As examples of dystopian fiction, metropolis and 1984 share some common concerns and conventions. In a comparative essay, analyse and evaluate each text as an artistic response to the political, social and cultural climates of their respective contexts: Texts are inherently responses which represents composers concerns of their political, social and cultural climates. Both Fritz Lang’s German Expressionist Film Metropolis (1927) and George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948) portray the subjugation of the individual and the divide between social classes. Lang’s focus is on the consequences to society due to loss of values such as compassion in Weimar Germany following WWI.
Here are my two cents on the articles. By no means were these articles what I had envisioned. I was searching for some sort of validation that would tell me I was on the right track with my analysis of what I had read thus far. These articles don’t supply you with any reassurance to your critical reading abilities but they do offer insight to George Orwell’s past and how book written in 1949 has become relevant in today’s society. The two articles have very different perspective.
Aldous Huxley’s text, Brave New World, will leave you questioning your perspective on life and it’s choices. Within the novel, curious readers can see that government control over all in an attempt to create a utopia, can sometimes have a counter effect, creating a dystopia. Wielding it’s tool of conformity, The World State has forced its ideology into the minds of its people at a young age, in hopes of avoiding rebellion. In many ways this is how our society functions in the real world. The genre of Huxley's text may be fiction, but the society fabricated in Brave New World may not be so fictional after all.
In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury paints a picture of a world that has given in to technology and its power. Neil Postman’s social criticism, Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, reinforces Huxley’s prophecy that people would come to love their oppression and lose their ability to think. Society in 451 goes along with Postman’s supporting ideas and examples of Huxley’s predicted future. Huxleyan concepts are all throughout Fahrenheit 451, as 451 depicts an oppressed brainwashed society where the authorities would use whatever measures necessary to put down any attempts at rebellion. In Postman’s social critique, The Age of Show Business, Postman states, “I am saying something far
During the early 20th century, the world was caught in a great political and social upheaval with the establishment of communism and fascism in Europe. This new ideology, coupled with the start of the Second World War, sent the world in distress. George Orwell an Aldous Huxley both began to create different worlds in their respective books, 1984 and Brave New World, which embodied their vision of what a future society might look like after the conclusion of the war. Key to both of these new societies is the development of advanced technologies that can be used to control the population, brainwash the children, demonstrate power, and manipulate the past. Central to both societies is the development of technology to control the population.
Art can be used as a medium to remind the society about future calamities if they let something senseless to take place in their society. Orwell used his novel, 1984, to give a warning for the future that what society will become if they allow totalitarianism to accomplish supremacy. Orwell succeeds in delivering an aesthetic work by using symbols such as glass, as mentioned by Lyons, and also by breaking the elements of satire seen through the language, which includes ‘newspeak’. 'George Orwell 's Opaque Glass in 1984 ' leads readers to believe that the narrative techniques employed by the author in the work 1984, take away from the aestheticism of it. In the latter part of Orwell 's career, it is believed that his works show moments of haste and slovenliness and it is not so finely written, because he was much more interested in what he had to say, than how to
Many authors write dystopian literature to voice their fears about the potential dangers of the ideals present in their society. Both Aldous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" and George Orwell's novel "1984" depict dystopian societies. Despite having different plots, both novels demonstrate the importance of conformity and the lack of personal attachments in maintaining order within a dystopian society. In “Brave New World," the element of individuality versus conformity is portrayed throughout the novel. Citizens of the World State are expected to follow many unspoken rules, or else they will be shunned.
In the books Ninety Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Leonard Huxley, the authors created their stories based on a utopian society and showed how it devolved into a dystopian society. In a utopian society, everything is perfect. Orwell showed this utopian society in his book, as how people believed it, by creating a society called Oceania. This society was a world of order and a world without big problems because everything was in control and everyone was under the watch of Big Brother. Majority of the people seemed to have no mind of their own as they only follow what they are supposed to do knowing that they will be punished if they don’t.
In many dystopian societies clear similarities derive from Modern day American Society, but these similarities are changed due to different government styles, and views on the world. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury books are “dangerous”, and in 2081, based on Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron equality is taken to another level, and in Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, technology is advanced and used by all citizens. When comparing these societies to the Modern American Society, the views are radical and far apart from what American citizens are accustomed to. Books are what draw apart people in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451.
Dystopian novels are perfect in showing society’s decline in humanity, by showing the ways a “perfect” life could be destructive to our human nature. Fahrenheit 451 shows how monstrous society can be if we try to be perfect at the cost of our humanity. And we are heading down that path. Though, there are many similarities and differences between today's society and Fahrenheit 451’s, there are some that we should really take into consideration.
The society of this novel was a dystopia and it is how George Orwell viewed the world. In the novel 1984, Orwell portrays the acts of betrayal and
Many times throughout history people have ceased to act rationally and have fallen into savagery. William Golding and Aldous Huxley’s contemporary dystopian novels reflect a similar theme. For instance Lord of the Flies and Brave New World reveal how dystopian literature aims to dehumanize the individual; thereby, alerting people to the need for a stable society. Golding illuminates how a total lack of society results in the downfall of the individuals; whereas, Huxley reveals how a totalitarian society will prevent the prosperity of a societal group. Together they show the balance governments must adhere to in order to establish a stable society.
In the novels, Brave New World and 1984, the authors take the positive social aspects and values of community, identity, and stability and corrupt them into a dystopian society. While both books may come as a shock to the system, seeing as they both focus on aspects we are to scared to admit could possibly happen and seem wildly different at points, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Aldous Huxley’s novel is set in a world where the society is kept very carefully balanced: “The World State’s motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.” (Huxley 1). For example, the means of reproduction is just as closely monitored and controlled as production is.
In Aldous Huxley’s famous novel, Brave New World, he explores a world that progress has warped into something twisted and dark, which chillingly shares many of the characteristics of modern life in the United States; his novel takes those advances to the
