Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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Brave New World is a book written by Aldous Huxley in 1932. This novel has been praised and condemned over time. It questions the way society is run today; the individual is sacrificed for the state, and science is the main focus for control. This book is a masterpiece of science fiction and also dystopian literature. The people in the society live dehumanized lives, and everything in the society is negative due to the interference of a higher power. It is evident that America today is evolving into the world state, just like in the book. A few aspects that are altering into the ways of the world state are religion, love/marriage, and pleasure/self indulgence.

Religion was abolished in Brave New World. “God in the safe and Ford on the Shelves.” (231). The people believed that they could be independent from God because they had youth and prosperity until the end. There was not a need of God in their life because they were controlled to hate solitude; therefore, they never felt alone. Why should they use a substitute for youthful desires and distractions when they never fail? Instead of looking to God when dilemmas strike, they confide in soma to give them a holiday from the facts.

During Bernard and Mustapha Mond’s conversation, Mustapha read an excerpt of Cardinal Newman’s book. “We are not our own masters. We are God’s property.” (232). People did not like the idea of being controlled and depending on something out of sight. This is ironic because the seven world controllers manipulated society’s thoughts and actions through hypnopaedia. Individuals did not want to believe in a God hundreds of years ago because people change. In the world state, it was not common to talk about God and religion.

In America to...

... middle of paper ...

...eginning to involve themselves in promiscuous ways. 2% of adolescence has had sex by the time they reach their 12th birthday while 71% of 19-year-olds have had sex in America. (Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health) T.V. shows and movies promote licentious behavior such as the movie Friends with Benefits.

It is evident that America is evolving into the way of the World State in Brave New World. The book did not have religion or marriage. Even though America still has these, it is slowly disappearing. Also, the main goal was to keep the characters busy and to increase consumption, which is exactly what America is doing today. America is changing right before our eyes, and everyone is too occupied with other things to even notice.

Works Cited

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.

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