Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

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synonymous with societal stability. If the primal needs of citizens are satisfied, it will prevent them from desiring any greater human connection. High culture and art are removed as later in the novel, one of the World Controllers, Mond explains to the central male character John that there is "no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think" (Huxley, 2014, p. 47). To the citizens, sexual pleasure is a full-time job; Huxley's aim here is to suggest that when a person is encouraged to live a base hedonistic existence then they are less likely to rebel. The hedonism of Brave New World is contrasted with the sexual austerity of 1984 . In Oceania, sex is taboo and the pent-up sexual energy that results is transformed into war hysteria and nationalistic fervour and patriotism towards the nation and Big Brother. Children in Orwell’s 1984 are taught that sex is an abhorrent act. The government manipulates how the children think and uses them as a tool to remind the adults to remain loyal to the state. To this end, the Party establishes an organization called the ‘Junior Anti-Sex League’. The symbol of sexual prudence is the Junior Anti-Sex League “scarlet sash… [which is an] aggressive symbol of chastity” (Orwell, 2008, p. 16). The uniform becomes the motif for an oppressive society that condemns its citizenry to life without love. This organization “advocate[s] complete celibacy for both sexes” (Orwell, 2008, p. 49). Members of the Junior Anti-Sex League are taught to view sex as a “slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema” (Orwell, 2008, p. 62). The members’ chastity is reminiscent of the sexual abstinence expected of medieval monks and nuns. For the monks and nuns, sexual abstinence was meant to engender greater devotion to God. In the case of Oceania’s citizens, it is meant to engender devotion to their metaphorical God, Big Brother. It is through society’s youth that both texts embed teachings around sexual intimacy. Both authors indicate that propaganda given to the most impressionable members of society will eventually be disseminated amongst the general population. In 1984, the teaching of sex as repulsive is “never put into plain words, but in an