No one can control this loss of freedom. People are born and rights and freedoms are instantly lost. Even though Aldous Huxley’s story, Brave New World and George Orwell’s story 1984 portrayed different predictions of what society could be in the future both stories shared a common loss of freedom of their people because of restrictions, the governments overstepping power, and brainwashing techniques. In both stories there was evidence of restrictions that lead to the loss of freedom of the people in their societies. One of the main pieces of evidence in George Orwell’s novel 1984 was the use of constant surveillance of their people with telescreens and spies.
Similarly, in the movie 2081, if people are found smarter then most, they have to wear ‘handicaps’ to prevent them from thinking for themselves, being creative, or thinking too much. In both futuristic worlds, the extraordinary is outlawed. People must appear and think in unison in order for them to be accepted. For example, in Brave New World, Bernard Marx fails to fit in because of his inferior physical stature that demonstrates individuality, therefore, he is not given the same opportunities as other Alpha males and is fired by the DHC. Likewise, in 2081, Harrison Bergeron is placed in prison and death-sentenced for promoting individuality and being very intelligent.
There have been extreme totalitarian systems were people have suffered the dejection of death, lack of food, hatred, torture and hopelessness, just like the INGSOC totalitarian system referred in the novel. We can compare the Ingsoc party with two totalitarianism movements and governments, such as Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, or commonly known as The Cultural Revolution, was a social movement that occurred between 1966 and 1976 and it was headed by Mao Zedong. According to historian Patricia Buckley (n.d), the aim of this revolution was “to attack the Four Olds-- old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits--in order to bring the areas of education, art and literature in line with Communist ideology.” However, this movement caused chaos throughout the country. This chaos was caused by Mao’s Red Guards, a group of civilians, mostly youth, who punished those who did not follow the new socialist system; intellectuals, artist and liberals were severely attacked.
As we grow we gain independence. Later on, as we enter older adulthood we regress back to depending on others. It is then that Cumming and Henry theorized that we withdraw from the world and lose our sense of socialization only cherishing the relationships that is necessary for survival. As a result of this a person who is reliant on a care giver may develop strong attachments to that person and choose to cut others out of their life. This is to fill a basic need for survival.
In fact, it is becoming more of a situation as the number of homeschoolers swell. Homeschoolers are now being type casted as being socially awkward, nerds, and irresponsible; this by those who may have little to no exposure to them. An example of this is a writer named Jamie Holguin from CBS, who wrote that homeschoolers should be monitored because of the purported lack of accountability. This incorrect belief is started by rumors, and rumors lead to gossip, and the creation of stereotypes. Therefore, it is important to name common stereotypes and “clean the slate” on these falsities.
They assume that I should be just as able-bodied as them since they can’t “see” my disability and use oppressive words like lazy and ‘no good for nothing’ which only leads to further denigration of an already awful feeling. It also makes me feel even more isolated and alone because I internalize the oppression and my negative self-talk continues to tell me that I am the only one who truly understands. This form of oppression is what stopped me from reaching out to get help for my mental illness for many years. The stigma (negative stereotype) of mental illness which we are often led to believe through outlets like the media, caused me to fear what others may think about me and so I didn’t speak to anyone about my mental health until it was so unmanageable that I had to be hospitalized. Before that, I lived many years with the debilitating symptoms of depression and anxiety without any medical or therapeutic intervention.
Wars have been waged, people have died, and relationships have been destroyed all in the name of freedom from persecution. Even after grotesque amounts of destruction and blood shed just to live a normal life, groups all around the world are still persecuted for their differences by those in society who are ignorant enough to believe that their way of living must be the only correct way to live. Through broadening our mindsets and being open to the possibilities of various styles of proper living, the world’s population can become more unified. Prejudice and racism are a significant part of society, but they can go away in the future through stripping power and meaning from the derogatory words that plague our world and from our parents being more accepting, they can teach us their accepting ways, and through passing acceptance down to future generations, it can be amplified. Prejudice is incurred by the hate we feel towards people whose customs and behaviour differ from our own; the fear of the unknown is the basis of all prejudice.
Recreational activities in Oceania in 1984 include taking part in the “Two Minutes Hate” (Orwell 11). This was an event where “… every day, and a thousand times a day…” (Orwell 13) “Emanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People” (Orwell 11) and “… his theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed…” (Orwell 13). In addition, there are leagues and committees such as the Youth League, the Junior Anti-Sex League, and the Sports Committee that people can join Societal norms in George Orwell’s 1984 include participation in “Hate Week” (Orwell 180). In addition, citizens of Oceania in 1984 have to wear “proper” expressions on their face at all times because “… (To look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense” (Orwell 62). Party members were not to have sexual relations with each other for it was an “unforgiveable crime” (Orwell 65).
It is just how people look at it and how a person can either express it out or have it hidden in the inside. Greed can blind a person and change his or her way of living as well as the way a person looks at life. John Steinbeck provides a good example of how this “potential” nature can change a person’s life. Kino and his family and every other person who have heard about the giant pearl began to face challenging situation from Kino’s finding this valuable object. Greed has gradually grown in them and made them suffer greatly.
This definitely does more harm than good as it could be a bad influence on people listening to make them gamble, wasting their money and destroying families, the most important social unit up to this time. Source F is a very negative part of an article in the Daily Mail, 25 May 1964. This includes very conservative views from Mary Whitehouse. She believed very strongly that the BBC was not fulfilling their duty to promote Christian principles. This shows that the Sixties did more harm than good because, according to her, the standard of programmes was deteriorating which could have influenced viewers.