Utopias/Dystopias Senioritas

In all the books we’ve read, sex has been a prominent aspect of the storyline. In BNW, it is encouraged while in both 1984 and the Handmaid’s tale sex is more regulated and taboo in certain ways.  Personally, I’ve had mixed feelings on why there is so much sex in these dystopian novels. On one hand, I know that the classic saying that“sex sells” is probably at play here. However, part of me wants to believe there’s more to it than that. After all, there’s just so much of it and at times there is a pretty large amount of detail like unzipping all those zippers in BNW.  I’ve tried to analyze it. Maybe sex serves as a rebellion?  However, how can sex be any more than a rebellion than actually organizing a revolt? It’s one of my main issues with all the sex. If they spent half the time they do in bed on unifying, they could have made a lot more progress in dismantling the system. I mean sneaking around to have sex might be a fun topic to write about for the authors, how...

Julia and Lenina, our main female characters of Brave New World and 1984, have many similarities and differences. In terms of personality, Julia and Lenina are similar, but differ in their actions and motives. Julia while attempts to rebel against the Party in little big ways, she is still not entirely confident in actually attempting to go against them. I see her joining the Brotherhood as more of Winston's influence rather than her own volition. Lenina, on the other hand, is also more timid in her actions, but her motives are entirely different - she is a product of the New World in every mannerism and action, and any possible 'misconduct' - even something as small as staying with the same man for a longer period of time - is quickly cut off. Both Julia and Lenina, despite their differing stances in their respective societies, have one huge thing in common: they are both incredibly well-written characters that display how people in their societies are shaped by their va...

At the beginning of George Orwell’s novel  1984 , these words are presented as the official motto of the nation of Oceania: War is Peace Freedom is Slavery  Ignorance is Strength  Though to us these statements are obvious contradictions, The Party in  1984  is devoted to establishing them as ultimate truths. Shortly into the novel we can infer that Orwell opened the book with this for a reason: to introduce the reader to the concept of  Doublethink , which can be understood as the ability to accept two opposing ideas in one’s mind simultaneously.  I'll briefly pause here to appreciate how this philosophy is impressively puzzling. As in 1984 , today Doublethink can be considered a coping mechanism to rationalize one's internal conflicts. Consider how people often live with multiple belief systems which may easily contradict. A scientist and a committed Christian likely manages their beliefs by compartmentalizing - thinking in several sets...

In 1984  and in Brave New World , we see that the societies are not based upon religious values (so far). However, in The Handmaids Tale , Christianity is the core drive of society and hierarchy. I would make a distinction between 1984  and Brave New World , though. For Orwell, the society is based upon political values, which is what drives the people's opinions. Things like Big Brother against Emmanuel Goldstein, two-minute hating sessions, and monitoring people and showing propaganda with the telescreen are what drives the society. So far, this is the third type of "utopian dystopia" model we've seen. With Huxley it was no religious or political movements, just dumbing the human down to soma and feelies. It was supposed to be a utopia because everyone was doing the same thing: Following their simple desires and not reaching for any real-life purposes or goals, all engineered to be the same. Atwood wrote Gilead around religious values, and it was supposed to be a p...