What Are The Similarities Between Brave New World And Lord Of The Flies

The fundamental method of rising to and conserving power has remained consistent throughout history. Famous examples, ranging from Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic/Empire to Napoleon Bonaparte of the First French Empire, all use common control and manipulation of their seats of power (i.e. countries/kingdoms) in order to preserve their strength over others. These tyrants’ manipulation of the masses serves to gain the trust of their populaces, whether that be through state-sponsored propaganda, false promises, scapegoating, or more. Aldous Huxley and William Golding, the authors of dystopian novels Brave New World and Lord of the Flies, have similar settings while having antagonists who utilize their control of their citizenry differently

In both Brave New World and Lord of the Flies, the novel’s antagonists create a seemingly pleasant setting that slowly turns on the characters throughout both novels (Topic Sentence 1). In Huxley’s Brave New World, the entire world is overseen by an authoritarian superstate known as the World State. The governing body of the World State consists of ten World Controllers, each governing their own territories with an iron fist. By the time of the novel, technology and science has advanced at an unprecedented rate, with new technologies such as de-aging allowing for fewer health problems and

However, while initially providing beneficial leaps and bounds as pleasantries to the public, the World State discreetly uses positive technology against its citizens by manipulating people’s reliance on technology for their happiness and satisfaction in life. Institutional manipulation of its citizens’ obsessions over technology can be clearly seen with the World State sponsored drug soma, which people take to escape the realities and hardships life presents them with. The momentary lapse of happiness soma provides is used as a vessel of supremacy over the individual by the World State in order to reduce any sense of individuality a person may feel, further protecting the superpower from any revolutionary ideals or attempts at reform from its populace. In addition to manipulating its citizens with technology, the World State also manipulates technology itself, creating the Hatcheries from positive, life-improving technology to control the birth of its masses. When controlling the reproduction of the populace, the World State can freely indoctrinate more people into its ideology, thus increasing its power without the consequence of opposition. Adolescence is the most innocent and manipulative stage in a human’s life, and when the World State can brainwash its citizenry at an early age, any sense of individualism and free thought is guaranteed to be nonexistent in later life.