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Author’s note: This article is a response to the Ministry of Reshelving Project.

For years writers have written novels about dystopian futures as a warning to modern society. In recent years many of the grim predictions made by these stories are beginning to come true. Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World was published in 1932 and seventeen years later George Orwell followed with 1984. Due to similarities in the societies depicted in these novels and our own, both books should be reshelved in book stores and libraries under the category “nonfiction.”

Brave New World describes a future society in which people are healthy, carefree, and used to constant happiness. Many of these aspects described in this book are emerging in today’s society. One prominent factor in Brave New World is consumerism. From the moment a person is decanted he or she is conditioned to be a perfect consumer. In order to get people to buy more they are taught the phrase “Ending issuperior than mending.’” (Huxley 49) This means that when an item is broken instead of fixing it, the consumer is expected to purchase it anew. This sort of mentality is becoming quite common in the real world. Additionally, the citizens of Brave New World never have to handle disappointment or unhappiness. They are used to getting what they want when they want. In the begging of the novel one boy shares the worst disappointment that he ever had to face: “I once had to wait nearly four weeks before a girl I wanted would let me have her.’” When asked how this made him feel he responds “Horrible!’” (Huxley 45) Like in Brave New World, more and more of today’s society is becoming what can only be described as spoiled. A magical drug exists that can takes anyone in Huxley’s fictitious world who by chances suffers the slightest unhappiness on vacation. “You look glum! What you need is a gramme of Soma.’” (Huxley 60) In a similar manner we depend on antidepressants and many other medications to survive everyday life. It seems Brave New World is becoming a more accurate representation of our society. In another hundred years will we be growing babies in bottles an organizing people into specific castes?

Just as Brave New World is becoming a mirror image of the world’s people so is 1984 of the government. The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, describes his experience in the totalitarian government of Oceania in which each citizens every move is scrutinized by the party. Winston’s