Comparing the Solidarity Service in Huxleys Brave New World to the Two Minute Hate in Orwells
Compare and contrast the subject matter, style and importance of Aldous Huxley’s Solidarity Service and George Orwell’s Two-Minute Hate In both “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “1984” by George Orwell, the idea of an excessively strong community spirit is present. ... Both figures are outsiders to the community but react in different ways to the both the Solidarity Service and the Two-Minute Hate. The Solidarity Service is essential to the “Brave New World” state in many ways. ... The members of each service only have loyalty to the state and the survival of their community. The Solidarity Service is one of many mechanisms the World State uses to channel strong emotions in such a way that they present no threat to the power of the State. ... The service itself is a parody. Perhaps Huxley is suggesting that in a world relying on the mass manufacturing of human life, worship of a mythical, supernatural figure is unthinkable. ... It is interesting that in “Brave New World”, Huxley still sees the need for ritual worship. ... The service could even be a reflection on Huxley’s own world in which technology seemed to begin to answer questions religion could not. ... Possibly, Huxley foresaw a future similar to the “Brave New World” where technology and materialism is celebrated instead of religious belief. ... Huxley crudely corrupts Christianity with a “T” sign instead of a cross, the President becomes the Priest and the 12 members of the service become disciples. Soma even becomes the bread in the service, again mirroring Christianity. This distorts the idea of Christ’s body as bread for men to live on and turns it into the recreational drug used by many in “Brave New World” to survive on. ... This underlines how the thought of individuality in the “Brave New World” is seen as a hideous concept.