In many dystopic societies rulers must become heartless and cynical in order to regulate their citizens. Cynicism is defined as someone who has a pessimistic view of the world and shows contempt for the accepted standard of morality. This definition was never more evident than in the novels 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The leaders of the societies in both books (O’Brien and Mustapha Mond) used different means to regulate their societies but were both equally as cynical and heartless in their methods. Did you define "accepted standard..."?
In 1984 O’Brien (as the personification of Oceania's power)controls the people by controlling society through fear and brainwashing them. For those who do not conform he uses torture to break their spirit and make them believe the lies they confess. O’Brien’s motives are to maintain omnipotence of the party, which is best shown when he says “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy.” (pg 280) O’Brien shows that that he knows that the attitude required to live in this society goes against human nature, and even knowing this he forces his society to endure. Good. Show this through his words. This is cynicism in its quintessence. He knows how wrong what he’s doing is, yet, he continues to torture the human spirit of his society. O’Brien further shows that power has corrupted him when Winston asks O’Brien “They’ve got you to!” and O’Brien responds “They got me a long time ago” (pg238). This shows that even though O’Brian has always known the evils of the party and that what he was doing was wrong, and yet he still has remained torturing people. So much more you can write about this topic.
In Brave New World Mustapha Mond, as a world controller, controls the society by taking away all negative emotions and by not containing the instinct of sex. In doing this he destroys the people’s ability to cope with adversity. Awkward. He gives them happiness by repressing the truth that they aren’t free as he only gives them pleasure. He wants to create this society because he believes that humans are a plague to each other in their instinctual state so he refines them so that under adversity that they will collapse and be unable to “plague” each other. Not clear. He also alleviates negative emotions by using soma to keep people dependent on the government and suppress any negative emotions and emotional anguish. In doing these things, he essentially destroys all that makes people human and destroys people’s ability adapt to adversity which makes them ever more dependent on their government and society. Good. The addiction to soma is clearly seen in phrases that multiple characters recite such as “one cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments” (pg89) and “a gramme is better than a damn” (pg89). They repeat these phrases because they are conditioned to use soma when any adversity comes their way. Mustapha Mond even admits this in saying “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma. Which you go and chuck out of the window in the name of liberty, Mr. Savage. Liberty!” (pg220)You don't need the last part of the quote. But, you did need to let him speak much more.
Though their means may have been different for controlling their societies, O’Brian and Mond were equally as cynical in that they manipulated their societies to get the one in which they wanted. Careful, neither is a supreme leader. They work for the "common good".. O’Brian preferred to use direct force and fear to drive society in the direction that he deamed fit using torture as an ultimatum. This is most clearly seen when O’Brien tells Winston that they got him along time ago.No it isn't. This shows the conscious decision to stay in the party and to completely become evil in order to keep his power. Awkward. Mustapha Mond conditioned his society to be dependent on the government(not exactly) and to not be able to cope with adversity. This is best demonstrated in the way that the people in the society constantly repeat phrases they were taught like “a gramme is better than a damme” which tell them to use drugs to eliminate pain. Both of these men were equally as cynical and heartless because they destroyed their societies in one form or another to regulate their citizens.Good.
In 1984 O’Brien (as the personification of Oceania's power) controls the people by controlling society through fear and brainwashing them. For those who do not conform he uses torture to break their spirit and make them believe the lies they confess. O’Brien’s motives are to maintain omnipotence of the party, which is best shown when he says “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy.” (pg 280) O’Brien shows that that he knows that the attitude required to live in this society goes against human nature, and even knowing this he forces his society to endure. Good. Show this through his words. This is cynicism in its quintessence. He knows how wrong what he’s doing is, yet, he continues to torture the human spirit of his society. O’Brien further shows that power has corrupted him when Winston asks O’Brien “They’ve got you to!” and O’Brien responds “They got me a long time ago” (pg238). This shows that even though O’Brian has always known the evils of the party and that what he was doing was wrong, and yet he still has remained torturing people. So much more you can write about this topic.
In Brave New World Mustapha Mond, as a world controller, controls the society by taking away all negative emotions and by not containing the instinct of sex. In doing this he destroys the people’s ability to cope with adversity. Awkward. He gives them happiness by repressing the truth that they aren’t free as he only gives them pleasure. He wants to create this society because he believes that humans are a plague to each other in their instinctual state so he refines them so that under adversity that they will collapse and be unable to “plague” each other. Not clear. He also alleviates negative emotions by using soma to keep people dependent on the government and suppress any negative emotions and emotional anguish. In doing these things, he essentially destroys all that makes people human and destroys people’s ability adapt to adversity which makes them ever more dependent on their government and society. Good. The addiction to soma is clearly seen in phrases that multiple characters recite such as “one cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments” (pg89) and “a gramme is better than a damn” (pg89). They repeat these phrases because they are conditioned to use soma when any adversity comes their way. Mustapha Mond even admits this in saying “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma. Which you go and chuck out of the window in the name of liberty, Mr. Savage. Liberty!” (pg220) You don't need the last part of the quote. But, you did need to let him speak much more.
Though their means may have been different for controlling their societies, O’Brian and Mond were equally as cynical in that they manipulated their societies to get the one in which they wanted. Careful, neither is a supreme leader. They work for the "common good".. O’Brian preferred to use direct force and fear to drive society in the direction that he deamed fit using torture as an ultimatum. This is most clearly seen when O’Brien tells Winston that they got him along time ago.No it isn't. This shows the conscious decision to stay in the party and to completely become evil in order to keep his power. Awkward. Mustapha Mond conditioned his society to be dependent on the government (not exactly) and to not be able to cope with adversity. This is best demonstrated in the way that the people in the society constantly repeat phrases they were taught like “a gramme is better than a damme” which tell them to use drugs to eliminate pain. Both of these men were equally as cynical and heartless because they destroyed their societies in one form or another to regulate their citizens.Good.