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  • Essay / Representation of social stratification in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984

    Throughout history, the establishment of caste and social class hierarchies has created divisions hostile to within populations, leading to tensions and discrimination. From the Indian caste system to the class discrimination present in the United States today, it is clear that social stratification almost always takes a turn for the worse and leads to oppression that can be based on hard or soft power. Authors George Orwell and Aldous Huxley create worlds in which there is clear differentiation between certain groups in the overall population, leading the protagonists to rebel or feel dissatisfied with the lack of individuality and privacy in their lives . As the stories progress, it becomes clear that while the class systems in each book are different, they are both instruments that governments use to control the citizens of Oceania and the World State. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Brave New World, we learn about the complex caste system made up of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. These are the classifications of humans in this work, and they are assigned when the government artificially conceives each fetus. Alphas are at the top of the social hierarchy, while Epsilons are at the bottom. Each social class is assigned a specific color so that others can easily differentiate themselves and are conditioned to believe that while each class is necessary, each class after beta is inferior. Because of this, the government is able to control every citizen of the World State by assigning each class a specific job. Alphas are created to be intellectually superior to others, and as such, they are tasked with running the factories that create more humans. Betas are similar, but their tasks require less critical thinking. As one moves down the class list, the jobs assigned to them become less intellectually demanding and there is more discrimination against them. When betas are conditioned at a young age, the government releases tapes stating: “Alpha children wear gray. They work much harder than us, because they are terribly intelligent. I'm really happy to be a Beta, because I don't work that hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and the Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green and the Delta kids wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with the Delta kids. And the Epsilons are even worse. They are too stupid…” (Huxley 20) The World State points out that these forced classes and prejudices are put in place to promote their motto “COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY”. However, it is clear that the government has degraded all classes, regardless of the privileges others appear to have on a superficial level. On the other hand, 1984 depicts a social stratification consisting of the inside party, the outside party, and the outside party. the Proletarians. The Inner Party is the smallest of the three classes and members receive many small privileges like wine and the ability to turn off their television screens for around thirty minutes. Even though they enjoy these privileges, they are not exempt from the strict rules in place to ensure the dehumanization of Oceania's citizens. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Winston Smith, realizes that even though the proletarians=3826472)