Control in Orwell's Farm, Huxley's World, & Netflix's Merits

Examining dystopias does reveal potential dangers for our own society. A dystopia is an imagined place in which everything is wrong and intolerable. The methods of governmental control in the dystopias of Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and Fifteen Million Merits from the Black Mirror series by Netflix are very different from what we live by. Witnessing the different methods may impact people’s minds making them think it may work in our world. However these government plans in these societies are not acceptable and cannot be tolerated.

There’s a few things from each dystopia showing us how dangerous their methods are, these may also be considered warnings for our future. The method of governmental control exercised upon the society in Animal Farm is totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism is a political system in which the government recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life of any under their control whenever they feel necessary.

For example Orwell writes about how Napoleon takes over the farm and turns everyone against Snowball. He also changes the commandments consistently and decides when the workers are able to eat, sleep and how much of each. Also, in the beginning of his rule it was decided that the saying “Four legs good, two legs bad” (Orwell 34). This had been the known phrase to live by. Later on he changes that to “four legs good, two legs better!” (Orwell 34) just one example of his changes while ruling.

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Now all of the pigs on Animal Farm are able to walk on two legs. He results in returning to Mr. Jones‘ tactics on Manor Farm and also renames the farm once again.

He is in fact in total control as Jones once was, he’s their new master. Whereas in Brave New World Aldous Huxley writes about a society controlled by advanced science and a dictator who controls every aspect of the way you think and what level of intelligence you have. This dystopia is maddening for certain people The growing children are each put into a certain fraction where they are taught how to react and understand certain things. This government is taking control of everyone, no one is able to even feel on their own terms. When they do they take a substance to get rid of that feeling instructed by powerful people in the science department God and religion have all been removed along with old things too. Conveyor belts help speed the process of duplicating embryos and sperm cells to create new individuals in controlled environments with specific outcomes. Each person grows into an “adult” with a specific task in life, Anything other than what they have been trained and manipulated to understand is unacceptable In the series Black Mirror similar controls are put on the people living in the changing dystopias.

An example from the episode “Fifteen Million Merits” is when Bing is trying to skip an episode and it won‘t allow him because he doesn’t have enough credit. Or when he looks away from the screen it turns red and starts screaming until he looks again. The system is only allowing him to do certain moves their way and when he doesn’t do something correct there are repercussions. Each episode is something different but with the same standards. The people are told to do something stay on a schedule and don’t go against it and continue to do what’s expected because that‘s all they know They are promised things and told what to do, This behavior is pure insanity everyone has a breaking point. Each protagonist takes actions to cope with their current situation The protagonist in Animal Farm is Snowball and in the end Napoleon, Snowball leads the rebellion against Jones and succeeds.

However, Napoleon doesn’t like how he’s in charge and wants his power. He removes Snowball and throws many false accusations at the farm animals in order to keep himself on top, Snowball tries to make his way back in and take down Napolean using friends on the inside. His attempts are treacherous and fail and his accomplices are killed as wellr Napoleon takes care of business on his end and eventually has total and complete domination on the farm. Napoleon’s moves on taking out Jones and then Snowball are in fact successful. In Brave New World the protagonist is Bernard Marxr Bernard feels left out of his Alpha Plus status because he looks nothing like anyone else in his class, He is small and not confident compared to the tall and strong men he’s surrounded by They explain it as “‘Alcohol in his blood—surrogate,’ was Fanny’s explanation of every eccentricity.”

In the story it reads “‘Too awful,‘ Bernard hypocritically agreed, wishing, as he spoke the words, that he could have as many girls as Helmholtz did,and with as little trouble.” (Huxley 68) He is so misplaced and unable to keep up with the other Alphas. In order to change his situation Bernard takes action. He like’s Lenina and tries to wait and do adult things but the director isn’t having it because he’s supposed to stay young and act childish. Bernard gets back at the director by bringing John, the savage, home with him for a reunion. The director is torn to shreds and Bernard is now on top and finally fitting in, He’s doing the drugs, soma, and partying like a true Alpha his methods were in fact successful. However in Black Mirror the protagonist is Bingi He is trapped in this place while the girl he gave up all his merits for has had her dreams taken away and is being forced to do disgusting things because that’s how it works there.

He is biking much longer and not spending anything to get enough merits again to get on the show to finally say his peace. His idea is unconventional with a shard of glass to his neck but it gets them listening. He speaks the truth and the people love it. He’s no longer having to work like a machine and not everything is touch screen he sees the real outside and his a large space now not a cubicle, It may not have been what he intended but it‘s better than where he started. Now, in the book Animal Farm there is a message The message is power can be a dangerous thing and often lead corrupted paths, When Napoleon finally took his throne he got everything he wanted done and then kept going trying to become more like the humans.

For example what once read “No animal shall kill any other animal.“ (Orwell 25) now read “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.” (Orwell 91). The commandments were constantly being changed under his control. Human nature is to constantly want more and that is dangerous. If a position of power is put in the wrong hands this can absolutely happen in our future Also, in the book Brave New World the warning is don‘t allow government to have complete and total control on its population. Very clearly put throughout the book due to the fact the government is the only thing presenting new generations through their combinations in the lab. There’s no free range everyone is built for specific reasons and almost all under the same genes.

At least 94 people share the exact same genes they are built as robots in a way in the labs under the supervision and control of the government These people see it as an art “Slowly, majestically, with a faint humming of machinery, the conveyors moved forward, thirty»three centimeters an hour.” (Huxley 56) It‘d only make sense that they couldn‘t reproduce they’d have so many deficiencies because of it, In Black Mirror the author’s warning or message is to stop consuming things we don’t need and to start looking up from our screens They work hard to pay for something on a screen and yet they are never able to even touch it for themselves In the closing of Big’s speech he says “It’s not even there, we buy shit that’s not even there. Show us something real and free and beautiful, you couldn’t. It‘d break us, we’re too numb for it, our minds would choke.”

These people are drones living, well no not living at all. This man gets up there and finally speaks what‘s on everyone’s mind but no one is able to say it So they give him the show the moments to share with everyone. Yet, it’s not changing anything really that’s just how it is. So in short look up from your screen don‘t get sucked into the virtual world you’ll never see what’s coming and if you don’t see it there’s nothing you can do to stop it I think that each of these messages are relevant to our present day. First, yes we have most definitely had our power hungry representatives in our Limes, luckily not with too much influence, It‘s inevitable the fat pig won’t stop until he‘s huge and plump and everything is his. Second, advances in science can lead to cloning and that cloning system may be the result of the human race being wiped out However it is still illegal and so we are safe, for now. The idea of government having total control over us is terrifying and seems unlikely.

And yet we‘re constantly being monitored even when we don‘t realize it Lastly, we are most definitely too attached to our screens. Electronics fill people with the emotional void, humor and entertainment they have been searching for all at their fingerLipst These warnings are absolutely plausible let’s just hope no one gets any ideas, Our society may in fact go down the drain one day and these dystopias may be where the ideas first originated from. A colorless life may be in the works for us and we don‘t even realize it because we’re too distracted and easily pushed oven The ideas from the dystopias of Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and Fifteen Million Merits from the Black Mirror series by Netflix may seem unlikely but are possible The technology is there to do it. So go ahead and wait on a fat pig if you want to live a grey meaningless life. Or you can stop sleeping and look up before it’s too late