I can't really devote time to this as I'm swamped in texts for school, but
while I can see some similarities between Orwell's general vision of the
future (doublespeak, the propagandizing, etc.), Huxley's portrayal of
humanity as "drowning in a sea of information/lacking the capacity to sort
out the relevance" seems much more to the point.
"Infotainment" as Mark E. Smith once put it. IMO, to make a comparison with
the US and the draconian and spartan existence portrayed by Orwell is well
beyond a hyperbolic stretch. Again, Huxley is much closer to the mark with
the preoccupation of irrelevance. Huxley doesn't dodge the notion of
propaganda; he simply doesn't make it as obvious. Additionally, it's not as
most people in the US are living some kind of austere existence and giving
lip service to "the party", for fear of death, either. It seems more like
many are too busy with "infotainment", the latest reality shows and the
trappings of the modern world to be bothered with the genuine. Of course,
this is a sweeping generalization and, like I say, I go back and forth on this.
I can see it both ways. When I study Orwell, I tilt that way a bit (in
terms of his general themes) - but never so much as to take the spotlight
off of Huxley. All of that is aside from considering Huxley's lampooning
characterizations which are something else to consider.
jeff
At 12:13 AM 1/10/2003, you wrote:
quoted 17 lines I would have to disagree on this. 1984 is almost exact exaggeration of> I would have to disagree on this. 1984 is almost exact exaggeration of
> representation the United States today...It's eerie at times.
>
>I'll go into it a little later, if you want, right now I am too tierd I
>haven't slept in 2 days.
>
>zach
>
>
>>
>>I go back and forth on this, but yes...Huxley seems more the prophet than
>>Orwell - at least today.
>>And that's very topical on IDM-l.
>>
>> jeff
>>
>>
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