Significance of the Utopian Oasis in Aldous Huxley's Dystopian Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 Bajić, Iva Master's thesis / Diplomski rad 2014 Degree Grantor / Ustanova koja je dodijelila akademski / stručni stupanj: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet Permanent link / Trajna poveznica:https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:142:860989 Rights / Prava:In copyright / Zaštićeno autorskim pravom. Download date / Datum preuzimanja:2023-02-28 Repository / Repozitorij: FFOS-repository - Repository of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek Sveučilište J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku Filozofski fakultet Diplomski studij hrvatskog i engleskog jezika i književnosti Iva Bajić Significance of the Utopian Oasis in Aldous Huxley's Dystopian Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 Diplomski rad Mentor: doc.dr.sc. Borislav Berić Osijek, 2014. Abstract This paper focuses on the importance of utopian elements in dystopian worlds of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984. It examines the time setting of the novels and the effect it has on the literary genre the novels belong to. The utopian elements of religion, family, nature, history and human sexuality are contrasted with the dystopian elements present in the novels. The utopian elements in the novels are present in secluded worlds without government’s oppression. The secluded oases with utopian elements are found within the proles’ society in 1984 and on the Reservation in Brave New World. These worlds exist in the dystopian novels in order to indicate everything that is wrong with the totalitarian governments of dystopian societies. The utopian elements point out the importance of freedom and equality for all human beings. Keywords: Huxley, Orwell, dystopia, utopia, government oppression, freedom. 1 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 1. Utopia/Dystopia and the Modern British Novel .................................................................... 4 2. Dystopian Worlds in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 ....... 11 2.1. Dystopian Elements in Brave New World and 1984 ..................................................... 14 3. Utopian Elements in Brave New World and 1984 ................................................................ 24 3.1. The Significance of the Utopian Elements in Brave New World and 1984................... 32 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 35 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 36 2 Introduction This paper discusses the significance of utopian elements and the oasis they create in dystopian worlds of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984. These elements are contrasted with those from the dystopian worlds. Chapter 1 explains the meaning and the historical development of the idea of utopia and dystopia. The focus in this chapter is on the main features of utopian and dystopian literature. Chapter 1 also discusses the development of the modern British novel and its evolution in the twentieth century. It examines political and cultural background that had a great influence on the modern British literature and explores its relationship to dystopian fiction. This chapter provides an extensive overview of the main ideas present in Brave New World and 1984. It introduces the literary period of Brave New World and 1984. Chapter 2 discusses Brave New World and 1984 and the dystopian elements present in these novels. This chapter explains the main idea behind the stories of the novels. It provides an in-depth analysis of the time settings, authors’ views on the novels and the circumstances in which the novels were created. It gives an insight into new standards of the dystopian fiction provided by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Chapter 2.1 deals with the dystopian elements that are present in both novels. The dystopian elements which consist of the oppression of religion, family, sexuality, history and information are examined and exemplified with quotations from the novels. Chapter 3 focuses on the utopian elements present in the novels and on their significance for the dystopian worlds of Brave New World and 1984. This chapter provides a thorough analysis of the utopian elements seen in the novels. Utopian elements in the dystopian novels refer to music, nature, religion, family, literature, history and freedom. These elements are found in the secluded worlds of proles in 1984 and on the Reservation in Brave New World. Chapter 3.1 discusses the significance of the utopian elements in the novels. It explains their meaning and function within the dystopian worlds of Brave New World and 1984. The last chapter also concludes and recapitulates the importance of freedom for all human beings and contrasts it with the oppression in the dystopian novels. 3 1. Utopia/Dystopia and the Modern British Novel Utopia can be described as an imaginary place where people live in perfect order with each other and nature. The idea of utopia dates back to Greek philosophers who discussed and addressed the burning issues of their time. They were concerned with the state their society was in and tried to reach a compromise between the materialistic and the spiritual. The goal of this compromise was to create a world where the balance of these opposed sides could be established, and the perfect society could be formed. One of the most noticeable philosophers of that time was Plato, and his Republic represents a breaking point for all future utopian literature. Plato’s Republic became a guidebook for the development of utopian ideas. Plato created his ideal society by providing justice for all people and by abolishing private property. The idea of equal distribution of wealth among the people became one of the most important ideas of the utopian fiction like Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, As long as there is any property, and while money is the standard of all other things, I cannot think that a nation can be governed either justly or happily; not justly, because the best things will fall to the share of the worst men; nor happily, because all things will be divided among a few, the rest being left to be absolutely miserable. (More 43) Not only does Plato’s Republic contain ideas about providing justice for all, but it also gives ideas about the government of an ideal state and private lives of its citizens. All these women shall be wives in common to all the men, and not one of them shall live privately with any man; the children too should be held in common so that no parent shall know which is his own offspring, and no child shall know his parent. (Plato 119) In Plato’s ideal world family is completely obsolete. Everyone belongs to everyone else. Children are separated from their parents early on, and the bond of marriage, or a deeper man/woman relationship, is unacceptable. Human nature and emotions are reduced to a minimum, and in that way the prosperity of his society is achieved. Plato’s views of the perfect society were used and developed even further in Thomas More’s Utopia. In 1516, Thomas More wrote Utopia as a response to conditions that were present in Henry the VIII’s England. Thomas More’s Utopia managed to set new standards for 4 future literary works. His imaginary island, Utopia, is thriving on Plato’s ideas on the abolishment of private property as well as on the idea of an egalitarian society: [how can anyone] be silly enough to think himself better than other people, because his clothes are made of finer woolen thread than theirs. After all, those fine clothes were once worn by a sheep, and they never turned it into anything better than a sheep. (More 45) Not only does Thomas More’s Utopia deal with public lives of Utopia’s citizens, but also as Plato’s Republic, with their private lives. Utopia is a place where there is a strong accent on family ties. Unlike in Plato’s Republic, families are encouraged to live in a common household. Even though the perfect worlds are in some way different in Plato’s Republic and More’s Utopia, they still intertwine and represent a unique world view. Utopia is for Plato and More everything that their society could be. Their optimistic outlook on the way the society could reach its greatness and fulfill its longing for perfection is later onin history crushed by the unpredictability of human nature. It can be said with a definite certainty that Thomas More and Plato provided the later generations with an inexhaustible well of ideas for the creation of a perfect society as well as the perfect individual. They set frames for the future utopian literature and enabled it to be divergent but still recognizable. In Narrating Utopia: Ideology, Gender, Form in Utopian Literature, Chris Ferns observes, Utopian society may be centralized and regimented, or anarchic and diverse; it may be religious, or secular; there may be free love, or rigid control of sexuality; the family may be central to its operation, or abolished altogether. Some utopias have detailed provisions for the division and distribution of wealth and possessions, while in others money and private property have been done away with. In terms of its extent, utopia may be confined to a remote island, or embrace the entire globe. (Ferns 9) The perfect society does not have to be the same for every author, but it should combine the elements of complete harmony of the individual, its society and nature. The frame that is put on the utopian society is its ability to achieve a long lasting harmony. The idea of a perfect society developed further in the twentieth century. Utopia was used not only as a starting point, but as a contrast for portraying the chaos that the devastating wars had left behind. The writers of the twentieth century used Plato’s and More’s concept of an 5 ideal society and adapted them to their own point in time. For instance, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell used Plato’s and More’s works as an inspiration for the creation of their famous novels, Brave New World and 1984. These novels, although not utopian, rely greatly on utopian literature. Aldous Huxley and Georg Orwell used utopia as an idea that will be crushed when the real life situations and human emotions are combined. In contrasts to utopia, dystopia can be described as a state where all the imperfections of the human nature and society can be seen. The word dystopia comes from Greek and it means “bad place” and it is in opposition to utopia that is a “good place”. The idea of dystopia was developed by Greek philosophers who were inclined to create a contrast to the utopian idea. Although, Plato’s Republic is considered as a utopian work, it still ends in a dystopian way. The main confirmation for that is the existence of society ruled by oligarchy. The idea of the ruling rich class which governs over the poor is a far cry from the ideal society. Dystopia can be considered as an acknowledgment of human imperfections, and Plato’s work is a conscious acknowledgment of that fact. Dystopian roots can also be traced back to Menippean satire that was present in ancient Greek and Latin literature. Its main function was to mock and criticize public institutions and well known conventions. The main characteristic that dystopian literature and Menippean satire share is a specific outlook on the individual. Menippean satire is characterized by attacking mental attitudes instead of particular individuals, and that is the fundamental feature of the dystopian narrative. The dystopian idea has its roots in the distant past, but it flourished in the twentieth century. There are many reasons for that, as Moylan states, A hundred years of exploitation, repression, state violence, war, genocide, disease, famine, ecocide, depression, debt, and the steady depletion of humanity through the buying and selling of everyday life provided more than enough fertile ground for this fictive underside of the utopian imagination. (Moylan 11) The devastating conditions that the society endured throughout the centuries of bloody wars, horrible working and living conditions left a certain trail not only on human mind set but also on literature. The dystopian narrative was developed, and as Tom Moylen concludes, 6 This negative narrative machine has produced challenging cognitive maps of the historical situation by way of imaginary societies that are even worse than those that lie outside their authors' and readers' doors. (Moylan 11) The dystopian narrative usually portrays a dysfunctional society which is set in the future. It deals not only with the imaginary societies but also tends to project the past dystopian periods into the future. The best example of projection of past dystopian periods is the projection of communism and the effect it had on society. Totalitarian governments, constant surveillance and eradication of religion are some of the motifs used when portraying futuristic dystopian worlds. The most interesting example of these elements occurred in George Orwell’s 1984. The dystopian narrative also used elements from the Indian caste system, where the society is divided into castes and transition between them is impossible. The best example of the caste system is present in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Besides the projection of the past into the future, the dystopian narrative of the twentieth century was also built on the current situation in the Western society. In The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature: Fiction as Social Criticism, M. Keith Booker states, The technological advances made possible by the evolution of science contributed to an industrial revolution in Western Europe that made worldwide imperialism a practical reality even as it proved to be anything but liberating for the masses of exploited European workers who suddenly found themselves harnessed to machines in the service of industry. (Booker 6) In the dystopian world, technological development is shown as a tool for controlling the masses. Technology is used not only to monitor individuals but also to control their sexuality and reproduction processes. The dystopian narrative often uses technological advances as a way of indoctrination and manipulation of the society. The best example for that is a sleep-teaching method that appears in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Dystopian narrative uses the unseen and unexamined weapons against its society, and as Tom Moylan states, Crucial to dystopia's vision in all its manifestations is this ability to register the impact of an unseen and unexamined social system on the everyday lives of everyday people. Again and again, the dystopian text opens in the midst of a social "elsewhere" that appears to be far worse than any in the "real" world. (Moylan 13) 7 The main protagonist of the dystopian narrative is usually a self-sufficient individual who does not want to conform to his totalitarian state as shown in 1984 and Brave New World. The protagonist of the dystopian narrative is an anti-hero and a social outcast. The main goal of his struggle in the dystopian world is freedom from all the rules, conventions and oppressive government. The protagonist never succeeds in achieving his freedom mainly because of his inability to detect a real problem of his society and, therefore, he becomes a part of the society he despises. The dystopian narrative turns the main protagonist into part of the society he hates, mostly in an involuntary way. The main focus of the dystopian narrative is the individual’s mindset which opposes general and self-evident rules of the society the main protagonist lives in. The dystopian world represents a critique of the society and individual’s “status quo” attitude. Dystopian world is a mirror projection of the utopia. Everything is distorted and as Tom Moylan states in Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia: Dystopia's foremost truth lies in its ability to reflect upon the causes of social and ecological evil as systemic. Its very textual machinery invites the creation of alternative worlds in which the historical spacetime of the author can be re- presented in a way that foregrounds the articulation of its economic, political, and cultural dimensions. (Moylan 12) At the beginning of the twentieth century, British political and social climate endured great changes. Not only did those changes have a great impact on the lives of people, but also on their world view. The industrial revolution was in its full swing and the society started to evolve. People were caught up in this new world of great technological achievements and later on in the great disadvantages of those achievements. Not only does the twentieth century represent a breaking point for the society, but also for the Western literature. The age of the Modern British novel started at the end of Victorian Age and lasted to the middle of the twentieth century. The Modern Age in British society started as a whiff of something new and managed to infiltrate itself in almost every aspect of creative life. The authors who created in that time felt bored with inaccurate and outdated representations of the society. That representation was based on the idealized picture of the past events. The authors created literature that left behind traditions of the romanticism, realism and even humanism. The authors were concerned with portraying a picture of true society and its potentials. The true society was damaged and injured from the wars, confused by the industrial revolution and 8