I dont know if this will be any help, its just some notes comparing BNW and BR.
BRAVE NEW WORLD/BLADE RUNNER – COMPARITIVE STUDY
Introduction:
· Present a dystopic future
· Critical of the problems of the present
· Ask – what is it to be human?
· BNW manipulates its inhabitants from birth
· BR has replicant humans
In the wild:
· Both texts ask – what is natural? What parts of us are due to nature or nurture?
· Both texts have lost touch with the natural world
· In BR the natural and artificial is difficult to distinguish
· In BNW there is contest between the unnatural World State and the nature-based culture of the Savage.
Science fiction:
· Both texts plot deals with a problem created by science
· Both texts deal with the artificial creation of humans
· Both texts explore the right to real human life
· Both texts explore possible problems of future society
Social concerns:
· BR reflects the concerns of its time (pollution, overcrowding, the split between rich and poor, the power of mega corporations, lack of social conscience and humanity’s decimation of nature)
· BNW is concerned with humans exploitation of nature (farming of animals)
· BNW satirises decadence, consumption and lack of morals
· Women in BR play a more active role in the plot
Politics:
· BNW citizens are manipulated by hypnopaedia
· Tyrell rules by his corporations capitalist power and the implanting of memories
· BNW citizens are moulded by embryo manipulation, hypnopaedic conditioning and drugs
Families:
· In BNW the natural rhythms of reproduction and family life are overturned
· In BR family relationships are regarded as important
Plot:
· Both texts plunge straight into the dystopian science fiction (in BNW the CLH&CC and in BR the “Hades’ scene)
· Both texts have a love story as a subplot (in BNW the love story fails, while in BR it succeeds)
· In BR a series of events leads up to the climax, while in BNW two opposing cultures are set up and shows the clash between them
Characters:
· Both texts lack a real hero, possibly even a central character
· Batty usurps Deckard’s role as the main character, and John overtakes Bernard’s role as the main character
· Both Batty and John are tragic heroes
Dialogue:
· Dialogue is sued in BNW to define characters, create a mood and advance the plot (particularly in the opening and closing chapters)
· BR has less dialogue than BNW, and the story is shown through action, body language and facial expression
· Deckard speaks little as he is an emotionally isolated character
· Tyrell and Mond both dominant and control their worlds and show this with their domination of conversations
· Tyrell and Mond are both cold blooded
· Both John and batty use poetic language which shows their intelligence and attempt to embrace all sensations and emotions of life
· Most BNW citizens speak in hypnopaedic phrases which shows they are well conditioned
Context:
· BNW disagrees that that the advancement of science equals the advancement of human kind
· BR shows the advancement of science has led to moral dilemmas, and problems like pollution
