Dehumanisation in Dystopian Literature

In 1984, Orwell talks about how language can be misused to deceive the people. Today, political precision and euphemism are equally inescapable and ridiculed. The novel also discussed the corruption of verbal progression under the direction of Big Brother. The formation of the Newspeak dictionary is mentioned very often in the book. The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a moderate form of expression for Oceania but to make sure that all additional methods of thought impossible. This is shown today by many public figures who speak on behave of the United States. For example, “Politically correct” language is a form of speech that stumps thought. Autocorrect and autocomplete functions frequently command our phrasing and the language of texting is a skill that has become increasingly more

1984 examines a future under the rule of a totalitarian society. One of the unique notes about Orwell's 1984, is the views that Orwell presents on humanity, and human nature. Orwell presents humanity as divided into two sides- the dominant, and the submissive, with few quickly-eradicated anomalies in between. Human nature, however, is universal, and all humans

George Orwell uses his novel 1984 to convey that human beings, as a species, are extremely susceptible to dehumanization and oppression in society. Orwell demonstrates how a government’s manipulation of technology, language, media, and history can oppress and degrade its citizens.

A society in which no real sense of individuality exist, will inevitably succumb into a dystopia in which freedom and curiosity are upstaged by a totalitarian regime. Big Brother and the party controlled every aspect of life, even thought, as seen in the following conversation between Syme and Winston. “Don 't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it” (Orwell, 2010). In “1984” every “out of the box” thought is considered a crime and a threat towards the party. Not only this, but also no sense of individualism existed. There was no hierarchy, Big Brother was on top, and underneath him everyone was the same, belonging to the same caste, so to speak. On the other hand, in “Brave New World” humans were “born” into a determined caste, with certain biological benefits or disadvantages. “"Reducing the number of revolutions per minute," Mr. Foster explained. "The surrogate goes round slower; therefore passes through the lung at longer intervals; therefore gives the embryo less oxygen. Nothing like oxygen-shortage for keeping an embryo below par." Again he rubbed his hands” (Huxley, 2010). Humans are manufactured and customized to meet an specific role in the community. In BNW, Ford is seen as a god because of his revolutionary techniques for mass productions. This symbolizes the lack of identity found in these humans;

The novels Utopia by Thomas More and 1984 by George Orwell and short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut explore the Utopic and Dystopic genre through the structure and regulations of their societies. In Utopia, More provides us with a contemporary understanding of society and human nature, with an indepth study of morals, values and beliefs in England around the Renaissance Era. 1984 was published while the Second World War was fresh in people’s minds, creating fears amongst society with Orwell emphasizing the possibility of such a dehumanised and controlled

Huxley reflects the consequences of totalitarian World State, upon the concern of oppressed citizens. Provoked by Freud and with Mendel’s work on genetic engineering and consumerism early 20th century, Huxley chose a science fiction medium to warn the audience as they venture into the political beliefs and attitudes of the World State and identify its dehumanising effects. The imperative verb, ‘unescapable’ as Huxley states “All conditioning aims at…making people like their unescapable social destiny” (Ch 1) illustrates the loss of freedom due to scientific means which have constrained them into accepting the ideology taught by the World State. Huxley provides ‘John the Savage’ a sense of freedom from the Mexican Reservation where he is given thought, emotions and choice. Although he exclaims “How beauteous mankind is!” in the metaphorical “O brave new world” (Ch8) compared to the Reservation’s society, after seeing the oppression and nothingness of the World State he feels the oppression. This is stressed by the asyndeton of his desires using the personal pronoun ‘I’ in “But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin” (Ch 17) as John identifies the powerlessness and mindlessness of the citizens. Though Huxley through John’s anti-thesis “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”

In George Orwell’s novel, “1984”,is about a main character Winston, who is an ordinary citizen of Oceania. The totalitarian society is led by Big Brother. Television screens are strategically placed everywhere watching citizens’ every move. Leaving them in constant fear and paranoia. The corrupt society lead to some citizens wanting to rebel. If they were ever caught, they would be severely punished. This kept wearing citizens down. The dehumanization of citizens of Oceania was due to propaganda, mind control, and the lack of privacy.

Appealing towards social familiarity can function as one’s anchor for their literary audience to hold on and connect with; however in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, his presentation of society in future serves to challenge our very expectations on the extent of depths of immorality mankind can subject itself to. The horrific justifications of manipulative practices such as infant conditioning and sleep-learning indicates both Huxley’s skepticism towards motives behind radical social experiments and the underlying danger of his audience being indifferent towards the weaponization of such experiments. (AUDIENCE) Furthermore, Huxley’s development of the World State caste system and its effects of alienation towards characters such as Helmholtz and Bernard in BNW act as indirect criticism towards the recent emergence of superpowers with social frameworks determined to undermine human individualism.(CONTEXT) Both motifs also contribute to a sense of all-around absurdity in BNW’s society and its focus around the complete rejection of past conservatism, allowing Huxley’s to express his personal opposition towards the anti-traditionalist movements dominating contemporary thought at the time. (AUTHOR) The manifestation of these

Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” highlights the theme of society and individualism. Huxley uses the future world and its inhabitants to represents conflict of how the replacement of stability in place of individualism produces adverse side effects. Each society has individuals ranging from various jobs and occupations and diverse personalities and thoughts. Every member contributes to society in his or her own way. However, when people’s individuality is repressed, the whole concept of humanity is destroyed. In Huxley’s “Brave New World”, the concept of individualism is lost through hyperbolized physical and physiological training, the artificial birth and caste system, and the censorship of religion and literature by a

“Newspeak was designed to. . .diminish the range of thought. . .by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum” explains George Orwell, the author of a dystopian fiction novel, 1984 (Orwell 300). Orwell designs a society in which a totalitarian government rules, depriving people of their thoughts. The story gives us a look into the life of the main character, Winston, who seems to face issues with reality control. Today, we will delve into the depths of this novel and explore Orwell’s views on the nature of language. In simple terms, Orwell suggests that language, if used in a certain way, has the ability to influence people and compel them to alter their thoughts. With this statement and supporting evidence, it can be concluded that the effective use of language can give individuals power to modify or reshape opinions that will allow for change in society.

1984 is a typical dystopian novel in which Orwell explores the many issues present during the time in which he wrote this book. He successfully creates a world in which technology is vastly more sophisticated than it was during the time in which this book was written and in which fear is used as a tool to control individuals who do not conform to the social norms. The horrible and dangerous futuristic world controlled repressively by the government and the thought police is portrayed wonderfully by Orwell who is able to create the perfect dystopian realm.

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced

The modern world still deals with racism and dehumanization, but nothing could compare to how people were treated way back in the olden days. To be living in a utopia, it is described to be “A place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions” (“Utopia”). Meanwhile, the opposite of that society is called a dystopia, which is “A society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding” (“dystopia”). It is believed that any utopian society does not remain one, for there is no possible way every person in a community thinks the same way about what a perfect society looks like. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, there is a broad known fact that the Party creates an illusion of a

George Orwell, the writer of many highly regarded literary works, is extremely interested in the power of language, mainly how it is abused. By analyzing two of his works, 1984 and Politics and The English Language, it is clear that Orwell is using his writing to bring awareness to the dangers of the manipulation, misuse, and decline of language. In 1984 he demonstrates how language can be used to control thought and manipulate the past. This is proven throughout the novel by examining the language of Newspeak and how it is key to controlling the totalitarian state, and how using language to alter and manipulate history can shape reality. In his essay Politics and the English Language Orwell

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.