SandCastle (Demo)

1948 vs. Brave New World
	In modern times, in literature, and in history there is a recurring idea. Government oftentimes stops becoming ruled by the people, and instead rules over the people. Despite the fact that both 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley are fictional stories, they reflect the idea of unchallenged government authority quite well. Through common ideas and themes, anyone who has read both books understands how they similarly reflect the thought of an unopposed government.
	Each of these books was chosen for deliberate reasons, not because they were the first two on the approved list. George Orwell also wrote a book I had previously read, called Animal Farm. It was a fairly enjoyable book that carried a similar message as 1984 and Brave New World: absolute power corrupts absolutely. Similarities between both of Orwell's books continued appearing from there, such as their dystopian societies. However, the idea of a ruling Oligarchy was most apparent. The Party held all of the power in the society of 1984, just as the pigs ended up in Animal Farm.  Brave New World caught my attention because of its society being based around different groups who each had different roles and responsibilities. Divergent was very good, in my opinion, and its idea of citizens being separated into groups interested me. Brave New World had a similar concept where citizens were divided up in groups ranging from political leaders to mere laborers. "Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do...I'm really awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard..." (Huxley 77)
	Both novels relay the idea of complete control commanded by the government through the use of oppression and their own unique technologies. Orwell tells of a society that is controlled via mass-surveillance, where it is unsafe to merely think  to yourself in public. The Thought Police will always notice; that's why it's "dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself..." (Orwell 65) However, the technology that the government uses in Brave New World takes a very different turn. Rather than controlling the society after they are old enough to form their own coherent thoughts, they're each created a specific way for their own specific purpose. Their individuality is stripped away from them, and they are given drugs to keep the populace under control. Each class of people is given an increasingly simple job the further you progress down the social ladder, to the point where you reach the Epsilon class. "The liftman was a small simian creature, dressed in the black tunic of an Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron." (Huxley 12) The people are controlled before they're old enough to know the difference.
	After reading both novels there seems to be a common value that Huxley and Orwell are trying to communicate to the reader. Be vary of government that possesses absolute power. With events today such as NSA spying, secret agencies, and cover-ups that were only revealed by Edward Snowden, this moral is more relevant than ever. If the government becomes too powerful and doesn't remain in control of all of the population, there is a risk that a totalitarian regime may be executed. "The black mustachioed face gazed down from every commanding corner. There was one on the house-front immediately opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes looked deep into Winston's own..." (Orwell 4) Eventually the society we live in may become ruled by surveillance and the threat of torture, just as it is in 1984. Or, perhaps, society may end up being ruled by technology that decides your fate before you're even birthed. Society may decide the role you'll receive, and you won't have any say in the matter. "'...therefore gives the embryo less oxygen. Nothing like oxygen-shortage for keeping an embryo below par.' Again he rubbed his hands..." (Huxley 70) Be it invasive surveillance or government regulated reproduction, an all-powerful government is something of which to be cautious.
	Both novels, after being read, proved their worth beyond entertainment. They recounted fictional tales of what society might become if an unopposed government with unlimited power is allowed to exist. They describe what nefarious uses technology may serve in the future. They describe how blind patriotism for your government might just cost you your own individual freedom, and the freedom of every citizen under rule of the government.