George Orwell and Aldous Huxley had very contrasting views on a dystopian future, featured in their novels, ‘1984’ and ‘Brave New World’. Huxley presented government control through satisfying the people, most notably through a tablet called soma, which is used to escape pain, embarrassment, sadness, and anger. By ensuring that the citizens in ‘Brave New World’ never feel these emotions, the government can control the people by keeping them happy. However, the government in ‘1984’ control their people through fear and surveillance.

Both novels highlight the importance of caste in their dystopian worlds. In ‘Brave New World’, there are 5 castes – Alpha being the highest, Gamma being the lowest. From birth, each person has been conditioned to make them only happy within their own castes. In ‘1984’, your caste is decided by which position within the Party you lie. In ‘Brave New World’, technology is available to all citizens, in the form of privately owned helicopters, whilst in ‘1984’, technology is only available to a minority of the population – the Party and upper castes of the government.

‘Brave New World’ is a scarily accurate reading of life today. Published in 1932, Huxley predicted that babies could be genetically engineered, which is possible today. Huxley also predicted that humans would need endless distractions. In the novel, movies engage all 5 senses, and people have televisions at their feet. Today, many people have televisions in their bedrooms, and can’t go 30 minutes without checking their smartphones. Soma tablets are taken by the characters in ‘Brave New World’ to forget about their worries. In the modern day, we have anti-depressants, which are becoming increasingly popular.

‘1984’ also mirrors some of today’s society. Orwell predicted that surveillance would be used to monitor the daily lives of citizens. Now, CCTV is used everywhere, proving Orwell’s prediction for a dystopian future true.

In conclusion, both novels have elements that are true of today’s world, despite the two authors taking a very different approach to a dystopian future.