I predict...

Upon reading the article, The Two Futures: A.P. 632 and 1894, I can't help but notice more and more similarities between the two books. I can clearly remember reading 1984 and thinking to myself how similar the two stories are. I also remember comparing the two story lines and characters between the two novels. They are both very similar and extremely different at the same time.

These two novels were written at different times and depict two futuristic societies situated in different times, however they are still very similar to each other, and another novel of the same genre, entitled We by Evgenii Zamiatin. Orwell claims that Huxley must have plagiarized ideas for Brave New World from this novel, however, it was confirmed by a common acquaintance of the two that " 'Drieu la Rochelle told me the other day that in course of a conversation with Huxley he asked him whether he had read We; he had not read it which proves these ideas are in the air we breathe,' " (122). Thus proving that we all take ideas from some common place that isn't exactly known.

One main idea in both novels is the caste system. In Huxley's novel, the people of this utopia are created that way. They are created to be put into different levels of living. In Orwell's novel it is slightly different. They are naturally born, instead of 'grown', but are still placed into certain levels of society. As this article states "Furthermore, the highest caste in a future dictatorship, whether along Orwell's lines or Huxley's own, can never be ''tame"-- that is, it can never be fully conditioned and brainwashed in the way the lower castes can, because the administrative caste must always retain the capacity to new and unexpected situation," (120-121). After reading these novels, especially the caste system in Brave New World, I feel grateful to be in what I consider the higher level of knowledge. One time, not too long ago, I was able to figure something out with cognitive reasoning and I felt thankful that I was able to understand it.

Another theme shared between the two novels is the end of individualism. I would like to think of myself as an individual, I mean, my friends always tell me that there is no one else quite like me. In bother "Huxley's and Orwell's future states are alike in abominating nothing more than the individual, and the plots of both novels are fundamentally accounts of how individuals or potential individuals are destroyed, exiled, or made to conform," (126). I find it so upsetting when people change and conform to society. They stop being themselves and start being who others want them to be. In this case, others are the governing bodies of their worlds.

To tie up some loose ends, Brave New World and 1984 are extremely similar in many aspects. They share ideas of utopia societies that have gone awry because of a few rebellious characters. Both societies deal with extreme caste systems that deal with many different levels of intelligence, etc. There are also issues dealing with conforming to society in both of these novels. As similar as I originally thought these two novels are, they each have their own ideas that are specific to each author.