Word Count: 1242 Nicole Simes – English 11″Oppression that cannot be overcome does not give rise torevolt but to submission.” This concept can be clearly seen inboth Brave New World and 1984, even though the structureof their societies are different. The goal of their respectivegovernments is the same, total control of society. Thegovernments use similar tactics of manipulation, with thepurpose of keeping the majority in ignorance andsubmission. The governments in 1984 and Brave NewWorld weakened their citizens with ignorance and silencedthem with fear. In 1984 the proles were considered to becompletely without thought, and regarding the actions of theParty they in fact were. The ignorance of the proles allowedthem to continue on with their lives without the burden ofknowledge of the Party. Those in the Party who hadsomewhat of an idea of the motives and deception of thehigher members were silenced with the fear of death andtorture. This enabled the party to prevent a revolt from everoccurring. The people who were caught and subjected totorture were not killed or injured to confess their crimes,instead they were physically, intellectually and emotionallyreborn. They loved the Party and more importantly theyloved Big Brother. In Brave New World this triumph overthe individual and destruction of the sprit of man does nothappen in the same way. The citizens in Brave New Worldhave almost no need to be reborn to love the Party, or theState in their case. This is so because they truly had nohuman spirit in the beginning, for without true love andnurturing from parents and real interaction with others atyoung ages, and without even a real birth, those in BraveNew World do not need to be changed by the state becauseall that they have learned is that which the state as imbuedthem with. There is, however, precautionary measures offear, used in case the preconditioning of an individual wasreversed at some point in time. The citizens grow up with thefear of being shipped to a far off island for a life of intensemanual labor if they do not succumb to the standards of theirsociety. The control of the people was to assure the powerof the main leaders, such as Big Brother and the WorldController. For the societies of 1984 and Brave New Worldto exist, the manipulation of the citizens must occur. In 1984,the Party has control over everything, including the minds ofits people. Double think is a kind of manipulation of themind, used by the rulers of Oceania. This makes peopleaccept contradictions, and believe that the party is the onlyinstitution that distinguishes between right and wrong. Itdenies the citizens any possibility of questioning rapid andhypocritical changes in the policies of the Party. Doublethinkensures orthodoxy and loyalty in spite of anything that mayoccur. The Party also created newspeak as a tool topromote and enforce doublethink. Newspeak manipulates itscitizens into thinking a certain way. The reduction of wordsto a bare minimum, or newspeak, disables the citizens fromproducing true thoughts of their own that may stray from thepath of Big Brother. In Brave New World the citizens arenot only manipulated into conformed thoughts, but theirbehavioral patterns are preconditioned. They are sleeptaught the laws and rules of their society, so as to preventthem from ever producing thoughts that differed from thoseof the government. The children are thought to love thesocial status in which they are granted. This creates stabilityfor the society as the citizens have no motives to move upthe social scale. The inhabitants of Brave New World areindoctrinated, and brainwashed in their sleep. Another formof manipulation, yet much less subtle in both novels, was theformation and distribution of propaganda. In 1984propaganda was distributed through the use of telescreens ineach room and political pamphlets. All members of the Partywere required to attend the “Two Minutes Hate,” apropaganda film that repeated each day. Every year therewas “Hate Week,” which was an enormous propagandaevent. In Brave New World there were propaganda houseswhich had vast studies for emotional engineering. Thesedisplays of propaganda induced the citizens of Oceania andthe State to follow the standards of each ruler. In bothnovels the traditional family is abolished. Although thereasons for eliminating parenthood are similar, the methodsin which it is done are quite distinct. Wanting the citizens tofeel as if the state is their family is the main reason forabolishing the family in Brave New World. If the citizenshave family-like ties to the state then they can more easilysurrender their power to the control of the government. Thesame is true for 1984, although the ties are implementedbetween the citizens and Big Brother. Love for Big Brotheris the key idea in the Society of 1984, for that keeps the keypeople of the Party in control at all times. In 1984 though,family is not looked upon as obscene and unnatural.
Conception is still allowed between specific people. Thedifference to normality is the relationships between childrenand parents. It is one of illusion, for the children are taught toreport the thought crimes of their parents, and they do soeven more willing then others. In Brave New World thereare no parents at all, for every man, woman and child arelaboratory-grown clones, bottled and standardized from thehatchery. This is a significant difference between 1984 andBrave New World in the lives of their citizens. In 1984sexual conception is permitted and is regarded as a “duty tothe Party.” Whether it be low, middle or high class, or someform of the previous, almost all societies have classes inwhich each person exits. In 1984, the classes were that ofthe inner Party, the outer Party and the proles, the majoritybeing with the proles. The higher the class a person foundthemselves in, the more knowledge they would have ofOceania and how it worked. With that knowledge camemore responsibility. Those found in the proles were regardedas little more than beasts, but at the same time were allowedmore freedom than any others. They were not watched overtwenty four hours a day, or even at all. The proles wereallowed to have the freedom of thought because they werethought to be incapable of it. Anyone in the party must havedirect and orthodox thought patterns. All educated citizenswere constantly monitored on telescreens, in order toprevent “ungood” words or actions. In Brave New Worldthe classes were just as distinct. The Alphas, Betas,Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons were the different levels ofintelligence, the were also the social order of castes. Eachcaste had its own duties that were to be fulfilled. No one inany class wished to change over, a result of hypnopeadia.
The classes in 1984 kept most knowledge in the hands ofthe inner Party and assured that all jobs, that could result indestruction of the party, were confined to elite members.
The castes in Brave New World created relative stability forthe citizens and allowed the state to stay in control.
Submission and control of a society can be easily achievedthrough the manipulation of its inhabitants. By using a varietyof manipulation tactics, the governments in both 1984 andBrave New World were able to obtain and keep control.
Both ruling powers played on the ignorance of its peoplewhile making sure those with any amount of informationwere silenced with fear. Both the Party and the State usedmany means of propaganda to instill lies into the minds oftheir public. The governments of 1984 and Brave NewWorld also changed the family unit, as it was once known,so that the traditional love for the family would be replacedwith new love for the Party, Big Brother, or the State. Thiswas the ultimate goal. The loss of the peoples control as wellas the peoples blind devotion for their rulers.
