Utopian Fiction:
“Utopia” (1516), “Brave New World” (1932), “Nineteen EightyFour” (1949), “A Clockwork Orange” (1962)
I. GENRE HISTORY
1. Definition
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early study of literature denied to analyze utopian fiction − seemed to be too matter-of-factly.
still it is the central genre of modern time, since humankind persistently wonders how the future will
look like.
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genre dates back at least until Homer
ideal state/political system (since Plato’s politeia)
utopian visions were not mere fantasies but reflections about developments and grievances that
were very present in the author’s time.
the term “utopia” was coined by Thomas Morus; means “no-place”, no-man’s-land, a fictitious
island that was discovered by a fictitious friend.
timeliness/up-to-dateness: relevance of utopia dissolves the moment, the historical development
makes it obsolete.
Engels’ criticism on utopias coined a negative connotation: no critical scientific analysis of the
author’s present social grievances. Utopia = phantasm.
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interdependence between fiction and reality: the fictitious utopia comments on events and
developments in the author’s real environment (Utopia: criticism on socio-political system in Europe;
Huxley: conditioning; Orwell: Stalinism; clockwork orange: violence, conditioning).
never merely literary/fictional: open genre, satirical, philosophical, travel reports, political programs,
pseudo-scientific, etc.
boom: from 1890 onwards the utopian/dystopian genre experienced a boom.
(1) the evolution of socialism in the 19th century seemed to make utopian concepts attainable;
(2) Darwinism as well inspired and confused the utopian/dystopian concepts, especially the concept
of rationality and constancy (fight for survival is never constant and seldom rational);
(3) technological evolution provoked both optimistic utopian expectations (no illnesses, less
working hours, technological paradise) and negative dystopian ones (Empire of the insects 1910:
genetic manipulation enslaves workers − tailors are already born in tailor seat). Technological
progress alone is neither positive nor negative; only human behaviours gives it a connotation.
1.1. Categories
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spatial utopia (Morus - island) or time utopia (future: Orwell, Huxley); most modern utopias play in
the future, due to the overall exploration of the globe.
fantastic utopia (travels to the moon); realistic utopia (strives for liability by working with well-known
aspects, events and materials)
utopia (positive (Morus), dystopia − eradication of human dignity
(Orwell: political, extrapolation of Stalinism; Huxley: extrapolation of science and psychology,
conditioning).
1.2. General Principles (Bochum-Lagendreer: 1960)
1. Isolation: geographical, political (sovereignity), economical, in the military, etc.
2. Selection: belief in the possible perfection of human beings thanks to state control (eugenics,
euthanasia, conditioning); absolute conformity to the system, reason, communism,
3. Idealism: high hopes − harmony, happiness (Brave New World, Utopia), often for the price of
freedom. Outside the diegesis: prophetic-missionary claim of the novels written (help the world to
learn from fiction).
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1.3. Structural principles
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systematic description of the utopian institutions (Brave New World, Utopia)
total approach of the utopian system: covers all central parts of a society (1984, Brave New World,
Utopia)
travel: protagonist guides reader through the different parts of Utopia; protagonist is either a tourist
in the utopian society (Utopia) or a (in dystopias non-conform) member of society that moves/travels
a lot.
stability/stagnation: constant order which is affirmed by the rational insight of the members of the
utopian society, no development.
rationalism: love − in one or the other way − is a threat of stability.
the woman’s more empathic character is often stylised as a higher resistence against absolute
rationalism.
impetus of civilization: repulsion against − but also negative fascination for − the wilderness,
savages and uncivilized behaviour. reason against irrationality.
problematic relation to irrational parts of society: sexuality, history, family, individuality, etc. those
irrational factors are often rigidly controlled or entirely abandoned.
vain rebellion motive: generates action (no rebellion, no action but mere description of utopian
society like in Morus’ Utopia).
explanatory dialogue: revelation of inhumane structure by high society member
locus amoenus: in utopias: the place, the time described; in dystopias often nature (illness and
vermin as a price of freedom).
technological progress: based on the realization that printing, gunpowder and compass have
changed the world more than war and religion. While belief in the good nature of technological
progress is prominent amongst the utopians, the dystopians stress the abuse of technological
achievements by human beings.
1.4. Topics
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Conditioning: (Naïve or cruel) belief in the educability of human nature (dystopia:
conditioning/distortion of free will, utopia: good nature needs to be supported by the system).
children are often separated from their families and educated by the state.
erotic aberrations: More’s inspection of the naked future wife; polygamy and ironic reflection of
monogamy in Brave New World; sex and love are crimes in 1984; rape in Clockwork Orange.
collectivism (socialism), many utopias speak in favour of the abolition of money, very detailed
concepts of socialist welfare states; common work eases the boredom of working and lessens the
working hours.
totalitarianism (total control of society); in some states even the number of chew movements is
restricted.
anticlerical, as a new social order is hardly imaginable under a church regime; even Morus’ Utopia
is anticlerical, presents a pageant way of live − although the author was a catholic hardliner.
1.5. inverted utopia/dystopia
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most utopias written in the 20th century were pessimistic inversions, negative extrapolations of
contemporary grievances into the future, etc.
turning point: World War I where technological achievements had a premier as weapons of mass
destruction.
usually emphasis on plot/characters Grievances are presented through a living example (while
utopias merely present the details of a fictitious society en bloc)
evolution of dissidence: whereas in the utopian fiction the travel through utopia leads to a gradual
knowledge about the ideal society (which critically comments the real society of the reader), it here
leads to a gradual knowledge about the grievances of the dystopian society (which extrapolates the
grievances and fears of the reader’s real society). travel, here, becomes a maturation process of
rebellion.
dystopian love (female dystopian lover) often fuel(s) the rebellion of the protagonist against the
closed system.
uncivilized nature remains the fictional counter world, but the real society outside the fiction is no
longer a counter world but shows frightening similarities.
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problem of the inverted utopia: defends a anti-technical society of anarchy; denial of progress
(green world). Yet, the reservation in Brave New Worlds (green world) is not a positively connoted
place. Neither is the uncivilized world in 1984 a place where survival is possible.
thus there is no general rejection of evolution and technological development; the anti-utopists
are simply not able to naively believe that technological progress will inevitably lead to a paradise on
earth.
1. Utopia (1516)
a) Summary
More tells how, when he was in the Netherlands on government business, he was introduced by
his friend Peter Giles to Raphael Hythlodaeus, a veteran traveller. The long day’s conversation
among the three men constitutes the substance of the book.
When More and Giles discover how widely Hythlodaeus has travelled and realize the depth of his
understanding of the governments of many nations, they propose that his knowledge is too valuable to
waste and that he ought to enter the service of some monarch as councillor in order to employ his
knowledge in the service of mankind. Hythlodaeus discourses at length on the reasons for his
reluctance to undertake such employment:
First, he does not believe that, as things stand, his advice would be accepted. The majority of those
presently sitting in royal councils invariably practice a system of flattery toward their superiors and of
personal aggrandizement and would surely override his idealistic and philosophical proposals. In support
of these convictions, he relates experiences during an earlier visit to England and cites two instances of
policy-making in recent international power struggles.
This segment of Book I is conducted as a debate among the three men on the obligations of a man of
experience and integrity to play an active role in the service of country and mankind. It is identified as
“The Dialogue of Counsel.”
In pursuit of the argument, Hythlodaeus proceeds to a critical analysis of the patterns of law,
government, economics, and mores among European nations and, most particularly, in England. His
criticisms are directed specifically at the severity of the penal code, the gross inequities in the
distribution of wealth, the unequal participation in productive labor, and the appropriation of farm
lands for sheep grazing (enclosures).
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kings only listen to their presumptuous power ambitions, not to reason
the kings’ councillors prefer to flatter the king rather than to produce reasonable advice
enclosures and social inequity let the people suffer
marauding soldiers are kept in stock for possible future wars; their behaviour becomes a plague
Book I represents the negative side of the picture which More intends to create, the statement of what is
wrong with “civilization” in his time. A few incidental references comparing the state of affairs in
contemporary Europe with the manners and government of a nation on a remote island called Utopia
leads into the discussion in the second book.
Other Utopias are quoted:
- the Polylerits: thieves need to pay back what they stole; satirizing the hars death penalty for thieves
in England
- the Achorians: people forced their king to abandon a conquered land; satirizing the greed of
European kings to conquer problem-causing lands
- Markaneses: king is not allowed to keep more than 1000 gold in store; satirizing the European’s
greed for gold that leads to endless bloodshed and social inequality.
2nd book: Summary and satire
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Geographical Features. At the outset, Hythlodaeus gives some geographical data, the shape, the
length, and the breadth of the island. He neglects, however, to mention the location on the map—that is,
the latitude and longitude, but other specifics are calculated to give the reader a sense of a real place.
Country Life. A good deal of attention is paid to agriculture and country life, and it is explained that most
of the inhabitants alternate city and country living at two-year intervals. More than in Plato’s Politeia,
almost everybody participates in the generation of food for the society.
Cities. The number and location of the cities is specified, and the capital city, Amaurot, is described in
considerable detail. The entire population engages in productive labour, thereby making it possible
for them to operate on a six-hour work day. The few exemptions from farm labour or working at a trade
are government officials and priests. The luxurious devices (canalization, etc.) mock the repulsing state
of British cities.
Officials. The leaders or government officials, chosen from the citizens of superior intelligence and
integrity, are called the Philarchs and the Archphilarchs (sometimes referred to by their earlier titles of
the Syphogrants and the Tranibors). The head of the government, elected by the Philarchs, is the Prince.
Community Life. Their houses are well built and uniform but unpretentious in style. So, too, is their
clothing (Collectivism is indicated by the most central symbols). The family is the unit of their
society, and the oldest member is governor of the family. Thirty families band together about a great hall
where they eat together, their food being well prepared by women well qualified for that work. Menial
tasks are performed by slaves. (Still: Rationalism − families with more than 16 members need to give
abundant children away to families with less children; indicates future state policy _ as nowadays in
China)
Travelling in the realm is permitted if one’s services are not needed temporarily. Travellers will receive
free hospitality (still: impeded freedom − no movement without permission; freedom is the price of
order).
Economy. The economy of the Utopians is of particular interest. Their markets are nothing more than
supply houses where everyone is free to go and take what he needs without payment. They are able
to produce an abundance of food, so that they can export their surplus to foreign countries, which they
exchange for gold and silver for the state treasury. There is no private property among the Utopians and
they have no money. The wealth which they acquire by foreign trade is used only in time of war.
The citizens are educated to despise jewels and precious metals and find their use by foreigners for
ostentatious decoration to be ridiculous. Mocks greed for gold: golden chamber pots and golden chains
for slaves and criminals. (Quoting Plato and Christ; difference: entire society!) − More’s reflections upon
quality and justice had the strongest impact on contemporary readers.
Learning. Their education is mainly directed toward useful learning, with the result that they have
independently acquired the same skills and concepts as the ancient Greeks. They are much given to
reading in their leisure hours.
Philosophy. The philosophical position that prevails among them enshrines reason as the foundation
for all knowledge. This leads to the belief that a life pattern must accord with the dictates of nature;
since nature prompts people to seek pleasure, pleasure is regarded as the goal of life. Pleasure is to
be restricted only if it will prove detrimental to oneself or to other people (altruism). Furthermore, careful
distinctions are made over the values set between pleasures of the body and of the mind.
- Christian humanism − conviction of the lex naturalis: reasonability is natural;
- eudemonic happiness/pleasure: fulfilment of pleasure is generated by morally good behaviour
(altruism)
Slavery. The slaves are mostly either criminals condemned for vicious crimes or prisoners captured in
battle, though some foreigners are brought in for other reasons.
Euthanasia is advocated.
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Marriage is held in the highest regard, and any breach of chastity is severely punished. When
choosing a mate, one is permitted to see the other party unclothed in order to have a better knowledge
of the person he or she is to wed for life.
Divorce is permissible, but only under special circumstances.
Magistrates never seek office nor wear distinguishing attire.
Laws. They have no lawyers. Their body of laws is brief and readily understood by laymen. An accused
person pleads his own case with assistance from the judge.
Treaties and Alliances are avoided entirely because of lack of trust in the fidelity of parties in such
agreements.
War is regarded as inhumane, something to be avoided if possible. Nevertheless, knowing that they
must expect involvement in military conflicts at times, they make careful preparations and have devised
a method for conducting campaigns that has served them well. Also, their method of treating a defeated
enemy with clemency has proved effective.
Religion. There is not a single religion throughout the nation, but a considerable variety of doctrines
is permitted. There is uniformity in the belief in immortality, and, as a consequence of this, they have
developed a cheerful attitude toward the approach of death. They regard atheists askance and refuse to
let them hold office.
- transcendence and the belief in a god are obligatory: atheists and materialists (no soul) are outlaws.
- otherwise open; divorce possible, priests can marry.
They have persons whose dedication to a life of service and sacrifice corresponds to the religious orders
in the Christian church. Their priests are men of exceptional character and dignity. Their churches are
large and very beautiful. The services are interdenominational in character.When Hythlodaeus and his
companions instructed the Utopians in the teachings of Christianity, many of them became converts and
were baptized.
Peroration. In a short passage, Hythlodaeus sums up his views on the Utopian system, declaring it to
be the best and only true commonwealth. It insures justice for all of its citizens, and because there is
no private property, everybody owns a share in everything. The result is a nation of happy people, and
the chief causes of dissension in other nations are avoided: greed, theft, social classes, party factions,
and even murder. All other governments are viewed as conspiracies of the rich to keep the common
people in subjection.
Conclusion. At the conclusion of Hythlodaeus’s discourse, More offers some remarks of his own
indicating that he was not wholly converted to the Utopian system but that he regarded some of its
features as meritorious and wished they might be adopted in Europe.
b) Analysis
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structural principle of the satire: contrasts the ideal institutions of utopia with the problematic
institutions of the early 16th century. 1st part: stress on criticism, 2nd part: stress on ideal state.
historical frame is always the comparison of European grievances with the carefully structured
arrangements of Utopia
technological futurism (water canalization, laying batteries, etc.) are a audacious futurism that
coined later works and the sci-fi-genre.
Morus’ utopia is spatial, fuelled by the author’s experience that the world accommodates other
people with other socio-political systems.
lack of liberty under communist system: is believed to be an inspiration for Huxley/Orwell.
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patriarchal character: women need to kneel before their husbands,
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perverted eroticism: working camp/death for adultery; pre-martial exposing of the future wife before
the husband
this rigidity might be due to Morus’ personal experiences (lived in an abbey, wore a hair shirt to
tame his flesh)
Sources
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Lucian’s “Menippus goes to Hell”
Telling Names
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Raphael: “God has healed”; rather fitting for a character who tries to open people’s eyes; the healer
of Europe
Hythlodaeus: Dispenser of Nonsense.
Utopia: no-place; homonym to Eutopia (stresses the satire on Europe)
Anydrus: the river “not water”
Ademus: the chief magistrate, “not people”
Morus expected the educated reader to understand those names and their significance within the
context.
remind the reader that the places are merely imaginary
Fictionality
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fictionality as decisive difference to original (Plato’s politeia): Plato speaks in conditional clauses
(iffy construction), whereas Morus fictionalizes his narration.
yet, fictional quality still very rudimentary: no genuine storytelling, rather theoretical dissertation
about the system utopia (no genuine action but recounted − variously nested − stories instead).
no clear distinction between fictionality/inventions and reference to ancient/medieval philosophical
concepts (those are often advanced by More).
Ironic realism (second hand technique)
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Raphael Hythlodaeus sat on Vespucci’s boat during a historical voyage; if nobody had coughed
while Rafael uttered the geographical coordinated of Utopia, we would have known where it is.
lapses of memory
amusing intelligent readers by hoaxing the unintelligent (who did not notice that the book was
fictional)
protection mechanism: imaginary enables to tell satirical home-truths with comparative safety
Morus’ ambivalence: Is utopia a vision of perfection?
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many believe that utopia was not meant to represent the perfect state.
even Rafael, the advocate of utopia, in the end decides not to stay there.
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double discrepancy: (1) between the author’s and the novel’s convictions (Hythlodaeus); (2)
between the historical author More and the persona More in the fiction (although More’s rejection
of communism is also advocated by the persona More).
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problematic: indistinguishable when More jokes and when he is serious (told Erasmus).
could Morus, a devout Catholic (even after Luther’s reformation) who died for the separation of state
and church, advocate such things as the marriage of priests, euthanasia and divorce? Can a
hardliner against heretics recommend religious toleration?
could an anti-communist advocate a communist system?
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More does not criticize the Rafael’s religious descriptions but the communist ones with traditional
Aristotelian arguments: communism leads to laziness and irresponsible behaviour; this leads to
shortage of goods.
But he also justifies capitalism by majesty, splendour and glory − values that were highly satirized in
the first book.
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therefore it remains ambivalent whether More wants to reassess communism − and the whole
system of utopia − or whether he includes himself as a dramatis persona into the satire as a
conservative (self-irony was one of More’s greatest abilities).
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usual answer: not the ideal of a perfect state but a satire of the European wickedness (death
penalty for thieves, marauding soldiers, wars under the cloak of religion, king’s greed for more,
expansion wars, dishonest taxes for raising money)
satirical consequence: a consequent counterpoint to Europe/England; also concerning religious
tolerance (religious was often instrumentalized as a reason for war).
no perfect alternative: however, the practical arrangements of the utopians are also satirized.
Similarily, the green world in 1984 or Brave New World is not the perfect alternative to the dystopian
regimes.
best explanation: More polarizes his ideas and doubts and scatters them onto two persons −
Hythlodaeus advocated More’s ideas of Christian humanism, the persona More voices his doubts but
shows himself open for certain compromises.
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Language
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appears to be simple, deceives the complexity and denseness of thoughts.
recounted speech stresses multi-perspectivity of opinions and convictions; it is furthermore a filter
(maybe a protection mechanism) − sometimes the recounted narration is nested thrice: More tells
what Hythlodaeus what a utopian tells about an aspect of utopia.
prevalent rhetoric means: reduction ad absurdum/hyperbole; (1) man-eating sheep (enclosures that
become an existential problem for farmers); (2) thieves are only produced (by social grievances) in
order to be killed; (3) beggars should be kept in monasteries − here even religion is ridiculed and an
angry dialogue partner tries to silence Rafael by quoting the Bible.
seeming looseness; natural conversation tone: Utopian arrangements for war are mentioned at the
beginning and in the end.
Reception history
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discrepancy between meaning (book) and significance (for its readers in different spatiotemporal and
socio-cultural contexts).
2. Brave New World (1932)
a) Summary
The novel is set in A.F. 632 (After Ford), approximately seven centuries after the twentieth century.
A.F. stands for the year of Ford, named for the great industrialist Henry Ford who refined mass
production techniques for automobiles. The world is ruled by World Controllers who ensure the
stability of society. To ensure social stability, a five-tiered caste system ruled by Alphas and Betas has
been created. The labour force comes from the lower three castes, known as Gammas, Deltas, and
Epsilons. A drug called soma ensures that no one ever feels pain or remains unhappy, and it is rationed
out to and used by members of every caste. Social stability is further ensured through the use of preand postnatal conditioning.
Brave New World opens with the Director of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre
giving a group of young students a tour of the facilities. They view the various techniques for producing
more babies and watch as the babies are segregated into various castes. After the babies are decanted
from their bottles they are conditioned. This is done through Neo-Pavlovian conditioning and
hypnopaedia. For the Neo-Pavlovian conditioning, babies are placed in a room filled with books and
roses. Alarms and sirens sound, as well as a small electric shock, which so frightens the babies that
when they are confronted by the same items a second time they recoil in fear. Hypnopaedia is used to
teach the children ethics. While the babies and children are asleep, ethical phrases are played numerous
times so that the phrases will become a subconscious part of the each person.
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The World Controller of Western Europe, His Fordship Mustapha Mond appears and gives the
students a lecture about the way things used to be. Before the Utopian world order was established, he
indicates that people used to be parents and have children through live birth. This led to dirty homes with
families in them where emotions got in the way of happiness and stability. The first world reformers
tried to change things but were ignored by the old governments. War finally ensued, culminating in the
use of anthrax bombs. After the so-called Nine Years' War the world went through an economic crisis.
Exhausted by the disastrous living conditions, people finally allowed the world reformers to seize
control. (No stability with violence.) They soon eradicated religion, monogamy, and most other
individualistic traits. The society became stabilized with the introduction of the caste system and the
use of soma.
Bernard Marx is introduced as a short, dark haired Alpha who is believed to have accidentally received
a dose of alcohol as a foetus. He is not well liked by his co-workers, who talk about him in derogatory
tones. Bernard has a crush on Lenina Crowne and she informs the reader that he asked her to go with
him to the Savage Reservations several weeks earlier. Lenina has been dating Henry Foster for the
past several months, but since long term relationships are discouraged, she agrees to go with Bernard
Marx to the Reservations.
Bernard goes to the Director (named Tomakin − Thomas Aquin) and gets his signature to enter the
Reservations. The Director tells a story about how he went there twenty-five years earlier with a
woman. During a storm she got lost and he was forced to leave her there. The Director then realizes he
should not have told Bernard this story and turns defensive by yelling at him. Bernard leaves unruffled
and goes to talk to his good friend Helmholtz Watson about his meeting with the Director.
Helmholtz Watson is an intellectually superior Alpha who has become disillusioned with the society.
He is tired of his work which consists of writing slogans and statements to inspire people. Helmholtz
indicates that he is searching for a way of expressing something, but he still does not know what. He
pities Bernard because he realizes that neither of them can completely fit into the society.
Bernard flies with Lenina to the Savage Reservations. While there he realizes he left a tap of
perfume running in his room, and so he calls Helmholtz Watson to ask him to turn it off. Helmholtz tells
him that the Director is about to transfer Bernard to Iceland on account of the fact that Bernard has
been acting so antisocial lately.
Bernard and Lenina enter the compound and watch the Indians perform a ritualistic dance to ensure a
good harvest. A young man named John approaches them and tells them about himself. He was born
to a woman named Linda who had been left on the Reservation nearly twenty-five years earlier. John is
anxious to learn all about the Utopian world. Linda turns out to be the woman that the Director took to the
Reservation and left there. She was unable to leave because she became pregnant with John, and
since the Utopian society is disgusted by the notion of live birth, mothers and children are considered
taboo topics.
Bernard realizes that John and Linda could save him from getting transferred to Iceland. He calls
Mustapha Mond and receives approval to bring them back to London. When Bernard finally returns, he is
forced to meet with the Director in public. The Director publicly shames him and informs Bernard that
he is being sent to Iceland. Bernard laughs at this and introduces Linda and John. At the disclosure of
his past, the Director is so humiliated that he resigns. Bernard becomes an overnight celebrity
due to his affiliation with John Savage, whose good looks and mysterious past make him famous.
Revelling in his sudden popularity, Bernard starts to date numerous women and becomes extremely
arrogant.
Bernard eventually hosts a party with several prominent guests attending. John refuses to come and
meet them, at which point Bernard is embarrassed in front of his guests. The guests leave in a rage
while Bernard struggles to make amends. John is happier afterwards because Bernard is forced to be
his friend again.
Helmholtz and John become very good friends. Helmholtz has managed to get into trouble for
writing a piece of poetry about being alone and then reading it to his students. John pulls out his
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ancient copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare and starts to read. Helmholtz is overwhelmed by
the fiery passion of the language and realizes this is what he has been trying to write.
Lenina has gotten a crush on John the Savage and finally decides to go see him. After a few minutes
he tells her that he loves her. Lenina is very happy to hear this and strips naked in front of him in order
to sleep with him. John is taken aback before getting extremely mad at her. Crying, "Strumpet!" he
proceeds to hit her and chases her into the bathroom. Luckily for Lenina a phone call interrupts John and
he rushes off.
John goes to the hospital where Linda has finally succumbed to taking too much soma. While he
tries to visit her a large group of identical twins arrives for their death conditioning. They notice Linda
and comment on how ugly she is. John furiously throws them away from her. He then talks to Linda who
starts asking for Pope, an Indian she lived with back on the Reservation. John wants her to recognize
him and so he starts to shake her. She opens her eyes and sees him but at that moment chokes and
passes away. John blames himself for her death. He is once more interrupted by the young twins and
silently leaves the room.
When he arrives downstairs John is confronted by several hundred identical twins waiting in line for their
daily ration of soma. He passionately thinks that he can change the society and tells them to give up
on the soma which is poisoning their minds. He grabs the soma rations and starts to throw the soma
away. The Deltas get furious at this and start to attack him. Bernard and Helmholtz receive a phone call
telling them to go to the hospital. When they arrive and find John in the middle of a mob, Helmholtz
laughs and goes to join him. Bernard stays behind because he is scared of the consequences.
All three men are taken to meet Mustapha Mond who turns out to be in intellectual. He tells Bernard
and Helmholtz that they will be sent to an island where other social outcasts are sent. The island is for
people who have become more individualistic in their views and can no longer fit in with the larger
society.
John and Mustapha engage in a long debate over why the society is structured the way it is. John is
upset about the fact that history, religion and science are all regulated and banned. Mustapha tells
him that the society is designed to maximize each person's happiness. History, religion and science only
serve to create emotions which destabilize society and thus lead to unhappiness. In order to ensure
perfect stability each person must be conditioned and forced to ignore things which would lead to
instability. John continues protesting. The climax of the book comes when Mustapha tells John that,
"You are claiming the right to be unhappy." Mustapha then mentions a long list of mankind's ills and
evils. John replies, "I claim them all."
Mustapha sends Bernard and Helmholtz away to an island, but refuses to allow John to leave. He tells
John that he wants to continue the experiment a little longer. John runs away from London to an
abandoned lighthouse on the outskirts of the city. There he sets up a small garden and builds bows
and arrows. To alleviate his guilty conscience over the way that Linda died, John makes a whip and
hits himself with it. Some Deltas passing by happen to see him in self-flagellation and within three
days reporters show up to interview him. He manages to scare most of them away. However, one man
catches John beating himself and films the entire event. Within a day hundreds of helicopters arrive
carrying people who want to see him beat himself. John cannot escape them all. Lenina and Henry
Foster also arrive and when John sees Lenina he starts to beat her with the whip. The crowd soon
begins to chant Orgy-porgy, a sensual hymn used to generate a feeling of oneness. John gets caught
up with the crowd and is waked up the next day having taken soma and engaged in the sensual
dance of the hymn. He is overwhelmed with guilt and self-hatred. That evening he is found dead in the
lighthouse, hanging from an archway.
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b) Analysis
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criticism on society of consumption and superficial happiness (contemporary influence of the
American way of life on Europe)
Huxley wrote a preface in 1946 in order to actualize the book.
names: Lenin, Marx, etc.: welfare-tyranny can spring from socialism as well as from capitalism.
totalitarism: Huxley’s historical experiences (Hitler, Stalin, etc.) made him lead to the conclusion that
the future political system would be totalitarian − either worldwide (as in Brave New World) or
regional.
satire on the genre of (positive) utopia: quotes Well’s optimistic inventions, stronger emphasis on
their man-made negative consequences than Well’s mere technological optimism (monorail, world
state, banishment of dissident on islands, extinction of insects); especially the definition of happiness:
in Men like Gods, Wells believed the ability to suffer to be a phylogenetical handicap.
Wells was still capable to believe that the exaggeration of positive ideas would inspire humankind.
Structural conventions
-
-
-
-
entire society: does not follow the conventions of older utopias that show all aspects of society;
politics, for instance, are merely described in a rudimentary way. Still, the comparatively short book
manages to mention central aspects of society − with a noticeable stress on science (natural
sciences and psychology).
traditional guided tour through utopia: by the travels.
vain rebellion motive: scattered over various characters:
o John (against the whole system, the only real utopist that naively thinks he can change the
system [by throwing soma away]; sense of corruption ends in suicide);
o the other characters’ non-conformity merely springs from egocentric motives:
o Marx (because he is unaccepted by society, corrupted to conformity when he becomes a
celebrity − then banishment);
o Helmholtz (feels intellectually unchallenged; treis to create something new with language
[artistic strive] − banishment);
o Lenina (monogamy − no punishment).
o Rebellion is possible (against the laws of conditioning) since Alphas are nor fully conditioned,
since they need the ability to thing on their own.
explanatory dialogue: revelation of inhumane structure by high society member − by Mustapha
Mond.
locus amoenus behind the green wall: Indian Camp; no locus amoenus at all. A − still
questionably − utopia might be found on the islands (but only for the characters − for us it would
simply be the world we are use to minus some commodities).
anticlerical: fordism as a substitute-religion: T (Ford’s T-Model) replaces the Christian cross; “O
Ford!” substitutes “Oh Lord!”.
collectivism: identity with no choice of individual freedom; conditioning/hatchery lead to absolute
collectivism, still its purpose is − “as in Utopia” − happiness (contrarily to Orwell).
Title:
-
mocks naïve trust in technological achievements
quote from The Tempest
John first coins this phrase without irony (when still in the reservation).
Community, Identity, Stability
-
mocks the motto of the French Revolution: eaglité and fraternité (brotherhood and equality by
cloning, 96 identical twins), liberté (conditioned control).
-
Community is artificially generated by pre-natal cloning/modification and post-natal
conditioning/hypnopaedia.
Identity is artificial identity with the norms of the state, no individual identity
Stability is the main aim − generated by class system and perfectly stagnant social structure
-
10
biological and psychological means of society building: Hatchery (Brutanstalt) and Conditioning Centres
-
-
human behaviour is presented to be entirely manipulable.
eugenics (chemical manipulation of prenatal evolution in incubators)
conditioning, hypnopaedia, electric shocks, gratifications (Pavlov) − fatalist happiness with social
standing and sexual promiscuity (love relations are believed to be an impediment against
happiness), no fear of death (sweets and games near dying persons)
derogatory words: “human stock”, “hatchery”.
Anti-culturalism/Anti-science/Anti-religion:
-
-
Shakespeare and literature in general is forbidden: Passionate emotions are seen as a potential
danger to society − might make the people feel dissatisfied about their dumb happiness; in addition
to this, the emotional pathos of Shakespeare cannot be understood by the inhabitants of Brave New
World (Helmholtz’s laughter).
Violent Passion Surrogate: Passions are only maintained for medical purpose (adrenaline
injections).
Science as well is only allowed within certain boundaries since new inventions might endanger
stability (stability = stagnation).
Comfort and happiness instead of truth and beauty.
Religion is substituted by soma − no need for religion (no old people that might convert to God; no
need of heroism or glory because of the absolute stability).
Language:
-
-
-
-
-
expert reports: parody when Huxley summarizes longer passages, using the same language as the
director and Henry Foster − same language (scientifically precise vocabulary) albeit the author does
not share their ideological convictions.
satire: Mustapha Mond wipes away history from Jesus to King Lear like dust particles.
counterpoint-technique: historical dissertation is alleviated by Lenina’s chattering, Marx’s
moroseness against the system, etc.: concrete examples underline and comment on what Mond
says.
Shakespeare-quotes: various functions − (1) common ground for antagonists Mond and John the
Savage (Mond quotes Shakespeare); (2) John: sometimes Shakespeare gives him orders − and the
vocabulary influences his understanding of events and emotions (Romeo and Juliet for his ferocious
love for Lenina) − this language/understanding separates him from the rest of the world; (3) quotes
from different plays: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Kind Lear; Hamlet; (4) Shakespeare’s
language furthermore counterpoints the child rhymes of hypnopaedia.
John’s language: hybrid mixture of a native’s simple grammar and Shakespeare’s heroic couplets.
The boundaries of language/understanding: hypnopaedic axioms eradicate free thoughts. All
open questions that might lead to a critical reflection of the system are immediately answered by
hypnopaedic rhymes (helicopter flight over the North Sea: communication between Marx and Lenina
fails).
the normative conflict between John and the world provokes comedy: “My father”, etc. Double
comedy: they laugh about John, because for their norms are different; we (together with Huxley)
laugh about them, because our norms are like John’s and their reaction is comically. At the same
time we (sardonically) laugh about John because he is so lost and naïve.
11
3. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
a) Synopsis
The novel focuses upon one man named Winston Smith who ultimately gives up at the end of the novel:
hence its original working name of The Last Man in Europe. Although the storyline is unified, it could be
described as having three parts: The first part deals with the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four as seen
through the eyes of Winston; the second part deals with Winston's forbidden sexual relationship
with Julia and his eagerness to rebel against the Party, and the third part deals with Winston's capture
and torture by O'Brien.
The world described in Nineteen Eighty-Four contains striking and deliberate parallels with the
Stalinist Soviet Union, notably the themes of a betrayed revolution — with which Orwell famously dealt
in Animal Farm — the subordination of individuals to "the Party", and the extensive and institutional use
of propaganda, especially as it influenced the main character of the book, Winston Smith.
1. Winston Smith, a member of the Outer Party, lives in the ruins of London, the chief city of Airstrip One
— a front-line province of the totalitarian hyper state Oceania. Winston grew up in post-Second World
War Britain, during the revolution and civil war. When his parents died during the civil war, he was
picked up by the growing Ingsoc movement and given a job in the Outer Party. Like the rest of the
population, Winston lives a squalid and materially deprived existence. He lives in a filthy one-room
apartment in "Victory Mansions", and is forced to live on a diet of hard bread, synthetic meals served at
his workplace, and vast amounts of industrial-grade "Victory Gin". He is deeply unhappy in his life and
keeps a secret diary of his illegal thoughts about the Party.
Winston is employed by the Ministry of Truth (being a ministry of lies − especially historical forgery),
which exercises complete control over all media in Oceania: his job in the Ministry's Records Department
involves doctoring historical records in order to comply with the Party's version of the past. Since
the perception of the past is constantly shaped by the events of the present, the task is a neverending one.
2. However, Winston is fascinated by the real past, and eagerly tries to find out more about the
forbidden truth. At the Ministry of Truth, he encounters Julia, a mechanic on the novel-writing
machines, and the two begin an illegal relationship, regularly meeting up in the countryside (away
from surveillance) or in a room above an antique shop in a prole area of the city. As the relationship
progresses, Winston's views begin to change, and he finds himself relentlessly questioning Ingsoc.
Unknown to him, he and Julia are under surveillance by the Thought Police, and when he is
approached by Inner Party member O'Brien, he believes that he has made contact with the
Resistance. O'Brien gives Winston a copy of "the book", a searing criticism of Ingsoc that Smith
believes was written by the dissident Emmanuel Goldstein.
In the novel, Winston reads from "the book" that a revolution in the United Kingdom came shortly
after the Allied victory in the Second World War, and lasted for a short but undefined period, plunging
Great Britain into civil war. At the same time, the Soviet Union embarked on a mass invasion of
mainland Europe, eventually overrunning the entire continent apart from the British Isles and Iceland. A
Third World War then broke out between the three emerging powers of Oceania (led by what had
previously been the United States), Eastasia (controlled by a revitalized China), and Eurasia (the
expanded Soviet Union). As the three powers fought for global dominance, hundreds of atomic bombs
were dropped on Europe, western Russia, and North America (Eastasia apparently escaped the
bombs, perhaps explaining how this relatively small state was able to emerge without being crushed by
the much larger powers of Eurasia and Oceania).
In the novel, Winston recalls a point during the atomic wars of the 1950s when an atomic bomb was
dropped on Colchester (presumably by Eurasian forces), provoking mass panic in civil-war-torn Britain.
As the book explains, the three powers eventually realized that continuous stalemate war was
preferable to conquest, as war allowed them to keep people busy by manufacturing products that could
be wasted during fighting, rather than being used to improve people's standard of living (an
impoverished population was easier to control than a rich one). By the time the novel is set, the three
powers have taken over most of the world, but have left a large sector of the Earth nominally free.
12
This sector, containing the northern half of Africa, the Middle East, southern India, Indonesia, and
northern Australia, has become the main battlefield for the three powers, and provides a useful source
of slaves (used only for propaganda purposes).
The three world powers rarely actually fight on their own territory — Airstrip One (the official name of
Great Britain) has become the target of Eurasian rocket bombs, but it is hinted that the Oceanian
government itself launches these weapons in order to convince Airstrip One's urban populations
that they are under constant attack (the novel does not explain how short-range rocket bombs
continue to land on British cities even when Oceania and Eurasia are allies, as rocket bombs could not
travel all the way from Eastasia).
The revolution in Britain was betrayed in the late 1950s by the rising figure of Big Brother, who
turned the socialist rebellion into a pretext for creating a terror state. By the year 1984, Airstrip One had
become a police state and a province (the third richest) of the vast hyperpower Oceania, its citizens
separated into three distinct, isolated classes (Inner Party, Outer Party, and Proles), controlled by the
four Ministries of the Province of Airstrip One.
3. Winston and Julia are apprehended by the Thought Police and interrogated separately in the
Ministry of Love, where opponents of the regime are tortured and executed. O'Brien reveals to Winston
that he has been brought to "be cured" of his hatred for the Party, and subjects Winston to numerous
torture sessions. During one of these sessions, he explains to Winston the nature of the endless world
war (explanatory dialogue), and that the purpose of the torture is not to extract a fake confession, but to
actually change the way Winston thinks. This is achieved through a combination of torture and
electroshock therapy, until O'Brien decides that Winston is "cured".
However, Winston unconsciously utters Julia's name in his sleep, proving that he has not been
completely brainwashed. Winston is terrified of rats, and in Room 101, O'Brien uses these to
destroy Winston's feelings for Julia. At the end of the novel, Winston and Julia meet, but their
feelings for each other no longer exist. Winston has become an alcoholic and we know that
eventually he will be shot, but the last sentence of the novel reveals that the torture and 'reprogramming'
have been successful: 'He loved Big Brother'. In the closing pages he writes the equation 2+2=5, which
he was forced to believe in his captivity, and is symbolic of Big Brother's control over what he
thinks, regardless of his own reason.
4. At the end of the novel there is an appendix on Newspeak (the artificial language invented and, by
degrees, imposed by the Party to limit the capacity to express or even think "unorthodox" thoughts), in
the style of an academic essay.
Ministries of Oceania
Oceania's four ministries are housed in huge pyramidal structures displaying the three slogans of the
party (see below) on their sides.
The Ministry of Peace
Newspeak: Minipax.
Concerns itself with conducting and perpetuating Oceania's peace through continuous wars.
The Ministry of Plenty
Newspeak: Miniplenty.
Responsible for rationing and controlling food and goods.
The Ministry of Truth
Newspeak: Minitrue.
The propaganda arm of Oceania's regime. Minitrue controls political literature, the Party
organisation, and the telescreens. Winston Smith works for Minitrue, "rectifying" historical records
and newspaper articles to make them conform to IngSoc's most recent pronouncements, thus
making everything that the Party says true.
13
The Ministry of Love
Newspeak: Miniluv.
The agency responsible for the identification, monitoring, arrest, and torture of dissidents, real or
imagined. Responsible for making every Party member love the Party.
-
-
The ministries' names are, of course, paradoxical — the Ministry of Peace engages in war, the
Ministry of Plenty administers over shortages, the Ministry of Truth spreads propaganda and lies, and
the Ministry of Love inflicts human misery for its own sake.
The Mini is ironical − minimal peace, love, etc (leads back to the contemporary fashion of mini in
Orwell’s time − mini-skirts, mini-cars, etc.).
Big Brother vs. Immanuel Goldstein
-
-
-
-
The mysterious head of government is the omniscient, omnipotent, beloved Big Brother, or "B.B.",
usually displayed on posters with the slogan "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU". However, it is
never quite clear whether Big Brother truly exists or not, or whether he is a fictitious leader
created as a focus for the love of the Party which the Thought Police and others are there to
engender.
It is perfectly possible that the conflict between Big Brother and Goldstein is in fact a conflict
either between two fictitious or two dead leaders, whose true purpose is to personify both the
Party and its opponents.
His political opponent is the hated Emmanuel Goldstein, a Party member who had been in league
with Big Brother and the Party during the revolution. Goldstein is said to be a major part of the
Brotherhood, a vast underground anti-Party fellowship.
The reader never truly finds out whether the Brotherhood exists or not, but the implication is that
Goldstein is either entirely fictitious or was eliminated long ago.
Party members are expected to vilify Goldstein and the Brotherhood via the daily "two
minutes hate." During this ritual citizens are expected to ridicule and shout at a video of the hated
"bleating" Goldstein expounding his alternative philosophy (indeed, the image ultimately morphed
into a bleating sheep).
The three slogans of the Party, on display everywhere, are:



WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Each of these is of course either contradictory or the opposite of what we normally believe, and in 1984
the world is in a state of constant war, no one is free, and everyone is ignorant. The slogans are
analysed in Goldstein's book. Through their constant repetition, the terms become meaningless, and the
slogans become axiomatic. This type of misuse of language, and the deliberate self-deception with
which the citizens are encouraged to accept it, is called doublethink.
One essential consequence of doublethink is that the Party can rewrite history with impunity, for
"The Party is never wrong." The ultimate aim of the Party is, according to O'Brien, to gain and retain full
power over all the people of Oceania; he sums this up with perhaps the most distressing prophecy of the
entire novel: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.
14
b) Analysis
Sources
-
-
-
the writer’s motivation: political reaction warning against the perversion of totalitarian systems in
Orwell’s time; (satirical) extrapolation of totalitarianism in order to indicate possible political
developments
central criticism: concealed power ambitions under the cloak of collective idealism (left and right
socialism, Catholics)
manichaeistic moral structure: exaggerated evil, since he believed that only the utmost negative
extrapolation would have enough impact on the reader.
1984 is no political analysis but rather a warning.
still, Orwell does not entirely reject (democratic) socialism (went on to defend it).
Ingsoc. = English Socialism (but no socialist welfare as in Utopia)
Big Brother refers to person cult around Hitler/Stalin
thought police: Gestapo-satire?
Emmanuel Goldstein, vaporization in public, reminds reader of Trotzky (Leo Bronstein) −
Goldstein’s book has stylistic similarities to Trotzki’s book “The Revolution Betrayed”.
systematic burning of books, brain washing (Stalinism)
power does not serve happiness (power - only power). party-members do not succumb to this
illusion.
Orwell’s own experiences in Burma (member of the Imperial Police); in Spain (member of a rebel
group related to Trotskyism; due to his work as a political journalist.
Down and Out in Paris and London: one of his autobiographical documentaries − inspiration for
his description of the proles.
Orwell is reported to have said that the book described what he saw as the actual situation in the
United Kingdom in 1948, where rationing was still in place, and the British Empire was
dissolving at the same time as newspapers were reporting its triumphs.
His work for the overseas service of the BBC, which at the time was under the control of the
Ministry of Information, also played a significant role as the basis for his Ministry of Truth
There have been suggestions that the primary character was named Winston after Winston
Churchill, who had been British Prime Minister during the Second World War.
Structure of society
(1) inner party (privileged, even are allowed to switch off the ubiquitous television). Orwell’s criticism on
instrumentalized idealism for the sake of power;
(2) outer party (strongest regimentation, no individual freedom). Blue collars ironically represent their
contact with the working class (proles).
(3) proles (individual freedom, but slaves with no rights of education, etc.) − Winston’s statement: “The
future belonged to the proles” is illusory; a revolution could only take place when the consciousness of
the proles about their living conditions would alter; this could only happen if the circumstances changed
− which is impossible.
Structural conventions
-
-
-
vain rebellion motive: Winston Smith’s indirect rebellion against the inhumanity of the system end in
brainwashing and reintegration into society; no direct confrontation with the system (as in Brave New
World) − Smith tries to avoid the system.
love relation: capital crime against the system and catalyst of Smith’s rebellion and dissidence; still,
his love relation remains incomplete: while his rebellion is a psychological rebellion, Julia’s is a
merely physical one (falls asleep when he reads Goldstein aloud) − still, Julia is the more realistic of
the two, since she does not believe in the illusory possibility to overthrow the system.
explanatory dialogue: as Mustapha Mond in Brave New World, it is here O’Brian.
locus amoenus behind the green wall: only seemingly lies behind the range of the Big Brother’s
power; the prole-outskirts cannot be seen as an alternative (suffused with vermin and disease).
entire society: Orwell gives a, if condensed still entire picture of a totalitarian society; emphasis lies
on its political aspects.
15
-
-
collectivism: here oligarchic; power for the sake of power (boot in the face − even the Nazis are
defamed as cowards because they advocated a future paradise where no control would be
necessary).
anti-clerical: state (Big Brother) represents God minus clemency/mercy.
conditioning/brainwashing (like in Brave New World and Clockwork Orange) formability of the
human will; no freedom of thought/choice.
Title
-
The novel was written by George Orwell under the working title of The Last Man in Europe.
However, the book's publishers in both the United Kingdom and the United States, where it was
simultaneously released, moved to change its title for marketing purposes to Nineteen EightyFour.
Some have suggested that Orwell simply switched the last two digits of the year in which he wrote
the book (1948),
but others have suggested that it may also have been an allusion to the centenary of the Fabian
Society, a socialist organization founded in 1884.
Alternatively, still other theories link it to Jack London's novel The Iron Heel, in which the power of
a political movement reaches its height in 1984,
or even to G. K. Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill, also set in that year.
History according to 1984
-
-
-
the inherent unreliability of all written sources: little about the history of Oceania, but during the
second part of 1984, Winston Smith receives a copy of "the book", apparently written by Emmanuel
Goldstein, a tract which explains the concepts of party rule and the history of the Ingsoc party
(allegedly written by the party).
Curiously, the novel fails to explain why the United States, when constructing Oceania, chose to
adopt the British political system of Ingsoc. This suggests that the version of history portrayed in "the
book" is not entirely accurate (which again supports the thesis that it is a fake: the inherent
unreliability of all written sources is one of Orwell's points).
the epistemological problem of history and historical documents in also an central topic of Tom
Stoppard’s plays (particularly Travesties).
Power
-
power for the sake of power (boot in the face)
the motive why the inner party strives for power remains opaque (also outside the book, in Orwell’s
essays).
Orwell denies theories that understand power aspirations as a natural attribute of humankind
(Hobbes: homo lupi) − believes power aspirations to be a curable illness.
dialectical thinking is denied (doublethink), antonyms and paradoxes are to be swallowed
Newspeak
-
Newspeak, the "official language" of Oceania, is extraordinary in that its vocabulary decreases
every year; the state of Oceania sees no purpose in maintaining a complex language, and so
Newspeak is a language dedicated to the "destruction of words".
-
The true goal of Newspeak is to take away the ability to conceptualize revolution adequately, or
even to dissent, by removing words that could be used to that end.
reduction of vocabulary confines the frame of perception to the most basic activities.
no vocabulary: no individual conceptualization of cognitive experiences
-
each signifier only has one signified.
no grammatical irregularities: good - ungood; man - mans; think - thinked, etc.
words like “free” merely have denotative meanings (free of lice)
neologisms in order to eradicate revolutionary semantics (crimethink instead of freedom)
euphemisms: joycamp (instead of forced labour camp)
-
translation of literature into newspeak (no abandonment of literature for the sake of presige) −
translation, however, equals abolition.
16
-
annihilation of names: people disappear; their names are retroactively annihilated from the media _
their names (the person’s signifier) ceases to exist.
-
Newspeak has been examined — and widely disputed — in linguistics: see the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis.
Technology
-
-
The world of Nineteen Eighty-Four is first and foremost a political, not a technological, dystopia.
Orwell's vision is diametrically opposed to the technologically advanced hedonism of Brave New
World.
None of the three blocks has much genuine interest in technological progress, since it could
destabilize their grip on power.
This stagnation is related to what is perhaps the most frightening aspect of the novel: for all their
brutality, the regimes are not going to burn themselves out in strategically significant conquests or
technological arms races. Rather, they have reached a stable equilibrium which could theoretically
last forever.
Language
-
“Goldstein’s” book: form of a political essay, explaining the oligarchic collectivism (Orwell worked
as a political journalist himself).
Appendix on Newspeak: form of a linguistic essay (in order to give the book more credibility and
because the characters speak common, intelligible English). Widely discussed (see above).
paradoxes: slogans (War is peace); statistics about social improvement while decay and lack are
more than obvious.
ancestral memory: coined by C.G. Jung (collective sub-consciousness) − knowledge of lack
although Wiston never experienced better times (yet, he tries to remember better times).
3rd person perspective: free indirect thought but no stream of consciousness, merely rational
cognitive processes (rigidly organized system, no emotions)
dreams: foreshadow future event (We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness − ministry
of love; Golden Country Dream − utopian reality which he experiences with Julia)
-
leitmotifs: (1) child rhyme: bells of St. Clement’s; chopper to chop off your head − Mr. Charrington
(merchant and member of the thought police), Julia and especially O’Brian know the rhyme that
fascinated Winston and that mirrors his illusion of freedom. Literally destroyed when they get caught:
The picture of St. Clement Danes on the wall tumbles to the floor. (2) rats. (3) paperweight (sees in it
a remnant of the lost better times − shattered by the police that catches him).
-
structure: part 1: alone (past, attempt to remember a better, long bygone time) − part 2: together,
(present, love relationship for the moment) − part 3: apart (future, reintegration into the system for
future life).
cycle of seasons: approximately one year (from spring to spring, love relation in the summer).
trapped: characters are not only trapped in the political and linguistic system, they are also trapped
in the overriding structure of the narrative setting (time, cyclic − not! dialectical − story movement).
-
Readings (extrinsic approach)
-
different readings/(mis-)interpretations/instrumentalizations
propaganda: the Western powers used is during the Cold War in order to fuel hatred against the
U.S.S.R.
madness? leftist critics declared that Orwell already was a very ill man when he wrote 1984.
17
4. A Clockwork Orange (1962)
a) Synopsis
Set a few years in the future, the book follows the career of fifteen year old Alexander DeLarge (Alex).
His main pleasures in life are classical music, rape, and random acts of extreme violence
("ultraviolence" in Alex's idiom). Alex roams the streets at night with his gang, committing crimes for
enjoyment, while no one attempts to stop them or the other gangs that ravage the community. He tells
his story in a teenage slang called "Nadsat", which combines eighteenth-century Russian and English
slang.
Eventually Alex is incarcerated and "rehabilitated" by a programme of aversion therapy. However,
the experiment is nothing more than a harsh exercise in behavioural conditioning that strips Alex of his
free will. Though it renders him incapable of violence (even in self-defense), it also makes him unable to
enjoy his favourite classical music, an unintended side effect.
Eventually Alex falls afoul of some of his former victims, and the ensuing political fuss results in the
removal by the state of his conditioning; he gleefully returns to his early habits but finds he has lost the
taste for it, a more mature responsible unit of society. The 20th chapter ends the original American
edition on a dark note, with Alex listening joyfully to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and eagerly
anticipating his return to creating havoc.
It is at this point that early American editions of the book end, but there is a 21st chapter which was
dropped at the time of US publication. Burgess says that the original American publisher dropped his
final chapter in an effort to make the book more depressing. The intended book was divided into three
parts of 7 chapters each, which added up to be 21, a symbolic age at which a child earns his rights
(under the laws prevailing at the time the novel was written). There is controversy as to whether the 21st
chapter makes the book better or makes the book worse. In the 21st chapter, which takes place a few
years after the 20th, we find Alex realizing that his violent phase is over, but that it was inevitable. A few
of the old characters are reincarnated as new friends of Alex. He thinks of starting a family, while thinking
that his children will be as violent as he was, for a time. It should be noted that the movie version which
was directed by Stanley Kubrick follows the American version of the book, ending prior the events of the
21st chapter. Kubrick claimed that he was unaware of the non-American version of the book at the time
that he filmed the movie.
The line "What's it going to be then, eh?" recurs throughout the book, and the first chapter of each of the
three parts begins with the line.
b) Analysis
Sources
-
wrote the book (among four other) after receiving a medical diagnósis that he only had one year to
live.
60ies: aggressive behaviour of the Teddy Boys and Mods.
autobiographical experiences: his wife dies of the consequences of an assault by violent
youngsters (for Burgess, the invention of the character F. Alexander therefore was an act of
catharsis).
Title
-
humankind can be programmed like a clockwork
Orang is Malaya and means human being.
Thus, the title is a paradox, joining the opposites “mechanic” and “human being”.
18
Structural conventions
-
-
-
-
Clockwork orange is incongruent to the conventions of the utopian genre
entire society: Clockwork Orange is less absolute in its approach; it does not embrace society in
all its details but is rather restricted to certain areas (conditioning, crime, aggression);
anthropological/psychological dystopia (Huxley: scientific; Orwell: political).
futuristic society is closely related to the society the author lived in: only a few futuristic details
transcend the reader’s cognitive horizon − and those could be easily imagined (people on the moon;
drugged milk, worldcast)
stagnation: no stagnant system, in CO, there is political movement (election campaigns)
no total regime; however: ubiquitous violence and state programs of conditioning against it.
vain rebellion motive: Alex is not an outcast but only an example of a group of youngsters that
refrain from the lifestyle of the older generation (TV all day). The antimony (éntemouni) between
active youngsters and zombie-like parents moreover is problematic, due to the youngster’s
ultraviolence.
explanatory dialogue: between Alex and the politician does not discuss the characteristic questions
of utopian fiction, e.g. the relation between state and individual.
the book does, however, satirize technological achievements by extrapolation (conditioning).
it, too, criticized social grievances: cultural decay is shown (no one in the libraries or cinemas,
everybody watches tv), youngster’s drug abuse − criticism of escapist tendencies in England of the
60ies.
satire of political opportunism (government) and propaganda (Alex as a martyr).
Moral Ambiguity
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moral structure not based on Manicháeism: the two poles are not good and evil but dehumanized
good and inhumane evil (but freedom of choice). evil violator vs. good zombie.
Does God want woodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who choses the bad perhaps in
some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? (p. 76).
Alex goodness stems from physical pain, not from moral insight/development!
manipulation of empathy/sympathy: Alex’ character provokes sympathy: (1) euphemisms blur
violence; (2) his crush on classical music; (3) eloquence and direct addressing of the reader as “your
humble friend” suggests complicity; (4) unreliability of the narrator: “innocence” since he is not aware
of the implications of his actions; (5) topos of the dynamic youngster contrasting the apathy of the
adult world.
ambiguous moral structure: ere victims commit acts of revenge, revealing that their so-called
goodness stems from their weakness. Once they are in a superior position, their actions resemble
those that Alex commited before (Nietsche: falcon and sheep).
Multi-perspectivity: moral justification of conditioning is discussed by various characters with
various convictions/opinions: (1) Post-Corrective Advisor (Bewährungshelfer) P.R. Deltroid; (2) F.
Alexander; (3) most radically by the friar: When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.
different motivations of conditioning: (1) Interior Minister wants to gain knowledge about
criminals; (2) Dr. Brodsky wants to cure the “illness” aggression; (3) pragmatic viewpoint: we are
concerned with cutting down crime, not with higher ethics.
deconstruction of explanations of aggression: (1) socio-cultural circumstances (violence is a
strategy of emotionally disturbed people): Alex abuses this explanation; Freud’s sublimation theory
(cultural texts, such as music can soothe violence) is deconstructed, as Alex uses Beethoven as a
stimulant to violence). (3) original sin: aggression is a natural attribute (´ätribute) of humankind
(contrarily to Orwell who denies this theory) − free will, thus, always entails destructiveness of the
human mind.
Language
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stress on plot and characters (like 1984), whereas Brave New World and Utopia merely present
different parts of society in a consecutive way (“en bloc”).
dynamic plot development: high speed action, its pace hardy interrupted by theoretical background
information; especially in part I, thanks to episodic narration technique (dynamic narration mirrors
dynamic character Alex); part 2: narration gaps condensed descriptions of 2 years in prison; in part
3, where Alex, owing to his conditioning, is reduced to a passive character, unable to defend himself,
the narration speed slows down (more dialogues).
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prophetic past (retrospective of futuristic prose): no narrative distance (reflected comment) between
the matured narrator Alex and the protagonist Alex;
prophetic past enables the narrator to foreshadow future events (it won’t be for much longer).
Alex’ confined awareness is sometimes obvious: unaware of his conditioning, he plans to resume his
crusade of violence after being released.
leitmotif: “What’s it going to be then?” epitomizes the problem of free choice (Alex never chooses on
his own, his aggression is as indecisive − determined by his social environment − as his conditioned
behaviour)
flat character: Neither does Alex understand the implications of his actions, nor does he have
insight into the problems of the adult world. Alex bluntly states: “But what I do I do because I like to
do.
Deeper insights into the problem of aggression are given by other characters (such as the PostCorrective Advisor Detoid).
motivation of narration: remains opaque (what is the author’s interest of telling the story?)
structure: 3 parts: I. violence culminating in murder; II. prison life and second murder, Ludovico’s
technique (conditioning); III. victimization of Alex, former victims’ revenge (F. Alexander’s dead wife autobiographical Burgess); suicide attempt; De-Conditioning [ch. 21: Alex’ maturation process].
Nadsat: (1) Russian vocabulary (conditioning of the reader!); London slang sociolect; Coinages
(canger for cigarettes); mixed with elaborated register (words of Latin and Greek origin, archaisms
[árkiism]); euphemisms for acts of violence. This mixture creates an onomatopoetic and fascinating
(as opaque) language
21st chapter:
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Alex’ interest in violence fades away, chooses a more conventional lifestyle
realizes that his adolescent violence was by no means an act of freedom of choice
theory of cyclic development (my son will probably do the same)
motivation of narration becomes clear (emotional digestion of earlier life); still, the problematic
lack of distance between the matures narrator and the presented character becomes more evident.
puts the polarization between dehumanization und inhumanity into perspective (there are more
options).
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