One of my friends asked whether CHILLU as a futuristic theatrical play tends to portray a world according to George Orwell or that of Aldous Huxley. The question is – Dystopia or Utopia, what do you share with the viewers?
Well, I don’t think there is any dichotomy between Orwellian and Huxleyan perspectives of future. They are two points of view of state oppression, with Orwellian model based on denial and Huxleyan, enabling.
Orwell’s works are more layered and are metaphorical in nature. This is true of 1984 axioms, ‘Big Brother is watching’ or ‘ Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength’. Taken as stark realities foreseeable through ‘scientific and technological’ crystal glazing, they daunt the reader. Going for a layered interpretation, the Big Brother is a collective intrusive entity like a nosy media playing dirty games with our individual private space now.
CHILLU is populated with members of a representative minuscule social group finding comfort in their basic needs getting fulfilled and fundamental security concerns addressed by State through technology, yet feeling uncomfortable at curtailment of their freedom and privacy.
Both the states of mind will co-exist in future, as this existence related issue will never be resolved – what do we need, a society with maximum individual and social security and minimum privacy or one with the minimum security and maximum privacy.
CHILLU discusses this problem in a peppy narrative with all attendant cheer and joie de vivre.
While at Orwell and Huxley, my suggestion is to not take Orwell’s ‘1984’ in isolation but read it along with Animal Farm. Orwell is not crystal gazing but shows denial and oppression always go together.
Huxley is cerebral while Orwell is visceral. history.
By the way, you might have read Orwell’s Eton public school master (French) was Huxley and one of the first reviews of 1984 (and selective appreciation) came from the teacher to the student!
Incidentally one of the critical analytical studies about my Arasoor vamsam and Viswaroopam novels came from my professor at Pondicherry TAC, Dr. Benjamin Le Beau, without knowing Era.Murukan was his timid student once!