Javier Fernandez

February 25, 2013

Block 7
The power of the mind
The mind is the most powerful tool. It can recreate memories, take you to
the past, make you imagine the future, or doom yourself if proven to be feeble. As
Joseph Stalin said once, Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let
our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. (Burke, 2012) This
quote describes how powerful mind can be if used correctly. People are able to
manipulate other people physiologically by fear, happiness, lies, or even the truth if
used correctly. These ideas are shown by the idea of fear in George Orwells 1984
where people are controlled by its leader through a series of lies and inventions.
On the other hand in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, peoples mind are
manipulated by peaceful methods that maintain the society as its controller wants
it. Both are inhumane ways of making people do what you want, but at the same
time both are very efficient.
In 1984 Big Brother, the ruler, maintains its state secure and in control by
imposing fear on its citizens. The first clear example of this are the telescreens
placed everywhere on the country. These telescreens monitor every movement
and sound you make, making it impossible for you to express your own ideas and
freely say what you want. Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was
safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing. (Orwell, 1950, p.25)
If you make any conspicuous act that shows any sign of rebellion you will be
vaporized, killed, and no one will ever know of your existence. There are also many
lies in 1984 starting with history. Winston, the main character, works for the Party
by re-writing history for it to be as the Party wants it. They decide what to tell the
people about the past and what to keep for themselves. By doing this they control
what people know and think to maintain stability around the country, and no one
can refute what the Party says. Finally the biggest lie comes when we see the
Partys biggest enemy, Emmanuel Goldstein. They talk a lot about him, and even
have a kind of ritual that involves hating him. "The program of the Two Minutes
Hate varied from day to day, but there was none in which Goldstein was not the
principal figure. He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party's purity. All
subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies,
deviations, sprang directly out of his teaching" (Orwell, 1950, p. 13). This is
considered a lie by the readers because there is never a scene in the book where
Goldstein appears or does something against the country. With this lie they keep
people scared and therefore united to fight against Goldstein. The idea of control is
presented in another way in Brave New World.
In Brave New World they use less violent methods for control, but still do it
physiologically. The most obvious way of control is soma, a kind of drug that
makes people happy and peaceful. This drug makes people distract from the
control they are giving them and most important of the problems they might have.
And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow
happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there's
always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you
patient and long-suffering. (Huxley, 1946, p 237) With this method they keep you
calm and joyful so you cant see what they are doing to your life. Then there are
sports and distractions. There are many distraction in the World State like escalator
squash, electro-magnetic golf, and obstacle golf. These are fancy sports created
so the people are distracted and cant have time to doubt about their leader. Finally
there is a very effective control called hypnopaedia. This is a series of repetitions of
phrases that stay in your mind. One hundred repetitions three nights a week for
four years, thought Bernard Marx, who was a specialist on hypnopaedia. Sixty-two
thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth. Idiots! (Huxley, 1946, p.47)
This method helps the controller to install his rules and philosophy in every
persons mind. These control methods are more peacefully, but affect equally the
protagonist as those in 1984.
In each book the main character is affected by these control methods and
responds in a similar way. First we have Winston in 1984. Winston is a silent rebel
because he keeps a diary and has thoughts of rebellion. During the book he evens
tries to find the rebellion to join them. His plan fails and he is caught; this ends with
him being tortured and finally accepting that he loves Big Brother. On the other
hand Bernard has the same problems. He is an outcast to his society and feels
they should have more to themselves. He doesnt like soma or the way people act.
This makes him go to the reservation and learn about how life was before the
World State. This and some other wrong actions make the leader of the World
State to exile Bernard because of his behavior. We can see how these control
methods have no effect on the outcast that end in a different way, one purged or
brainwashed to follow the rules and the other one exiled.
The leaders of both books use different ways to control peoples minds and
maintain stability. They use inscrutable methods to show power and keep their
country under peace. In history there is a clear example of this, Hitler. He used his
ideas and intelligence to convinve Germans that the Aryan race had to come to
power and that they were the only ones meant to exist. He brainwashed people in
to thinking that Jews, Gypsies, and other religious groups were weaker and just
stopped the country from moving forward. In this case also the leader is the one
that appiles these efficient, but cruel methods to get what he wants. In conclusion,
you can control people if you control their minds.
Bibliography
Burke, E. (2012) Revisiting Joseph Stalin. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from:
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2012/06/14/remember-the-words-of-joseph-stalin/
Huxley, A. (1946). Brave new world. New York: Harper & Bros..
Orwell, G. (1950). 1984: a novel. New York, N.Y.: Signet Classic.