George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, who wrote two books I considered indispensable for all high school students, really did have a lot of impact in the 20th century.
Orwell’s two books, “1984” and “Animal Farm,” both made tremendous impressions on me about how societies and governments can be organized, and what corrupt lengths they could reach in order to obtain and retain power.
Huxley’s “Brave New World” also meant a lot to me, but when I accepted the assignment in my senior year at Wayland High School of comparing and contrasting Huxley with Orwell, I failed miserably.
Since then, I have redeemed myself with, borrowing from Don McLean in “Vincent, “And now I think I understand what you tried to say to me…”
However, perhaps the very best explanation of the difference between these two influential authors was described by writer and critic Neal Postman in his excellent book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”
Postman wrote:
“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.”
I consider Postman’s analysis absolutely brilliant.
I should’ve known better and I think my language arts teacher, Ms. Mary Nyuli, agreed.
So, for my doing penance, here are my very favorite quotes from the pend of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley:
George Orwell
“So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”
“In a totalitarian society, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Aldous Huxley
“The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence.“
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”
I suppose this wouldn’t matter in states like Florida.
