1984 vs. Brave New World

This is something of a follow-up to my post on Brave New World. You may have been wondering: what happens if we look at George Orwell’s 1984 in the same way? If we evaluate them by the same criteria, is the result the same, or different?

We must remember that Oceania in 1894 is very different from the World State in Brave New World. The World State ensures order by painless social conditioning; in 1984, the government insures order by importuning each and every citizen with questions, inspection, and most important, fear. As Neil Postman put it:

“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 wanted to read one.”

Recall that happiness was one of our most important criteria in assessing BNW. This is the most important difference between the two—1984 relies on fear and hate to keep the system running—the World State does not. In BNW, each caste is happy where they are, and the society is maintained with positive feedback. In 1984, though the Inner Party is satisfied, the Outer Party lives in perpetual fear, and the Proles are impoverished, maudlin, and depressed.

Also, the economy in 1984, though balanced, does not provide enough food or goods for its citizens—many people do not have enough to eat, and there is constantly shortage of something. Because of this, 1984 ranks far lower than BNW overall.

However, 1984 does not fail the second piece of criteria we used when judging BNW. Both societies are relatively stable and are far from being on the verge of collapse. This, however, is outweighed by the aforementioned negative qualities—if anything, having longevity only make 1984 worse, since it means that the society will be forever trapped in this sadistic phase.

Many would also argue that 1984 is a dystopia because of its excessive use of brainwashing. However, brainwashing is not inherently evil in and of itself. In 1984, though, it is painful and barbaric, whereas in BNW the social conditioning is almost painless and is relatively subtle.

To conclude—because it encourages perpetual war, confusion, and bigotry, 1894’s Oceania is clearly a dystopia. Though it is just as stable as BNW, it is not ideal because it does not provide happiness and security for its citizens.