A Personal Utopia:
An Analysis of a Key Passage in Brave New World
The key passage of Aldous Huxley’s Brace New World takes place after John has been arrested and is a conversation with Mond. When John and Mond speak of ideal societies, a major part of Brave New World, the aspect of human nature which makes us search continuously for our personal Utopia, becomes apparent. In Mond’s study, the sacrifices each character makes in order to find a Utopia are interconnected. The search for a personal Utopia reveals Huxley’s view on human nature of sacrificing everything to live with self-fulfillment.
The connection of the sacrifices each character makes is shown in the study, helping the reader understand that it is human nature to sacrifice something to live a more fulfilling life. One sees that all, except Helmholtz and John, are willing to give up an important part of them so they can feel fulfilled. Mond is willing to sacrifice the one thing dearest to him- science. He says he gave it up in hope of Controllership. He got what he paid for by continuing his interest in science, “By choosing to serve happiness.
Other people’s-not mine.” [235], or by serving stability instead of collapsing the fragile social structure. At the beginning, Bernard was willing to give up his position in the new world so he could further his studies in finding a society more suited to his needs; but, in the end, he did not want to give up his rank and failed in finding an ideal society.
It becomes apparent that anyone who will not give up a major part of themself will fail in their quest for a greater society. John is not willing to give up anything, be it antiques to happiness. In the end, however, he ended up making the ultimate sacrifice- his life. By ending his life, he escaped into what his society’s religion believed to be a Utopia; it is better known as heaven. Meanwhile, Helmholtz is able to somewhat adapt to any surronding and makes the sacrifices as needed, that is the reason he was not biased to any other cultures. There are still faults in his beliefs, thanks to hynopaedia. Helmholtz cannot understand Othello, he is not accustomed to the social inability the book thrives on. He was still by far the most able, and willing, to understand John’s society.
Through hypnoaedic teachings, reservation contrasts to the “Civilized” world, and John’s critique of the society, the reader sees Huxley’s point of view of the importance of an individual. With hypnoaedic teachings, Huxley creates the society and the values. Inside the reservation, Huxley contrasts the society of the reservation to that of Lenina’s society. Finally Huxley’s main evaluation and critique of lack of identity is seen in John’s character. John’s horrid descriptions in his point of view on society demonstrate to the reader the importance of an individual. Since there were absolutely no conscious men or women throughout society, ideas of ignoring death, God, and beauty creates a world where men and women sacrifice true happiness (Where pain and hard work are involved for a greater happiness) for a “smooth running society.” The picture of the society to the reader is horrifying and quite terrifying. Overall, within our society, the importance of the individual is not a problem. People, even teenagers, are encouraged to show who they are inside. One can truly see the idea of the importance on individual through the new openness to different sexualities. Overall, within the book, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, Huxley demonstrates the need for conscious individuals through a horrifying
Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way.
The characters in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World represent certain political and social ideas. Huxley used what he saw in the world in which he lived to form his book. From what he saw, he imagined that life was heading in a direction of a utopian government control. Huxley did not imagine this as a good thing. He uses the characters of Brave New World to express his view of utopia being impossible and detrimental. One such character he uses to represent the idealogy behind this is Bernard Marx.
Smith, Nicole. "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : An Analysis of the Themes of Consumption and Utopia." Article Myriad. 13 Jan. 2012. Web. http://www.articlemyriad.com/brave-world-aldous-huxley-analysis-consumption-utopia
This constitution made by the people, for the people, declares the necessary laws required to maintain a perfect utopian society. Unlike our previous society, there will be many opportunities to help our society thrive. Everyone will have rights that were not present in previous societies. Unlike other civilizations and empires, the goal of this utopia is not to create a era of peace and advancement. The goal of this Utopia is to keep peace, prosperity, enlightenment, and a “Renaissance” going on forever.
Ben Franklin himself said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Brave New World written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley (published in 1932), is a satirical piece of fiction that attempts to not only explore the effects of the overall advancement in technology and its effects on human beings, but, the ever-changing definitions of freedom, meaning and Individuality as well. In the following paper, the differences between freedom, individuality and meaning within the brave new world and within the real world will be discussed. Ultimately, this paper will come to show that the real world, despite its flaws, is the more “perfect” world to be living when compared to the brave new world because of the freedom that each human being beholds.
With these components at the forefront, productivity presents itself in a crucial way. This dystopian world is built around constantly being productive, often leaving its citizens how they would personally benefit from helping their peers and associates; more specifically, how helping their peers and associates would benefit the World State. Mustapha Mond mentions this with his hypnopædic phrase, “But everyone belongs to everyone else” (Huxley 40). When Bernard brings John to London, John’s initial purpose is one hidden from him. Bernard searches to embarrass the Director for his hypocrisy by outing him as John’s father. When this mission is completed and the Director resigns, John’s significance severely decreases. He misses all chances at making connections and being productive and his lashing out on other citizens threatens his ability to continue to exist stably in society. With no true purpose of existing in the machine that is the World State, John does what he believes will be the most productive thing he can do for society and takes his own life. Doing so exemplifies how John resembles a Christ-like figure, as his death for the improvement of the world reiterates that he would rather die in isolation than live life only as a small part of a much bigger
Mustapha Mond is the most powerful character in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Mond keeps scientific and historic documents from reaching the people. Mond believes that science, religion, and art threaten Brave New World if let out, but religion would be bane of Brave New World. The moral dilemma of monogamy is the bane of Brave New World. If the people of Brave New World found out about religion, the people would learn the moral dilemma of “every one belongs to everyone else”(Huxley 31).
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates a colorful, fantastic universe of sex and emotion, programming and fascism that has a powerful draw in a happy handicap. This reality pause button is called “Soma”. “Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology.” ( Huxley 54 ).
Bernard often struggles throughout the book, although he tries to be accepting of how this society is he is often looking for freedom. Bernard then looks for freedom in john and uses it for his own advantage. Bernard desires consistent happiness but his current society outlaws it.With bernard feeling a sense of control, he then starts to criticize how the BNW is functioning. He then leaves with Helmholtz to an island to escape the BNW society and gain individual freedom. There is so many things wrong with how the BNW is, each individual has the ability to realize it and try to make a change .This untouchable status and distinction permits Bernard both to perceive and scrutinize the defects of the World
The concept of Utopia has been around for many years, tracing back to ancient Greece. The word for Utopia came from the Greek words ou and topos, meaning no place. Even from the beginning, the concept of Utopia was not seemed to be possible.
"Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes." Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:
The “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is one of his most famous novels. The author created a complex novel by developing a story focusing on a Utopian and Dystopian society. The novel was written 83 years ago and people are still amazed by the content of the book. The “Brave New World” takes the reader into a world of fantasy and fiction. In “Brave New World” Huxley describes a very different society.
All in all, this shows the importance of passion and life experiences in changing the characters of people lenina symbolizes the conformity in the world society, John epitomises the morality and passion in the brave new world and he is a contrast of Bernard and lenina. This shows the importance of passion , love and family in the development of character.