As I read through the beginning of 1984 I immediately found many similarities to Huxley's Brave New World. The first and most obvious to me was how both societies share the goal to remove all individuality from their citizens by conditioning them to be content with what they have been given. In the World State of Brave New World, this conditioning occurs as soon as they are born and in some cases even before. They are brainwashed into liking what society wants them to like, making them unable to form their own personality traits. In the world of 1984, posters of Big Brother are everywhere. This, along with the oversight of the Thought Police, condition people to "stay in their place" and to not act against authority in any way. The telescreen in Winston's room makes him act a certain way, but he is aware of this. No one born in the World State of Brave New World is ever aware of how society controls them, which is why I believe that Winston will eventually rebel and have success in doing so.
As the novel progresses, we are learning more and more about Lauren's neighborhood. Certain social dynamics are revealed that were previously hidden, which I find very interesting. There are outcasts of the neighborhood in the Dunn family, who Lauren claims are commonly known as crazy. We learn this because of the fire that Amy Dunn causes, highlighting her destructive presence. Elsewhere, Mrs. Sims' cousins have inherited her house after her suicide. They are suspicious that people robbed the house when it was empty and generally don't trust anyone despite Lauren's father's claims. This leads to Lauren disliking them, which I'm sure will lead to problems in the future. The moment anyone remotely malicious entered the neighborhood, tense conflicts arise.
Comments
Post a Comment