Nineteen Eighty Four written by George Orwell and Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol, are texts that explore

a society with a totalitarian government. Both texts depict a futuristic, dystopian world in which the individual
is forced to conform and their individuality is destroyed. However, there is a significant difference in the
overall message of the two texts about the ability of the individual to overcome a dystopian society. 1984
asserts at its conclusion that humans, working as individuals are ultimately to weak to defeat more powerful
groups. In comparison, Niccol’s version of a dehumanising society is much more hopeful: individuals are not
only able to overcome the powerful forces that oppress him, but also provide an inspiration to others around
him.

Both Gattaca and 1984 are set in worlds where powerful organisations seek to control their citizens in order to
create what they believe is a better world. In 1984, a totalitarian government, known as ‘The Party’, at the
head of which is the leader ‘Big Brother’, controls all aspects of society. It is a society in which “You had to
live…in the assumption that every sound you made was overhead, and, except in darkness, every movement
scrutinized.”, meaning that individuality and privacy in 1984 is non-existent and that the citizens contain no
hope of being able to overcome these powerful forces. Like Orwell’s story, Gattaca imagines a soulless world
where everyone is controlled, not through surveillance as it is in 1984 – but through DNA. As Jerome says at
one point “My real resume was in my cells.”. Gattaca the organisation represents a similar fear that big
corporations can know everything about who we are. Both the worlds of Gattaca and 1984 are set in a grim
world where overcoming these more powerful organisation is close to impossible.

The worlds of 1984 and Gattaca may be very similar, however both text features different protagonists who
struggle against the grimness of the oppressive societies they find themselves in. The characters of Winston
and Vincent are very similar, not only in attitudes but also their physical characteristics. Winston is a “small
frail figure” while Vincent has a defective heart. Unlike all the other characters in their world who seemingly
accept their fate, both characters dream about defying the oppressive society they find themselves in. Winston
believes that “there is hope” and is constantly thinking about how to rebel against big brother. Whilst Winston
dreams about defying big brother, Vincent on the other hand, acts upon his belief that “there is no gene for
the human spirit” and sets on a path to overcome his heart disease by faking his DNA. While both characters
mirror each other in physical characteristics, Orwell emphasises the pointlessness of trying to overcome
against the organisations while Niccol celebrates the potential of individuals to triumph.

Although both protagonists have ambitions and dreams, Vincent and Winston differ in significantly in the
courage and strength they ultimately display in each text. Winston dreams about overcoming Big Brother, but
in the end his “smallish frail figure” is unable to succeed in doing so. Winston is an ordinary person who when
arrested by Big Brother and taken to room 101, the place where “you could not feel anything except pain and
foreknowledge of pain”, Winston not only capitulates himself to Big brother but also betrays his lover Julia.
The words “I love Big Brother” Winston says at the end of the novel, exemplifies the bleak dystopian world of
1984. There is no heroes capable of succeeding in overcoming the system. Vincent, in contrast, is a much more
heroic like figure in Gattaca. Throughout his journey, he displays heroism when he endures the brutal surgery
to extend his height of his legs, his daily training meant for people without heart problems and his fearless
swimming into the ocean. Ultimately Niccol suggests that the individual can overcome the strictures of a
totalitarian society, while Orwell demonstrates that individuals will never have enough strength or courage to
defeat cultural norms.

In the end, both Gattaca and 1984 provide us with remarkably similar scenarios of worlds in which individuals
must conform and live out lives controlled by powerful forces. Where they differ, is in what hope they offer
about the capacity for humans to keep their individuality in environments where they are being forced to
conform. Niccol’s uplifting and hopeful ending creates, for his audience, a sense of relief in the idea that
individual ambition and talent will triumph: Orwell gives his reader no such hope for the future, committing his
reader to a bitter and bleak end where society breaks all that we hold most dear.