Alpha+Wiki+-+Part+1


 * Methods of control**
 * Social structure
 * Class structure
 * **1984:** The populace is divided into proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. This serves to keep the society stagnant and make revolution impossible.
 * **BNW:** The populace is split into 5 castes (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon), and people are genetically modified and conditioned from birth to fit their assigned roles. Despite this draconian arrangement, the people of the World State are perfectly happy with this setup because they have been conditioned to enjoy their place in society.
 * **Example 1:** Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning: “The secret of happiness and virtue [is] liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny” (Huxley 16). Here the DHC summarizes the World State’s methods of control in a single sentence: people will do anything if you condition them to enjoy it. This is a recurring theme in //Brave New World// : the government has the ability to mold people into whatever shape it wishes by making them enjoy it.
 * **Example 2:** Lenina Crowne (Beta): “I suppose Epsilons don’t really mind being Epsilons...How can they? They don’t know what it’s like being anything else” (Huxley 74). This reinforces the point made in the previous example: because conditioning has made happiness relative rather and no longer tied to social status, the World State can justifiably mold people into whatever any shape they see fit. (This is discussed in more detail below in the second section, “Larger philosophical issues.”)
 * Economics and economic philosophy
 * **1984:** Though Oceania’s economic system is not explored in detail, it is clearly a collectivist command economy in which the Party controls the means of production and rations goods as it sees fit. This gives more power to the Party and allows them to keep people in a state of desperation. (This is discussed more fully below in the second section, “Larger philosophical issues.”)
 * **Example:** Pages 190-192, which are excerpts from “the book” explain that
 * **BNW:** Though World State’s economy is collectivist like Oceania’s, it uses technological advancements to provide it citizens will all of their material needs. The society is decidedly consumerist, and overindulgence is strongly encouraged by the World State. The purpose of this consumerist system is to increase the government’s control because it satisfies the citizens of the World State and thus makes them unwilling to revolt or even question their government.
 * **Example 1:** “In the nurseries, the Elementary Class Consciousness lesson was over, the voices were adapting future demand to future industrial supply. ‘I do love flying,’ they whispered, ‘I do love flying, I do love having new clothes, I do love…’” (Huxley 48). This example is particularly noteworthy because it shows the extent to which commercialism dominates the World State—it is so pervasive that children are brainwashed to increase industrial demand.
 * **Example 2:** World Controller Mustapha Mond: “The ethics and philosophy of under-consumption…so essential when there was under-production; but in an age of machines and the fixation of nitrogen—positively a crime against society” (Huxley 52). By this Mond means that increasing consumption is essential to society because it ensure that the consumerist society is stable; therefore, the government must do all it can to promote the consumerist ideal of decadence.
 * Family structure
 * **1984:** The Party brutally turns the family into another form of surveillance by making children into amateur spies (for example, see page 133). Also, intimacy between spouses is discouraged, and love between two individuals is considered a crime. Thus, the concept of the family is manipulated to enforce orthodoxy.
 * **BNW:** The concept of the family is abolished and made taboo (even the idea of live birth is banned), and many people are not even aware that it ever existed. Monogamy and jealousy are also considered obscene and backwards. (These topics are explored in more detail in the section on sexuality below.) Live births have been replaced by an artificial biological process in which fetuses are grown in a laboratory. Furthermore, the World State uses a process similar to cloning, called the “Bokanovsky Process” to create dozens of identical twins, called “Bokanovsky Groups.”
 * **Example:** World Controller Mustapha Mond: “I assure you, [Bokanovsky Groups are] the foundation on which everything else is built. They’re the gyroscope that stabilizes the rocket plane of state on its unswerving course” (Huxley 222). Though this sounds innocuous, it is actually quite frightening—Mond is saying that society is better off if people are identical to each other in every way.
 * Culture and society
 * Recreation
 * **1984:** Recreation is an unimportant topic in //1984//, as most Outer Party members do not have time for such activities. Winston does describe a few state-run programs, which are simple volunteer programs through which people can assist the Party. The only other forms of entertainment provided to Outer Party members are the telescreen (which is simply a method to bombard people with the Party’s propaganda) and Victory Gin, which temporarily dulls the pain of living in the dystopian society. The telescreen, however, is more notable as a surveillance device, especially because other methods, including the Two Minutes Hate, are more effective in delivering the Party’s propaganda.
 * **BNW:**  Unlike in Oceania, recreation is an extremely important method of control in the World State. As the topics listed already indicate, life in the World State is a euphoric blur of sensations. As a result, people do not apply themselves or take time to examine their society, since they are forever distracted by simple amusements. The most notable is the hallucinogenic drug //soma//, which allows people to escape reality whenever it is unpleasant. Other examples include futuristic games, sports, films (called “feelies” and enhanced with special effects that appeal to all of the senses), and music.
 * **Example 1:** Mustapha Mond explaining (somewhat ironically) how people are kept distracted: “Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking—//thinking!// ...Now—such is progress—the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think—or ever if by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always //soma//, delicious //soma// , half a gram for a half-holiday, a gram for a weekend, two grams for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon, returning whence they find themselves on the other side of the crevice, safe on the solid ground of daily labor and distraction…” (Huxley 56). In other words, recreation is a form of control because it distracts people from thinking too much about the society they live in, which might lead them to question or rebel against it.
 * **Example 2:** Mond on //soma// : “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects…take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or mythology…[when it was invented] stability was practically assured” (Huxley 54).
 * **Example 3:** Mond on the art in the World State: “You’ve got to choose between happiness and what people used to call the high art. We’ve sacrificed the high art. We have the feelies and the scent organ instead…works of art [made] out of practically nothing but pure sensation” (Huxley 220). This theme of sacrificing truth for stability is extremely important in //Brave New World//, and it is present in almost all of the methods of control that the World State uses.
 * Suppression of science
 * **1984:** “The book” explains that the Party is only interested in science if it gives them the power to read people’s thoughts or eradicate the other two super-states without any forewarning. The rest of science, it is assumed, has been banned because it promotes rational and creative thinking. Rational thought—which is based in the belief in an objective reality—would conflict with the Party’s claim that it is in possession of absolute truth, so it is prohibited.
 * **Example:** Page 193 of //1984//, which in a excerpt from “the book,” describes the Party’s position on science.
 * **BNW:** Though the World State uses many technological advances, science has been simplified and reduced to a series of “recipes.” Scientific thought is prohibited because it would lead to unorthodoxy, which threatens the stability of the World State.
 * **Example:** Mustapha Mond, World Controller: “But truth’s a menace, science is a public danger…we can’t allow science to undo its own good work” (Huxley 227). As Mond explains, the prohibition of science is yet another example of the World State sacrificing truth for stability.
 * State religion
 * **1984:** Religion is barely even discussed in //1984//, but the Party seems to be encouraging a sort of secular religion based upon hero-worshiping Big Brother. There is no mention of Christianity or any other religion in the novel, so it is assumed that the Party has replaced other religions with the love of Big Brother. The advantages of this (from the Party’s perspective) are obvious: people will feel passionately about their leader and believe his is infallible.
 * **BNW:** The World State practices a quasi-religious creed called Fordism. In Fordism, concept of God is abolished and replaced with hero-worship of the industrialist Henry Ford (and occasionally Sigmund Freud). However, Fordism does not consider Ford to be a deity, it simply honors his invention of the assembly line, which ushered in the age of consumerism. This means that the World State symbolically worships consumerism itself, which is ironic because consumerism is centered on renouncing the ideals that most religions celebrate, especially the Christian idea of frugality. As demonstrated below, the State simply alters aspects of Christianity to transition to Fordism rather than creating an entirely new religion.
 * **Example 1:** Mond: “All the crosses had their tops cut and became T’s….We have the World State now. And Ford’s Day celebrations, and Community Sings, and Solidarity Services” (Huxley 52). This exemplifies the idea of worshiping consumerism—the people of the World State use an industrial product as their religious symbol.
 * **Example 2:** “The introduction of Our Ford’s first T-Model…chosen as the opening date of the new era” (Huxley 52). This is similar to the way that A.D. notation commemorates the birth of Christ. Also, note how “Our Ford” is a modification of “Our Lord.”
 * History
 * **1984:** The Party’s ability to control the past is arguable its most potent weapon against the people. As the Party slogan puts it: “//Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”// “The book” explains that controlling the past has two purposes: (a) it makes it impossible for people to compare the Party to earlier regimes, and (b) give the impression that the Party is infallible (Orwell 213).
 * **BNW:** The World State discourages people from thinking about the past, and is constantly encouraging them to look to the future; the values and ideas of past societies are seen as barbaric and taboo. This is probably related to the theme of consumerism, as it is based upon shrugging traditional values for materialistic gain.
 * **Example 1:** “‘You all remember,’ said the Controller, in his strong, deep voice, ‘you all remember, I suppose, that beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford’s: History is bunk. History,’ he repeated slowly, ‘is bunk’” (34). It is important to note that the suppression of history is incorporated into Fordism—presumably this is to make it more justifiable.
 * **Example 2:** Mustapha Mond describing how the World State came to be: “An intensive propaganda against viviparous reproduction…[was] accompanied by a campaign against the Past; by the closing of museums, the blowing up of historical monuments; by the suppression of all books published before A.F. [After Ford] 150” (Huxley 51).
 * **Analysis:** Both societies censor history for the same reason: they do not want the living conditions or ideologies of the past to appear attractive. By making it impossible for people to compare the society they are living in to a previous one, the two governments have an excuse to stifle anyone who questions their means.
 * Sexuality
 * **1984:** As in many historical authoritarian regimes, sexuality is rigidly suppressed in Oceania. The purpose of this is to presumably keep people angry and unhappy, giving them a latent rage that the Party can direct at its external foes.
 * **Example:** Julia: “When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?” (Orwell 133). Though from Julia’s perspective this is mostly speculation, it is rather didactic, so it could be interpreted as Orwell explaining this concept to the reader.
 * **BNW:** Sexuality is an important topic in //Brave New World//, and it is certainly one of the most effective methods of control, second only to //soma// . In many ways sexuality serves the same purpose: it is a distraction that prevents people from spending their private time thinking. The first few chapters of //Brave New World// explain that promiscuity is promoted trivialize sexuality, which makes it possible for people to love everyone equally but feel no deep emotions for any one person.
 * **Example 1:** Inner monologue of students during a lecture given by Mustapha Mond about why the World State is superior to previous societies: “Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain, fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder these poor these pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. Their world didn’t allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy. What with mothers and lovers, what with the prohibitions they were not conditioned to obey, what with the temptations and the lonely remorses, what with all the diseases and the endless isolating pain, what the uncertainties and poverty—they were forced to feel strongly. And feeling strongly, how could they be stable?” (Huxley 41). Here the students are lead to believe that monogamy and sexual jealously lead to instability, which is why the World State has banned these emotions.
 * **Example 2:** Mustapha Mond speaking to students about promiscuity: “‘Fortunate boys!’ said the Controller. ‘No pains have been spared to make your lives emotionally easy—to preserve you, so far as that is possible, from having emotions at all’” (Huxley 44). The implication here is that because the World State does this for its citizens, it appears benevolent and omnipotent (as far as providing happiness is concerned).
 * Conditioned emphasis on orthodoxy
 * Government values orthodoxy more than individual life
 * **1984:** The Party has little regard for human life, as it tortures and kills any thought-criminals. Furthermore, it uses horrifying tactics (such as firing rocket bombs at its own cities) to make the reality it forces upon its people seem plausible.
 * **Example:** Winston’s fate. The Party has no interest in whether Winston lives or dies, it is only concerned with re-conditioning him and ensuring that he does not become a martyr or spread unorthodoxy.
 * **BNW:** Several characters explicitly state that being unorthodox is the most intolerable crime that a person can commit. Even if this were not blatantly announced, it is apparent based upon the fact that the World State always tries to direct people’s attention away from any expression of unorthodoxy.
 * **Example 1:** Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning: “‘Murder kills only the individual—and after all, what is the individual?’ With a sweeping gesture he indicated the rows of microscopes, the test-tubes, the incubators. ‘We can made a new one with the greatest ease—as many as we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself’” (Huxley 148). This is a frightening notion—the DHC is saying that the doctrine that governs the World State is more important than the individuals it is supposed to protect.
 * **Example 2:** Anyone who is unorthodox is sent to an isolated island to prevent them from compromising anyone else’s conditioning (Huxley 226). This is interesting, because it demonstrates that the State can tolerate dissent, but it will not allow it to spread to the rest of society. The Party, on the other hand, will not allow a rebellious thought to exist anywhere in the world.
 * Slogans and catchphrases
 * **1984:** The Party has several slogans and catchphrases, which are found throughout the book and are thematically important. Some examples include:
 * //War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength// (slogans of the Party) –each one of these is a paradox, with a hidden meaning; they are also exercises in doublethink
 * //Big Brother is watching you// –probably intended to instill a sense of fear and remind people to control their thoughts and actions
 * //Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past// –explains why the Party manipulates the past
 * **BNW:** The World State uses sleep teaching and mass suggestion to condition everyone with hypnotic slogans that promote its ideals. All of these phrases are intended to instill a sense of community and purpose. Some examples include:
 * //Community, Identity, Stability// (the World State’s motto) –summarizes the purpose of all of the methods of control discussed above: the creation of a society that values stability above all else
 * //A gram is better than a damn// –encourages people to take //soma// and drown out their anger in happiness; symbolic of the World State’s methods of control as a whole
 * //Ending is better than mending// –encourages people to buy new things, promoting commercialism
 * //The more stitches, the less riches// –encourages people to buy new things, promoting commercialism
 * //Everyone belongs to everyone else// –encourages promiscuity, which the World State sees as central to stability
 * //Cleanliness is next to Fordliness, and civilization is sterilization// –promotes cleanliness
 * Children conditioned from a young age
 * **1984:** Children are brought to see hangings, and they participate in Party-supervised youth groups that instill them with a sense of duty and loyalty to the Party. Parsons’ children are a perfect example—they even turn in their father after listening through a keyhole and hearing him whisper in his sleep.
 * **BNW:** Children are directly influenced by the World State because they are raised in government Conditioning Centers. Each individual is given rigid instruction about their place in society—everyone is brainwashed to love their occupation and caste.
 * **Example:** The first two chapters literally give the reader a guided tour through a “Conditioning Center,” in which children are brainwashed with operant conditioning and sleep-teaching.
 * The ideal citizen
 * **1984:** To the Party, the character Parsons is the ideal citizen: he is unquestioning, angry, and unconsciously accepts everything the Party tells him.
 * **BNW:** To the World State, the character Benito Hoover is the ideal citizen: he is bubbling with happiness, promiscuous, and incapable of critical thinking.
 * **Example:** “Benito was notoriously good-natured. People said of him that he could have got through life without ever touching //soma// . The malice and bad tempers from which other people had to take holidays never afflicted him. Reality for Benito was always sunny” (Huxley 60).
 * **Analysis:** This comparison is important, as it illustrates the difference between the methods and the moral justifications of the World State and those of the Party. As will be explored further in the section below, the Party acknowledges its own selfish motives, while the World State believes that social stability is the most important goal and therefore believes that it is acting for the greater good.