Comparing Orwell And Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

A Huxleyan America

The values of current Western culture have been originated from freethought, integration of human rights and the demand for equality. As for American values alone, they are reflected in everything from baseball games and hot dogs to the “melting pot” of people riding in a New York City subway car. But aside from sports outings and means of transportation, the culture of America is often reflected in literature such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Both texts display a kind of society that can be easily compared to America’s, whether it be Orwell’s viewpoint or Huxley’s. However, the question that is brought to the table is essentially: whose book reflects American society more accurately? American

This theme is comparable to the abuse of drugs in America and the constant need for an escape from responsibilities. This similarity, among many others, creates an eerie parallel between the modern world and the Huxleyan world. It is harsh to blame someone for having a celebratory drink at a wedding, having a glass of wine after a long day of work, or using substances for medical purposes. However, “the person embracing life uses the substance minimally, and as a supplement to an already enjoyable life. The person escaping life uses substances more regularly, more heavily, and is trying to escape what he finds to be a mundane or painful existence (Berry).” In the US, substances such as alcohol, marijuana, and over-the-counter drugs are abused, while in Brave New World, Huxley writes about an abused drug known as “soma”. Soma is used by almost all the characters in book in order to feel “more alive”, sexually aroused, happy, or a combination of all three. When anything requiring intense thought or stress comes into play in the character’s lives, soma is always the answer. For example, one character asks another: "why you don't take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you'd be jolly. So jolly" (Huxley 92). Postman uses this kind of attitude the characters have in the book when stringing together the resemblances between Huxleyan society and American society saying, “in 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure” (Postman xx). Being controlled by pleasure, which in this case is the pleasure a drug can provide, can be seen in both the lives of Americans and the characters of Brave New World, verifying Postman’s claim that America is more comparable to Huxleyan society than to Orwellian