to which they now gave utterance." (Huxley 20) The children"s "Pavlovian" conditioning with electric shocks is later compared to the wax seals which used to grace the seams of letters (Astrachan), "Not so much like drops of water, though water, it is true, can wear holes in the hardest granite; rather, drops of liquid sealing-wax, drops that adhere, incrust, incorporate themselves with what they fall on, till finally the rock is all one scarlet blob." The entire society is conditioned to shrink away from intense emotion, engage in casual sex, and take their pacifying Soma. In 1984, a first-person book partly narrated by the main character"s internal dialogue, the great party leader is "Big Brother," a fictional character who is somewhat more imposing than "Ford," of Huxley"s book, named after the industrialist Henry Ford (Astrachan). The main character Winston fears Big Brother and is much more aware of his situation than any of the characters in A Brave New World who are constantly pacified by soma. In A Brave New World history is ignored completely whereas in 1984 it is literally rewritten in order to suit the present. The role of science in both books is extensive and complicated. 1984"s telescreens cannot be turned off, as A Brave New World has "feelies," an advancement on "talkies" which added sound, "feelies" add tactile senses to a movie as well. Science and human progress is not acknowledged in A Brave New World (Smith) excepting when it increases consumption, whereas it is twisted with ironic titles in 1984, "They were homes of the four Ministries between which the entire apparatus o...
