At some point in the past half-century the adjective “Orwellian” entered the American lexicon. In my experience, the mere utterance of this term has the tendency to overwhelm a conversation with a sense of debonair sophistication. Interestingly, this word has a similar effect on an audience regardless of how familiar they are with George Orwell’s works. The cause of this effect, however, is different for those who have read Orwell as compared to those who have not.
Prior to my study of 1984 I can recall hearing the term “Orwellian” used on several memorably suave occasions. On each of these occasions I was familiar with Orwell as little more than a name loosely associated with dystopian sci-fi. Still, the conversation was made to feel that …show more content…
I once heard the two authors compared in the following way: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who would want to read one” (Neil Postman). I share fears far more similar to Huxley’s, especially as I see his “ideal” dystopia unfolding in the world around me. Huxley warned of a future filled with endless pleasure, endless distraction, and as I see it this future has been developing for quite some time. The idea of mindless entertainment was redefined when electronics like the radio, record player, television, and projector entered the public lifestyle and since then has been on a trend towards absolute mindlessness. What began with zoning out watching silly Sunday morning cartoons has evolved into spending hours browsing websites like Buzzfeed and Youtube for 30-second bits of easy-to-digest entertainment. Interestingly, the electronics that Huxley condemns for ultimately distracting mankind have, for Orwell, a similar negative classification just for differing reasons. In Orwell’s future electronics serve as the insurance that “Big Brother” is always watching, and in some ways this future is becoming a reality as well. Recent scandals in America involving domestic surveillance, the NSA, and domestic drone flights have brought to light the idea that Big Brother is often watching. Even though this is an absolutely negative direction, what scares me even more is a future in which Big Brother has no need to watch; a future in which the citizenry is classified by passivity; a subservient, zombie culture. Unfortunately, one could make the argument that both of these possibilities are slowly but surely becoming a reality in contemporary American society. Pop culture and the media continue to encourage the endless pursuit of mindless pleasure,
Prior to my study of 1984 I can recall hearing the term “Orwellian” used on several memorably suave occasions. On each of these occasions I was familiar with Orwell as little more than a name loosely associated with dystopian sci-fi. Still, the conversation was made to feel that …show more content…
I once heard the two authors compared in the following way: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who would want to read one” (Neil Postman). I share fears far more similar to Huxley’s, especially as I see his “ideal” dystopia unfolding in the world around me. Huxley warned of a future filled with endless pleasure, endless distraction, and as I see it this future has been developing for quite some time. The idea of mindless entertainment was redefined when electronics like the radio, record player, television, and projector entered the public lifestyle and since then has been on a trend towards absolute mindlessness. What began with zoning out watching silly Sunday morning cartoons has evolved into spending hours browsing websites like Buzzfeed and Youtube for 30-second bits of easy-to-digest entertainment. Interestingly, the electronics that Huxley condemns for ultimately distracting mankind have, for Orwell, a similar negative classification just for differing reasons. In Orwell’s future electronics serve as the insurance that “Big Brother” is always watching, and in some ways this future is becoming a reality as well. Recent scandals in America involving domestic surveillance, the NSA, and domestic drone flights have brought to light the idea that Big Brother is often watching. Even though this is an absolutely negative direction, what scares me even more is a future in which Big Brother has no need to watch; a future in which the citizenry is classified by passivity; a subservient, zombie culture. Unfortunately, one could make the argument that both of these possibilities are slowly but surely becoming a reality in contemporary American society. Pop culture and the media continue to encourage the endless pursuit of mindless pleasure,