Similarities Between 1984 And Brave New World

Cleaned of All Creativity The hands of each individual are stained with the creative colors that come from within their minds, used to express each one’s own individuality. In the books 1984 and Brave New World these rights are stripped away, not leaving anyone with even their own thoughts to cling to. The characters in these books are engulfed in societies that encourage unity and alikeness amongst everyone. They do not want anyone to have unique qualities at the risk of rebellion against the government. Dystopian literature often uses the id, ego, and superego to display behavioral attributes of these characters. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984, individuality is suppressed by the means of a lack in personal relationships

According to Sigmund Freud, a renowned psychoanalyst from the early 20th century, “The critical, moral superego—or conscience—developed in early childhood, monitors and censors the ego, turning external values into internalized, self-imposed rules with which to inhibit the id” (“Sigmund Freud”). In Brave New World, the members of society utilize this process in which babies are being shock conditioned to dislike things such as books and flowers, so that when they grow older they will have no desire to read and learn history or go exploring in nature (Huxley 22). Superego can be seen in this scenario because at a young age the babies experienced severe trauma and developed a bad association with flowers and books. They will then grow up with the idea that they are not supposed to be involved with things, such as flowers and books, which they have been conditioned to dislike. This is done in order to keep the babies growing up to be what the government wants them to be, based on their childhood experiences. Due to this conditioning, individuality is further suppressed because the babies are being forced into a pre-decided field of work. Also in Brave New World babies grow up in factories and are divided into different class groups that are heavily conditioned in different ways. This is done in order to program babies to like the field of

In comparison to Brave New World, 1984 has a much more totalitarian government with many more rules to be followed. Winston Smith in 1984 has a run in with the Thought Police for committing something his society calls thoughtcrime. Thoughtcrime is the crime for thinking your own thoughts or having your own ideas (Orwell 19). The Thought Police monitor everything about each of the characters from their sleep behaviors, to the way they talk. Winston has a run in with the Thought Police on a couple different occasions, one of which is for writing in a diary and conspiring to join an underground force against Big Brother. This moment of weakness for Winston demonstrates his ego because he is satisfying his urge to rebel against the government in an efficient and appropriate way, as described by Marie Doorey in a reference about psychoanalysis (Doorey). Winston waited until he had acquired the diary to begin conspiring his thoughts against Big Brother. Winston mistakenly thought he was writing in secret, when in fact he was not. He was always being watched by Big Brother. Moreover, Winston attempts expressing his individuality by writing his thoughts and feelings in the diary. He hopes that someday someone will read the diary and attempt to defy the government like he wants to. In a similar fashion, the government of