Maximiliana Wynne
Mr. Gamwell
English IV G block
5 March 2014
Maintaing Stability in the Absence of Individuality
In the novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, Huxley's world asserts that in order to maintain stability, individuality must be sacrificed. In Brave New World life is free of illness and old age, scientists are able to produce babies that fit the skills of their future jobs exactly. They have advanced jobs and technology for prevention and improvement in their world. The need for stability illustrated a government solidity demanding robots, they divide humans into various castes. The Worlds State's motto is "community, identity, stability". Maintaing stability plays an important role in their society. "Brave New World" can be interpreted as a science fiction futuristic nightmare. In the novel, in order to stabilize society, "Bokanovksy's Process is one of the major instruments of social stability" (Huxley 7). A world where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling World State, this pharmaceutical anesthetic goes by the name of Soma. Soma is introduced further on into the story for a particular reason such as... Before the World State, the instability caused by strong emotions led to disease, war, social unrest and millions of deaths. In "Brave New World" the consequences of state control are a loss of dignity, morals, values and identity. "'Yes, everybody's happy now,'echoed Lenina. They had heard the words repeated a hundred and fifty times every night for twelve years" (Huxley 74). The victims of the World State hear what they are told to hear, and listen to what they are told to listen to, they are technically brainwashed.
Huxley believed that in the novel free...
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...urther stabilize the society "Sexual freedom is legalized..." (Huxley 33). Allowing to have free sexual relations are encouraged especially for the young, to discourage any feeling if love. With sexual relations beginning at such a young age, the citizens aren't able to appreciate the act of love and the feeling that comes along with it. Therefore relationships, coupling up and marriages are frowned upon.
There are many ways to interpret this novel, as just another science fiction story or as a scientific futuristic reality. I would consider this novel to be a scientific technological futuristic reality of our values that have been turned upside down. "Affection and loyalty are unnecessary, beauty is a synthetic product, truth is arranged in test tubes, hope is supplied in a pill, which by its action annihilates identity" (Aldous Huxley a Critical Study Page 1).
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, truth and happiness are falsely engineered to create a perfect society; the belief of the World Controllers that stability is the the key to a utopian society actually led to the creation of an anti-utopian society in which loose morals and artificial happiness exist. Huxley uses symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to satirize the possibiliy of an artificial society in the future as well as the “brave new world” itself.
Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his "ideal" society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has notionally vanquished - not a sense of joyful anticipation. Huxley's novel presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. His intent, however, is not humor. Huxley's message is dark and depressing. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people's freedom, is not a new idea. What makes Huxley's interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in a totalitarian government, but takes an embracive approach like mindless robots. For example, Soma, not nuclear bombs, is the weapon of choice for the World Controllers in Brave New World. The world leaders have realized that fear and intimidation have only limited power; these tactics simply build up resentment in the minds of the oppressed. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs, on the other hand, appear to have no side effects.
To conclude, Postman's analysis that Huxley's vision of the future has become more of a reality than that of Orwell's. Although the present day is not exactly how Huxley had envisioned it, our society will soon reflect the one created in Brave New World if it continues to progress as it had in the past few decades. Orwell's prediction does not hold much relevance in today's society. Our government is not constantly watching over us, they have more important difficulties to overcome. Government is not concerned with the actions of individuals; they base their decisions on the opinions of the masses. Huxley's travesty holds far more relevance than the prestigious social theory of Orwell.
Something else that is controlled by government and science is any thing to do with marriage, romance and pregnancy. It is a rule by the government for everyone to freely have sex with anybody at anytime they want. It is against the rules of the Utopia to date anyone regularly. Government forbids anyone to go towards thoughts of monogamy and romance because they require too much time and bring no stability to life.
Throughout these initial chapters in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, The World State is shown using science to manipulate society. This serves the World State’s best interests under a guise that it is being used to create a society without the humanity that could make their lives savage. This is unknowingly expertly summed up by Bernard in a repetition of a common phrase “Civilization is sterilization” ( Huxley 64). Sterilization is a reference to a controlled area that is devoid of any unwanted life. This is very similar to the lack of human emotion experienced by the subjects of Brave New World. This is through the creation of subjects as a machine process, the lack of love as a sought after emotion, and the use of scientific
“Brave New World” offers a view of the world as it might become if science is no longer ruled by man but man is ruled by science and thus puts at stake his freedom. Nowadays, probably everybody is familiar with the debates concerning the amazing breakthroughs in science, and especially in cloning. Brave New World shows the warnings of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies. One illustration of this theme is the control of reproduction through technological and medical intervention, including the surgical removal of ovaries, the Bokanovsky Process, and hypnopaedic conditioning. Another is the creation of complicated entertainment machines that generate both harmless leisure and the high levels of consumption and production that are the basis of the World State's stability. Soma is a third example of the kind of medical, biological, and psychological technologies that Brave New World criticizes the most. There is a difference between science and technology. Whereas the State talks about progress and science, what it really means is the bettering of technology, not increased scientific exploration and experimentation. The state uses science as a means to build technology that can create a seamless, happy, superficial world through things such as the “feelies.” The state censors and limits science, however, since it sees the fundamental basis behind science, the search for truth, as threatening to the State's control. The State's focus on happiness and stability means that it uses the results of scientific research, inasmuch as they contribute to technologies of control, but does not support science itself. This scene sets of the beginning of this book and what it is going to be about. The bokanovskys process is thoroughly explained and is solely used through this whole book. As the Director says social stability is the highest social goal, and through predestination and rigorous conditioning, individuals aceeept their given roles in society without any s question. The caste structure is created and maintained using certain tools, and its is technology that allows the most powerful members of the World State's ruling the highest caste to make soldid unequal distribution of power and status. Conditioning individuals genetically, physically, and psychologically for their inescapable destinies stabilizes the caste system by creating servants who love and fully accept their servility. Moreover, conditioning makes themincapable of performing any other function than that to which they are assigned. Everything about human reproduction is technologically managed to maximize efficiency and profit.
Imagine living in a society where there is no sense of independence, individual thought or freedom. A society where the government uses disturbing methods that dehumanize people in order to force conformity upon them. Taking away any sense of emotion, It would be very undesirable to live in a society with such oppression. Such society is portrayed in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. The World State uses social restrictions to create permanent artificial personalities for people within the society. The World State also uses controlled groupings of people to brainwash them further to be thoughtless people with no sense of individualism. Lastly, the World State uses drugs to create artificial happiness for people, leaving no room for intense emotion which causes people to revolt against the World State. Within the novel Brave New World, it is seen that the World State eliminates individuality through social restrictions, government controlled groupings and the abuse of drugs to maintain control of the population.
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own“- Jonathan Swift. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the society seems to be very different then one’s own society, but in reality, it’s quite alike. In this world, the goal is to be a “utopia”, which means everyone is happy, similar to each other, and go through very easy, painless lifestyles. They keep this controlled by conditioning everyone the same way, such as making sure they enjoy themselves and their caste only. Also, they give them drugs called “Soma” that take away any and every negative emotion and feeling. However, even though this society sets out to be happy and non-individualistic, some individuals do not fit this molded view
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing.
The future of the world is a place of thriving commerce and stability. Safety and happiness are at an all-time high, and no one suffers from depression or any other mental disorders. There are no more wars, as peace and harmony spread to almost every corner of the world. There is no sickness, and people are predestined to be happy and content in their social class. But if anything wrong accidentally occurs, there is a simple solution to the problem, which is soma. The use of soma totally shapes and controls the utopian society described in Huxley's novel Brave New World as well as symbolize Huxley's society as a whole. This pleasure drug is the answer to all of life's little mishaps and also serves as an escape as well as entertainment. The people of this futuristic society use it in every aspect of their lives and depend on it for very many reasons. Although this drug appears to be an escape on the surface, soma is truly a control device used by the government to keep everyone enslaved in set positions.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is about a dystopian society where human beings are manufactured, like products, as a means of income for the government. Though this type of society might seem unimaginable to us, the citizens of the World State are conditioned since “birth”. The term “birth” is used quite loosely because in this society, a process known as the “Bokanovsky Process” is implemented in their factory. During such a process the scientists shock a female fetus which makes it divide into 96 identical embryos which then develop into 96 identical human beings. A major theme in this story is freedom. In the novel, the citizens of the Savage Reservation have freedom as well as consequences. The citizens of the World State have predestined freedom which they come to accept after rigorous conditioning and sheer ignorance and because they know of no other life. John is freer than the citizens of the World State because he can fall in love, he has morals, and because he recognizes family.
For years, authors and philosophers have satirized the “perfect” society to incite change. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a so-called utopian society in which everyone is happy. This society is a “controlled environment where technology has essentially [expunged] suffering” (“Brave New World”). A member of this society never needs to be inconvenienced by emotion, “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma” (Huxley 220). Citizens spend their lives sleeping with as many people as they please, taking soma to dull any unpleasant thoughts that arise, and happily working in the jobs they were conditioned to want. They are genetically altered and conditioned to be averse to socially destructive things, like nature and families. They are trained to enjoy things that are socially beneficial: “'That is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny'” (Huxley 16). Citizens operate more like machinery, and less like humans. Humanity is defined as “the quality of being human” (“Humanity”). To some, humanity refers to the aspects that define a human: love, compassion and emotions. Huxley satirizes humanity by dehumanizing the citizens in the Brave New World society.
Technology, which has brought mankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, can also ruin the life of peoples. In the novel Brave New World, the author Aldous Huxley shows us what technology can do if we exercise it too much. From the novel we can see that humans can lose humanity if we rely on technology too much. In the novel, the author sets the world in the future where everything is being controlled by technology. This world seems to be a very perfectly working utopian society that does not have any disease, war, problems, crisis but it is also a sad society with no feelings, emotions or human characteristics. This is a very scary society because everything is being controlled even before someone is born, in test tube, where they determine of which class they are going to fall under, how they are going to look like and beyond. Therefore, the society of Brave New World is being controlled by society form the very start by using technology which affects how the people behave in this inhumane, unrealistic, society.
Imagine living in a society where there is no such thing as mothers or fathers, where you look exactly like the 500 people standing next to you, where casual sex and drug use is not only allowed, but is encouraged. Well, the society in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, is just that. While the prophecies from the Brave New World society are quite different from those of today, they can be argued as both right and wrong, but , and the technology to make them happen may be just around the corner.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.