Comparison of Brave New World and 1984

When one makes a study of Brave New World and 1984, one will come to the conclusion that both of these books are political satires which deal with the issues concerning the suppression of human nature in favor of one which is based on absolute control. One would say that both of these books depict the future world as a dreary place within which to live because the means through which the hums society interacts within them is very different from what is the case today. The interaction between human beings has traditionally been the means of transmitting knowledge from one generation to another, but this is not the case because in these societies, the fact that humans are able to interact does not mean that they learn anything from one another. A common depiction of these books is based on the belief that there will be less human interaction in the future, and this is seen in Brave New World, where because of a lack of serious human relationships, such as family, the issues are traditionally discussed more deeply do not take place and instead, there develops a type of society that is socially stagnant. While in the current world, the individuals get to have a better understanding of the issues being discussed because of regular interaction, in Brave New World, the opposite turns out to be true because of the fact that human beings, during the future age, are not conditioned to act independently of each other.

The events which are described in Brave New World, such as the establishment of a breeding program involving different castes of human beings, is not similar to those in 1984. This is because of the fact that in the latter, human beings, while being dominated by a single party whose purpose is to have absolute control of the society, has not made any attempt to alter humans physically. The main procedure used in gaining the absolute control and devotion among human beings is through the rewriting in history so that it is in the favor of the ruling party’s policies and objectives. Because the sources of history in the state described in 1984, known as Oceania, are either vague or scarce in content, it creates a situation where individuals get only a shallow understanding of the subject matter. In 1984, it is seen that because of the destruction of history, knowledge has become static, not being able to grow as it should. In both of these books, those people who possess knowledge or items that contain knowledge of the independent human nature of the past are completely ostracized from society or are put to death because of their perceived threat to the societal order. This makes it extremely difficult for knowledge to be transmitted and the lack of this knowledge has made the people in the societies described in the books disillusioned with life. This is especially true in Brave New World, where individuals have been conditioned by the ruling elite, to consume a drug known as soma, which is a hallucinogen used to ensure that they do not worry about their troubles.

The theme of control is prevalent in both Brave New World and 1984, and this is based on the need for the ruling elite to retain their power in what they consider to be the ideal state. Apart from working towards the destruction of all knowledge that concerns the past of human beings, they also adopt diverse methods to ensure that they have absolute control over the human society so that there are no rebellions. In Brave New World, there develops a caste system where human beings are no longer born in the natural way and are instead developed in laboratories. These are altered during their development so that they can best suit the purposes of the different castes to which they are assigned, with the higher castes being developed with such characteristics as intelligence while the lower castes are purposely given less intelligence so that they can work towards serving the interests of the higher castes. Because of their synthetic development, the lower castes of the society, who form the majority of the population in Brave New World, is not equipped to deal with the issues of day to day life and they have instead become artificial. It is possible that when Aldous Huxley was writing his book, he felt that the latter was the likely scenario that would face the world if there were no sources of human history from which people could get the knowledge and wisdom that they could use to make their lives more meaningful. In addition, it is possible that he believed that the intellectual development of the human race would be brought to a standstill because intelligent thought is often found in those instruments that perpetuate human history.

In 1984, on the other hand, there has developed a thought police whose purpose is to ensure that any material that individuals possess that might threaten the ruling order are apprehended and sentenced to death. The need for the party’s survival has created a situation where children in Oceania are indoctrinated with the need to spy on everyone who might possibly have any information that threatens the regime. This indoctrination is so great that these children end up also spying on and surrendering their own parents to the though police if the latter indeed have any dissenting material. In this way, children have become the means through which the government spies on its citizens and this is a sign that the normal traditional values of family loyalty have been destroyed, leaving behind a situation where there is no loyalty between individuals and families in the society. Independent thought has greatly been encouraged through the study of human history and this has ensured the development of new ideas. Because of this, the governments in both 1984 and Brave New World have ensured that this ability has been immensely diminished. These governments have come to realize that it is only through the study of old ideas that new ideas are developed and this has led to their destruction of material that may contain information that may be a threat to them.

In conclusion, as seen in both books, despite the large reserves of information that can lead to the further development of the human race, the ruling elite has chosen to destroy such information, perceiving it as a threat. In both of these books, the information provided by these governments do not have the qualities which the original sources of information have because most of the information gotten from the sources that are approved are often instant and shallow. These governments do not allow individuals to contemplate on the information which they read and this ensures that they do not have independent thought. The lack of independent thought due to the absence of knowledge has come to put the human race into a dark age of intellectual stagnation, as seen in these two works. When one reads these books, one comes to the conclusion that the ability to think through the learning of the previous work of others is what has helped the advancement of the human race. The inability to think and the reliance on shallow sources of information such as the internet is likely to see the end of the world as we know it. Human beings learn about their past from books and with this knowledge, the take action to avoid the mistakes of their past. Therefore, without adequate knowledge, the human race will probably end up destroying itself because it will not have the ability to learn from its past.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Jungle is a novel which depicts the unpleasant conditions within which workers had to work in meat packing plants in order to earn a living. It is a description, in the form of a story, of the experiences which Upton Sinclair had while working undercover for six months in an attempt to gather information on an article he was writing. These working conditions are described so vividly that anyone who reads them might become revolted by the conditions in these meatpacking plants. The novel is most realistic, as it follows the life of an immigrant, Jurgis, and his family who comes to America in an attempt to have a better life. In doing so, he ends up working in a meatpacking plant, where the exact opposite of his dreams come to take place. It must be noted that many of the people who ended up working in these plants under sometimes appalling conditions tended to be immigrants and these had no other choice other that to go on doing the same jobs because they had no education and had little knowledge of English. It was therefore difficult for them to recognize the injustices in their lives and in doing so work towards escaping such injustices. It can be said the The Jungle is an attempt by Sinclair to describe the working conditions of the United States according to his socialist views and a way to push the American public into taking action against such conditions, since they are the ones who are the largest beneficiaries of the labor of the immigrants.

The Jungle is basically a political novel whose main purpose is to propagate the socialist view of the ideal America. It is an attempt by Upton Sinclair to show how workers in the industries in the United States worked under bad conditions to earn a living. One of the main themes that can be found in this novel which are an obvious part of the socialist views of Sinclair is that of exploitation. The factory owners and managers exploit their workers in every way possible and treat them more like slaves than as free human beings. Among the most appalling things which the factory managers do is to sexually abuse some of their female workers. This can be seen when Ona, Jurgis’s wife, is raped by her employer, with the latter threatening that she would lose her job if she does not continue giving him sexual favors. Moreover, many of the factory workers have no job security because they can lose their jobs at any moment at the slightest pretext. An example of this sis when Jurgis ends up losing his job because of an injury sustained while working. While this would not, in normal circumstances, get him to lose his job, in Jurgis’ case, it is different because he is not aware of his rights. When it is seen that he will not be able to be as productive as before, he is fired, and this is done without his being provided with any compensation by his employer. While it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace is safe for his employees, this is not the case in The Jungle. Although it is the employer’s fault when accidents take place in the workplace, the employer does not take steps to improve the working conditions. Instead, workers who get injured lose their jobs, and the families of those who lose their lives are not compensated.

One of the main themes that are dealt with in this novel is that of the evils brought about by capitalism and the idea that socialism is its cure. For most of his political life, Upton Sinclair was a dedicated socialist whose actions and works tended to upset many of the mainstream Americans who were dedicated capitalists. While Sinclair did not call out for the abolition of capitalism, he advocated for the inclusion of socialism into the American way of life. This would have ensured that there was a balance in the economy, with the people in the lower classes in society being provided with the opportunity for advancement. Throughout The Jungle, Sinclair shows how the family of Jurgis is destroyed by the cruelties that are brought about by capitalism. Most of the disastrous and tragic things that happen to his family are as a result of their lack of a stable financial base through which to support them. Their faith in the so called American Dream is tarnished as the realities of the capitalist ways that are prevalent in America are felt directly. They turn from a family that is full of hope for a better future, to one which gets involved in some of the most abhorrent practices in society. Sinclair’s narrative is one designed to show that capitalism is evil and that the best way to get rid of it is to adopt communism.

In the novel, the American Dream is considered to be just that, a dream and this is because of the fact that despite moving from Lithuania to America in anticipation of having a better life, this does not happen for Jurgis’ family and instead, they end up living in worse conditions than those in their home country. This can be considered to be a parallel of the life which Upton Sinclair’s family lived due to their relative poverty. While both his parents’ families were of aristocratic backgrounds, his father’s family had been ruined during the American Civil War and despite being in America, they had not managed to regain the wealth and prominence that had once been theirs. Instead, Sinclair’s father had to become a salesman in order to make ends meet, something he barely could because of his alcoholism. Sinclair therefore spent some of his childhood with his wealthy maternal family and because of this, experienced both poverty and wealth. In The Jungle, through the portrayal of the tragedies which are encountered by Jurgis and those around him, Sinclair comes to reveal the ugliness that is capitalism, and his belief that the lot of the poor in America has to be improved for the American Dream to finally come true. It is this theme which he used throughout his political career and despite not being able to gain any elective position; he ended up being influential in other matters.

In conclusion, it can be said that The Jungle is an influential novel whose main endeavor was to prove Sinclair’s view that capitalism was an evil practice. Instead, there is the recommendation for the adoption of socialism as the best way of improving the lives of those who have been deprived in society. Sinclair wanted the American public to see the evils which were brought about by the greed and inhumanity of those who practiced capitalism. The unfortunate working conditions that the poor had to undergo everyday of their lives to make their employers wealthier than they already were is a recurring theme in the novel. While this was the novel’s original intention, the public did not come to view it the way Sinclair did and instead, they came to look upon it as a revelation of the unclean environment through which the food they consumed was processed. In the end, The Jungle failed to represent the real intentions of its author and instead, it became a revelation of the food health issues that were prevalent in the United States. The novel was a representation of the political views of Upton Sinclair but it ended up coming into the service of the larger meat processing plants at the expense of the smaller ones.

The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Code of Hammurabi

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Hammurabi’s Code are some of the most ancient texts from ancient Mesopotamia that have been found by Historians and archaeologists to date. Both of these texts are rich in information concerning Mesopotamia at this time; it politics, religion, social relationships and their cities. They show how religion was a very important part of the everyday lives of the ancient Mesopotamians and this is exemplified when Hammurabi declares that the set of laws which he has codified have been given to him directly by the god Shamash (to justify his codification of the law), and Gilgamesh’s going to the temple of Shamash to consult with the god before undertaking a major mission. In both of these texts, it can be noted that the sun – god Shamash, who was also the Mesopotamian god of justice, plays a major role in some of the major events which take place considering that he granted Hammurabi the laws and always gave guidance to Gilgamesh so that he would succeed in his missions.

The values of the ancient Sumerians seem to have been guided by their religion and many believed that they needed the authority of a god while doing anything important to ensure that their actions were a success. One would notice in these texts that the relationships between the people of this society in the ancient times were very close and that friendships had a higher value then than they have today. Friends tended to treat each other more like siblings than as people from different backgrounds and a good example of this is the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Although Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk and Enkidu was wild man from the fields, these two strike a friendship which would be very unlikely in the current times. It can further be noted that the rulers of ancient Mesopotamia tended to place a very high value to their connection with the gods most likely in an attempt to justify their authority over their people. We note that Hammurabi claims to have been in direct communication with a god when he was give the laws which would be imposed on his people. Gilgamesh on the other hand is said to have been two thirds god and one third man and that his mother was the goddess Ninsun who is time and again seen to intercede on his behalf to the other gods. It is most likely a fact that Gilgamesh’s attempt to attain immortality was in a bid to destroy his human side and retain his divine part.

The influences of religion are still very prominent today as they were in ancient Mesopotamia. In fact, religious influences today are so strong that in some instances, they border on fanaticism. Those who have retained their religious beliefs in a world that is headed to secularization believe that what they are doing is the will of God and that anyone not doing the same is a sinner and will die in hell. Furthermore, some of the most powerful states in the world today are monarchies and the monarchs sit on their thrones not because of any great ability but because a legendary ancestor once ruled before them and this is used to justify their social position. The similarities between the code of Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments can clearly be seen especially when one considers that they both are said to have been handed by a god and that they are both based on the eye for an eye doctrine. The Gilgamesh epic and the Flood story also have many similarities especially when one considers that a version of the latter story is told in the former in greater detail than is told in the Bible.