Not just a cell in the social body" (90).
Later, he tells her that he wants to "know what passion is... I want to feel something strongly" (94). The only way that Lenina can respond is by telling him that when the "individual feels, the community reels" (94). His feelings and inclinations that there must be something better is a testament that humanity is born with the notion to be free. Keith May maintains, "The chief illusion which Brave New World shatters has less to do with an unthinking faith in scientific progress than with the assumption that truth, beauty, and happiness are reconcilable goods on the plane of ordinary, unregenerate human activity'" (May qtd. In Hochman). Hochman adds that the only way to deal with the nasty little ideas of truth and beauty is to eliminate them. (Hochman) This occurs in Brave New World, but not without consequences. We see the consequences more than most of the characters in the novel but the uselessness of humanity is emphasized through the characters of Bernard and, especially, the Savage.
George Woodcock claims that it takes something unfamiliar to jolt Bernard into a sort of "awakening." When Bernard and Lenina go the Reservation and meet the Svage, they encounter a man that is "not only a savage; he has also acquired a copy of Shakespeare, which, with the mixed heathen-Christian native cults, has enriched his language and shaped his outlook. In our sense he is far more 'cultured,' if not more 'civilized,' than the Utopians" (Woodcock). Even is he isn ot more civilized, he has something in him that is more human than most of the other characters we encounter in Brave New World. The Savage has a spirit which cannot be contained and he is not afraid to ask questions. This is a stark contrast when we look at Lenina, a woman who would rather take her soma than ask a though-provoking question or have an enlightening thought. The constrast of the two individuals illustrates the extremes in which our society can go.
In 1984, our outsider is Winston. Like the Savage, he asks questions and wants answers. The most prominent feature in Orwell's 1984 is the presence of Big Brother. Like the Savage and Bernard, Winston represents the free will that longs to escape. We see the oppression that Big Brother causes simply by its omnipresence. From the first pages in the novel, we are aware of Big Brother being everywhere all the time, just like the characters are reminded from their telescreens. We read that there is no way to know "whether you were being watched at any given moment... It was conceivable that they watched everybody all the time" (Orwell 2). From the perspective of a reader, we sense the nagging notion that the characters are not alone. Winston tells us, "Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull" (24). In a way, the restraints placed on individuals in 1984 in more severe than they are in Brave New World because in Brave New World, the characters are conditioned to be a certain way and they are sedated to not know the difference between what they really want and what they are being fed. For example, we read:
To wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime it was called. Your worst enemy was your own nervous system. Any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom. (Orwell 55)
Here we see how Big Brother has pervaded every aspect of human life.
1984 is filled with Thought Police, which make things even worse. Winston says, "At home and in bed in the darkness you were safe from the telescreen so long as you kept silent" (96-7). These are examples of the lack of individuality that society experiences. The fact that Winston is aware of what is going on is evidence enough that something is wrong. Winston's diary reveals his need for freedom and individuality...
Freedom and Individuality in Brave New World Stories are popular when they enable audiences to escape from reality for a bit. Fiction is unique because it can tell a story while also making appoint. In Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, we have an entertaining story as well as social commentary. The novel's significance lies in its ability to explore several complex, social issues stemming from a thoroughly conditioned society. Huxley
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