ABSTRACT

The following extended essay is going to analyze to what extent is the novel Brave New

World by Aldous Huxley similar to Lord of the Flies by William Golding in terms of

Characters and Society management. This research will compare characters that present

parallelism, in which ways is society controlled and how are both literary works dystopian

models introduced as Utopias.

The analysis was almost entirely made from the Brave New World and Lord of the Flies

novels where all the primary information needed could be found. Other books such as

Bloom’s Guide of both novels, Internet sources and documents were consulted to build up

the literary works background and study the human nature.

The conclusion achieved was that Characters similarities were based on inferiority feelings

and dictatorial \ obsessive leaders. The World State society is controlled by technology and

specific techniques that allow shaping the individuals behavior, while the island boys are

victims of their human nature and survival instincts and finally Liberty suppression is

achieved on Brave New World by Bokanovsky process and the Caste system. On the other

hand the Island boys were forced to act due to the fear of the beast and Jack.

Word Count 197

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TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE NOVEL BRAVE NEW WORLD BY ALDOUS HUXLEY SIMILAR

TO LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING IN TERMS OF CHARACTERS AND

SOCIETY MANAGEMENT

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Topic: Comparison-Contrast essay between Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Lord of

the Flies by William Golding

Research Question: To what extent is the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley similar

to Lord of the Flies by William Golding in terms of Characters and Society management

I. Abstract………………………………………………………………..…pg.2

II. Table of Content…………………………………………………….…..pg.3

III. Introduction……………………………………………………...….……pg.4

IV. Background Information………………………………………...….…..pg.6

V. Character Analysis……..……………………………...………….….…pg.7

A. Bernard and Piggy………………………………..………….…pg.7

B. Jack and the World State Director……………..………..……pg.8

VI. Society Management ……………………………….………….………pg.10

A. How is Society controlled……………………………...………pg.10

B. Dystopia presented as a Utopia…………..…………...……...pg.12

VII. Conclusion……………………………………………………..…...……pg.15

VIII. References.……………...……………………………………....………pg.16

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 INTRODUCTION

Literature as an art can be used to express fear or disapproval on different issues of

society. Aldous Huxley, masterpiece Brave New World is a warning towards the massive

technological advances and anticipates development on mental conditioning, reproductive

technology, hypnopaedia or sleep- learning and several other aspects. William Golding also

gives a warning in his novel by exposing the human nature and revealing how individuals act

when they put aside their civilized mentality in order to survive. The purpose of this essay is

to compare both literary works which seem completely different at first sight showing parallel

characters, management of two completely different societies and how both Dystopian

models are first presented as Utopias, therefore my research question is To what extent is

the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley similar to Lord of the Flies by William

Golding in terms of Characters and Society management?

The topic importance is that these two literary works shook the world due to their

severity, cruel and harsh way of telling what the authors think that the truth is. Huxley

defends that massive technological advances in hand with totalitarianism will transform men

and women into automata, suppressing their possibility of personal freedom, whereas,

Golding stands up for the theory that human nature is suppressed by societies morals and

ethics codes, but that when an individual gets isolated from this, his real nature will demand

him to do everything in order to survive.

The reason that justify the study is that the two novels poses a very similar

background, two of the most catastrophic conflicts of all times, World War I and II. The

experiences that both authors whiteness in first hand had repercussion on the literary work

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making the books somehow similar, but the entirely different points of view of the battles

makes the stories approach and finality differ.

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 BACKGROUND

According to the Bloom’s Guide of Aldous Huxley Brave New World, Huxley came

from a family composed by writers and scientists. His grandfather, study and propose

evolution and his brother Julian Sorrell Huxley became a distinguish biologist. He was

constantly surrounded by writers and intellectuals and often shows his passion for the art of

writing (Bloom, 2004). His masterpiece Brave New World was firstly published on 1932, the

world was at that time facing the effects of the United States Great Depression, banks were

broke and the unemployment levels rose. With the approach of the Second World War,

technology and mass production increase at an insane rate, factories employees had long

and tough working hours and a lot of them were not fairly remunerated. Companies were

desperate to increase the consumer demand and in order to do that they resorted to

advertisement. It is necessary to take into account that only 17 years before the novel was

published Henry Ford invented the assembly line, cars were being mass produced, his Model

T was the first affordable car for the majority of the American population. (Historical Context:

Brave New World, 2003)

Lord of the flies author, William Golding, studied English Literature. Some of his jobs include:

adult education, teaching English and theater production. When the Second World War

started he enlisted at the Royal Army and was involved in the mission of sinking the German

Battleship Bismarck and the D-Day Assault in 1944. 10 years later Lord of the Flies was

published, the novel was somehow influenced by some of the worst crimes against humanity

such as the Holocaust and the previously mentioned D-Day Assault scenarios in which he

became first hand witness of massive human genocides. In 1945 the world experience the

first nuclear attack in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the more reliable estimate are

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130,000 deaths as of November 1945 in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 70,000 in Nagasaki

(Atomic Bomb Museum, 2006)

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CHARACTER ANALISYS

In what seems as a flawless society Bernard Marx, an alpha male, is not capable of

fitting in completely because of his physical appearance. The novel introduces in chapter one

the Bokanovsky process, a practice in which humans are artificially fabricated, as any

product in a factory: “bottled people”. It was the only human reproduction mechanism

practiced. When he was still in the bottle the factory workers confuse him with a Gamma and

insert alcohol in his blood surrogate, this resulted in his inferior physical stature converting

him in an easy ridicule target. “The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an

outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the

contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects” (Huxley, 2002). The quotation reveals

that Bernard himself is aware of others responses to his unusual Alpha shortness and feels

isolated between this mass of perfect individuals.

A Similarly case is presented on the novel Lord of the flies. Piggy, one of the first

characters to be introduced, presents an analogous struggle. He is described as an

overweighed boy who wears glasses and suffers from asthma; he is basically averse to

physical labor. All these reasons led him to be a victim of the nickname Piggy, which was

imposed by his classmates at school. Piggy is constantly left behind because of his physical

vulnerability. Piggy stirred. “I’ll come.” Ralph turned to him. “You’re no good on a job like

this.” “All the same—” “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly (Golding, 2001)

Returning to Bernard Marx, although he constantly felt and was treated as an outsider

he is eventually accepted by the World State society after he returned with John, also known

as “the savage”, and his mother Linda. The citizens had never seen something like them,

individuals with a real mother-son bondage that aged and have a completely different

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mentality of how the world should function. Popularity and fame fell upon Marx shoulders and

he finally got the felling that he might fit in. Success went fizzily to Bernard’s head, and in the

process completely reconciled him [ …] to a world which, up till then, he had found very

unsatisfactory (Huxley, 2002). Despite of this Bernard return to be his old alone, nervous and

nostalgic self when he throws a party with the purpose that people meet the savage but John

refuses to leave his room.

For the boys fire is one of the most important factors in order to survive and they tried

to start it up since the day one. It is a signal to the outside world and represents the hope of

being rescued and reintegrated in the civilization although as the novel continues fire

purpose change from rescue to cooking for survival. Piggy’s glasses can be used to ignite

fires and only when the other boys discover this, Piggy is, albeit grudgingly, in some way

accepted among them. But when Jack steals the glasses Piggy, who is almost blind without

them, become useless.

Moving on to the second character comparison, Brave New World present us the

World State director, Thomas, who is in charge of the administration of the Central London

Hatchery and Conditioning Centre where children are created by the Bokanovsky process

and brainwashed by hypnopaedia and conditioning. He posses a self-important and didactic

manner and finds comfort in having the complete control of every situation and eliminating

anything that threats his system.

Jack is the leading advocate of the island anarchy. He is the head boy of the chorus that later

become the island hunters. Jack as the World State Director posses a dictatorial character

and craves control. "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm

chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." (Golding, 2001)

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 The Director, as mentioned before, has the power to ban threats to the World State or

at least try to. The novel reflects this with the particular case of Bernard who is considered as

unorthodox being by the director. He refuses soma on the grounds he prefer to be himself

and also disagrees on having to adopt an infantile behavior in aspects like sex.“If ever I hear

again of any lapse from a proper standard of infantile decorum, I shall ask for your

transference to a Sub-Centre-preferably to Iceland. Good morning.”(Huxley, 2002). The

Director also use him as a warning to everyone else, to avoid any other individual who dares

to go against the beliefs of the World State.

Likewise, Jack start using his influence over his tribe to slowly get rid of the anyone

who threaten his authority, and eventually makes the others scared to defy him. “You don’t

know Roger. He’s a terror.” “And the chief—they’re both—” “—terrors—” (Golding, 2001)

After Piggy died, he organized a hunt were the target was Ralph, who was the only one left

of the other tribe that defies his will. Once he died, Jack will finally have the complete control

over the boys on the island.

SOCIETY MANAGEMENT

Brave New World uses ultimate technology and procedures to shape the individuals

behavior and identity at their taste implementing techniques such as The Bokanovsky

process, hypnopaedia and conditioning. The Bokanovsky Process is a human reproduction

mechanism that not only allows the development of human being in a faster way; it also

controls their development and growth “Social Predestination”. The directors, in their role of

government, regulated the population by shaping them to fulfill the momentary needs. The

way of controlling society was meant since the bottled egg production, in order to set who

was to become Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma or Epsilon: the key for the caste system division

(Huxley, 2002).

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‘The lower the caste,’ said Mr. Foster, ‘the shorter the oxygen’. The first organ affected was

the brain. After that the skeleton. (Huxley, 2002)

The individual production was purposely manipulated in order to create inequality not

only social, but intellectual and physical. This way intelligent and strong Alphas and Betas

could easily rule over unwise and weak Deltas, Gammas and Epsilons. Class is yet another

mechanism for stability and control on the part of the government. Alphas represent the

intellectually superior group and have the high-intelligence jobs, like World Controllers,

Directors of Hatcheries, scientist etc. Betas have slightly less demanding jobs, which also

require a high-intellect. The Gammas had normal jobs such as: housekeepers attendants,

workers and porters. Deltas jobs were often manual like lower laborers or factories workers.

Finally at the bottom of the Hierarchy Pyramid the Epsilons have the most physical

demanding and unpretentious jobs.

An absolutely different force controls the island boys, which can be resumed as

human nature. According to the FM 21-76 US ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL Us humans have

natural reactions as response to stressors, when our system recognize the presence of

stress it starts operating to secure itself. The body prepares to do one of the following

actions: escape or fight. When the body resistance to stress starts falling down and stressors

keep adding up the possibility of repel them or use them in a positive way disappears. Some

of the natural reactions presented on the novel Lord of the Flies include: fear, anxiety, and

frustration and anger. Fear can lead a person to fail in performing actions, which play a

crucial role in surviving. When anxiety takes over an individual, his judgment of making good

decisions decreases and his ability to think reasonably stops, this can have some horrifying

results. Anger and frustration occurs when a person constantly fails in the achievement of a

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specific goal. In almost every scenario frustration ends ups in the development of anger,

combined they lead to an impulsive and irrational behavior (Department of The Army, 2013).

The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out

against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill[...]There were no words,

and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. (Golding, 2001)

This quotation shows the effects of the three previously mentioned natural reactions.

The boys were terrified by the beast, the anxiety takeover does not allow them to realize that

they are actually attacking one of the boys, Simon, and finally frustration and anger are

present too because the boys had tried to kill the beats in numerous occasions and failed

therefore when they see this figure they automatically attack it, which demonstrates an

impulsive and irrational behavior.

Additionally, Hypnopaedia and Conditioning are two of the director’s strongest

weapons for controlling the society. It allows the government to brain wash the society in

order to build up their ideas, beliefs, morals, customs etc. “At their taste” (Huxley, 2002).

Himnopaedia mechanism consists on constantly playing a phrase to the children when

sleeping. These words would stimulate their brains until the phrase became a personal

thought. In this way the hymnopaedic kid would grow and continue to have these same

imposed ideas as an adult. Caste members submitted to this process where basically

compelled to be perfectly happy in the caste they belong to and prevent them from covet the

social position of the other caste members. Conditioning process consisted on exposing the

individual to an animated or unanimated object and then providing it with a positive or

negative stimulus with the purpose of changing the society perception of good or bad

according to the government wishes.

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“Books and loud noises, flowers and electric shocks-already in the infant mind these couples

were compromisingly linked; and after two hundred repetitions of the same or a similar

lesson would be wedded indissolubly” (Huxley, 2002).

This fragment makes reference to the moment after the babies where first attracted to

flowers and books and then electrocuted by the nurses of the Conditioning Center, after

being continuously submitted to this experience they obviously develop rejection and fear

towards the objects.

A Dystopia is defined as: a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal

control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic,

technological, moral, or totalitarian control. (ReadWriteThink Organization, N.D) The World

State represents the concept itself. The totalitarian government presents the society as the

ideal place to live, a perfect Utopia. Technological advances have replaced almost every task

that have a physical demand; women’s does not give birth anymore, the demanding task

have been replaced by the mass production of children at the Hatchery and Conditioning

center which is also in charged of the new born education. In fact women are encouraged to

carry a non-monogamy life, the more partners you have, the better, marriage is completely

obsolete and consider as an serious offense to the system. In this dream land nobody falls ill

and you are free to take whenever you please Soma, a tranquilizer which effects on people

were of pleasure, joy and “the inner light of universal benevolence” (Huxley, 2002). Soma in

the novel, just as antidepressants and narcotics would give people a sense of relief, pleasure

and delight to keep them away from stressful thoughts and feelings. In this way any problem

is more easily managed.

Lord of the flies describe a group of pre-adolescent boys that after suffering a plan

crash, are trapped in a remote island on the Pacific Ocean. The word “trapped” give the

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description a negative connotation but in reality when the boys firstly arrived they were

thrilled, most of them Piggy of course is the exception, because there where no grownups to

dictate orders at them, they were free to do whatever they wanted at any moment. When

they, at the begging of the novel, were putting together a sort of community the boys felt

independent and powerful, they knew that from now on the would have to make everything

by themselves. They even held democratic elections to choose a leader, and start working

on their respective tasks as hunters, explorers, fire keepers etc. The island seemed as the

perfect paradise, they had food water and everything they needed to survive. “Aren’t there

any grownups at all?” “I don’t think so.” The fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of

a realized ambition overcame him. (Golding, 2001)

Moving to the analysis of Brave New World as a dystopian model, liberty suppression

is practiced before the individual is even created. Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons are fertilized

with eggs and sperms that were biologically manipulated to be inferior than those used to

create Alphas and Betas, also at their prenatal state they are submitted to chemical

poisoning to produce a physical and intellectual deterioration. Caste system members are

created to carry a pre elected life style and preform a determined task, there is not such thing

as progress through personal effort. “Too much organization transforms men and women into

automata, suffocate the creative spirit and abolishes the very possibility of freedom” (Huxley,

Brave New World Revisited, 2000) Members of the World State copy the behavior of their

similars, any hint of individuality is socially rejected, as result from hypnopaedia and

conditioning practices.

Even though everything was perfectly right at the begging, on the society that the

boys had created, problems started generating tension. These were, as was previously

mentioned, stressors. Fatigue, hunger, thirst started taking over the boys and their survival

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instincts was progressively coming out. The fear for the beast created a limbo on the power

control. Jack became obsessed with the idea of hunting and believes that keeping the fire

alive and building shelters were secondary stuffs, he tries to establish hunting as a requisite

for being leader. The struggle for power between Ralph and Jack intensified as Jack wanted

to become leader, he and the boys that stoked with him became savages. Ralph never lost

the hopes of returning to the civilized world and his actions were directed towards that goal,

however, Jack was not interesting on being rescued anymore. His savage side comes out

and he starts acting in a violent primitive way focusing on fulfilling his momentary needs.

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 CONCLUSION

This post-war fiction novels reveals how the war affected both Golding and Huxley,

inspiring them in the creation of settings, characters and situations. These two novels have

more in common than what at simple sight can be seen .The first argument discussed

showed that parallel characters could be found in the literary works. Bernard and Piggy are

similar because of their inferiority fellings, they are victims of the society mockery due to their

physical composition. Piggy presents actual physical limitations, Bernard does not, his

problem is that his appearance resembles the one from a lower caste member. On the other

hand the Director and Jack are dictatorial and obsessive leaders that would not vacillate on

taking down anything that threats their societies order.

The Society management study allows the identification and analysis of the power

sources that controls the society. Brave New World technique consist on implementing

ultimate technology and procedures such as Bokanovsky process and Himnopaedia to

shape individuals at their taste. Lord of the flies boys are controlled by their human nature

and survival instincts, their natural reactions such as fear, anxiety, and frustration and anger

take control over them, as consequences they act irrationally and impulsively.

Both novels are dystopian models camouflaged as Utopias at the beginning. Liberty

suppression is achieved on Brave New World by Bokanovsky process, which degrades the

individuals physical and intelectual well being to force them into a social position. Lord of the

flies stable system falls off with Jack wanting to be leader, in his new tribe everyone do what

he asks for due to fear or because they were now savages.

Word Count: 3371

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 REFERENCES

Atomic Bomb Museum. (2006). AtomicBombMuseum.org. Retrieved from

Bloom, H. (2010). Bloom's Guides William Golding's Lord of the Flies. (H. Bloom, Ed.) New York, New
York: Bloom's Literary Criticism.

Bloom, H. (2004). Bloom's Guides Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. (H. Bloom, Ed.) Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers.

Department of The Army. (2013). FM21-76: US Army Survival Manual. En D. o. Army, FM21-76 US
Survival Manual (págs. 9-12). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Golding, W. (2001). Lord of the Flies. New York, New York: The Pinguin Publishing Group.

Huxley, A. (2002). Brave New World. Sao Paulo: Instituto do Desenvolvimento do Potencial Humano.

Huxley, A. (2014). Collected essays. Chicago: Timeless Wisdom Collection for Kindle.

Huxley, A. (2000). Brave New World Revisited. New York: RosettaBooks LLC.

ReadWriteThink Organization. (N.D). Dystopias: Definiton and Characteristics. Retrieved from

West Irondequoit. (2003). Retrieved from www.westdequoit.org/ihs/library/brave.html. (2015,

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