Haag 1

Summer Haag
Mrs. Taylor
AP Lang
5 January 2017
Huxley vs. Orwell paper
Nearly everyone has read or knows about dystopian societies.
George Orwells 1984 and Aldous Huxleys Brave New World are
predictors of what our society will be become, in a dystopian
manner. In this passage, Neil Postman compares Orwell and
Huxleys predictions about society. Although, Postman believes
Huxleys prediction is more likely than Orwells prediction,
Orwell makes accurate predictions about todays society.
It is true that Postman believes that Huxleys prediction is
more likely to happen than Orwells prediction. Huxley predicts
that the people will create our dystopian society and that what
we love will ruin us. It is a reasonable prediction. Postman
says what Huxley feared was that no one who wanted to read one
this is accurate in todays society, for people are reading less.
This is shown in the decline of bookstores and sales; also more
people are using social media making books more of a thing of the

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past. Huxley fears that the people will start to love and create
a dystopian society because the people hold the power. people
are controlled by inflicting pleasure. If we are told to love
something or someone and we do, we follow that love blindly. In
todays society people will defend celebrities or political
leaders till the very end.

For examples Trumps supporters

defended him at almost every accusation or scandal not focusing

on the fact that it did happen solely because they love him.
Huxley believed what we love will be our downfall.
However, Orwell predicts that pain will control us not
pleasure. The leaders will cause pain to the people if the people
do not do what the leaders to tell them to do. Orwell makes
predictions in 1984 that are already true today, such as how the
government will surveillance us through telescreens, though not
telescreens our government still monitors us through todays
technology. Orwell Feared those who would deprive us of
information. Today the media controls what information is given
about events. We will never know what actually happens, we will
only know what the media tells us happened; and each story
contradicts another story. Orwell feared the leaders and the
leaders today not common knowledge among the people. We do not
know what they plan or do, only what they say.

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Secondly, Orwell feared the truth would be concealed; Huxley
feared the truth would be hidden in a sea of irrelevance. The
truth, in both predictions, is taken away and hidden. In some
cases, Huxley is correct but in other cases Orwell is correct. In
2013, Edward Snowden released information about how the
government monitors people through phones or the internet; the
people never knew about the information and how intense it was
until Snowden released it. Orwell predicted the leaders
concealing the truth from the people.
Finally, Orwell predicted pain will control the people. In
1984, characters are tortured and brain washed to get them to
believe what the leaders want them to believe. This happens
today. Soldiers and prisoners are tortures for information,
conversion, and punishment. Even in the United States, prisoners
are sent to solitary confinement for misbehaving or put on death
row for extremely heinous crimes. Most people do not know how
hard it is to be in solitary confinement but it can be considered
a form of torture. The people know the truth or what they are
told is the truth about prisoners or soldiers and nothing is done
to ask the government about what really happens and the effects
of this treatment.
In conclusion, Postmans assertion could be correct but parts
of Orwells predictions have already come true. Huxleys

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predictions have come true in some instances but so has Orwells
predictions. Neither prediction is more likely than the other.
Both could happen in todays society but Orwells prediction is
already partially true.