, colonialism, and racism has been apparent in the interactions and treatment of people of all types due to the very fact that people, by nature, are competitive and willing to undermine others to achieve their goals. Likewise, the theme of oppression and authoritarianism is one which authors of all time periods have explored. In George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, this is no different. In their respective texts, Huxley and Orwell both reveal a world oppressed by an authoritarian government, but the form of authoritarianism differs between the two texts. In both novels, oppression is similar in its negative effects on society and the protagonist, …show more content…
The first way this is seen is the fact that freedom of expression, including the expression of unique thoughts, love, and more, are prohibited by the government, specifically ‘Big Brother’, in which all offenders are arrested by the ‘thought police’ and imprisoned in the ‘Ministry of Love’. The government’s vial opposition to expression is seen when O’Brien, a member of the inner party, expresses the principles followed by the party: “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, [and] no science” (Orwell 234). The fact that all members of society must endure this abolishment of basic human rights proves that society, and hence the world, is negatively affected by authoritarianism. The second way authoritarianism negatively affects society is due to the fact that it results in poverty, critical food and supply shortages, and terrible living conditions for the vast majority of residents living within Oceania. The truthfulness of this is seen in the fact that the ‘ministry of plenty’ falsifies reports regarding the production of necessary goods, as for instance the production of “62 million [boots] were nowhere near the truth than 57 million, or than 145 million. …show more content…
To start, the government forces everyone living in society to accept their role, be permanently happy, and to always act for the good of the community. To prove this, all individuals are born through ‘Bokanovsky 's Process’ (human cloning), in which these clones are conditioned (brainwashed) through hypnopaedia in order to “[make] people like their unescapable social destiny” (Huxley 12). Furthermore, Bokanovsky 's Process allows the government to control the ‘production’ of people, and control their function ‒ therefore preventing any freedom of expression and ideas (and hence having a negative effect on society). Also, since the oppression of the freedom to express one’s self is evident in 1984, it proves that both societies in 1984 and Brave New World are oppressed, therefore proving that both worlds are under a detrimental authoritarian government. Secondly, the government of the world state encourages classism, in which those belonging to the lower classes (Elipson, Gamma, and Delta) are discriminated by those belonging to those from the upper classes (Alpha and Beta). This forceful discrimination between the classes is seen in the government’s hypnopaedia aimed at adolescence: “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.” (Huxley 27). The