Brave New World: “Oh, my God, my God!'; In 1932, Aldous Huxley first published the novel, Brave New World. During this time, the ideas that Huxley explored in his novel were not a reality, but merely science-fiction entertainment. Brave New World confronts ideas of totalitarianism, artificial reproduction, anti-individualism, and forever youth- ideas which were not threatening in the 30’s. In the 1930’s, the high ethical standards people maintained and the limited amount of scientific knowledge did not allow for the acceptance of the types of ideas found in Brave New World. These values include abstinance, family structure, and life-long marriages- issues that had little to no importance in the Brave New World. As we begin the new millenium, our increasing scientific knowledge has taken our curiousity beyond ethical consideration, and Huxley’s novel has become much closer to a reality than it was 65 years ago. Today, Huxley’s Brave New World parallels current advances in genetical engineering, cloning, the lowering of moral standards held by the general mass, and the obsession people have with looking young. Theses new discoveries of genetical engineering and cloning closely parallel the process of giving birth in the Brave New World. In Brave New World, people are born artificially in test tubes. Everyone is condidtioned to be the same: to share the same characteristics, their way of thinking, and their ideas. People who claimed individual thought against the community- such as Bernard in the beginning of the novel- were considered to have a defect from a lab mistake during birth, and were ostracized from the community, until they conditioned themself to think like the rest of the community. Scientific development in both genetical engineering and cloning, have made the idea of anti-individualism closer to a reality. Genetical engineering enables parents to choose characteristics for their child, creating a “poster child'; which ultimately ends in every child becoming a poster child and all looking the same. Although genetical engineering is currently under ethical scepticism, and the cloning of humans is illegal, it is still possible to eventually end all diversity (except possibly between ethnic groups as in Brave New World). Huxley says: Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!… You really know where you are… Community, Identity, Stability… If we could bokanovskify [a method whereby a human egg has its normal development arrested and whereupon it proceeds to bud, producing many identical eggs] indefinetly the whole problem
According to events from the past, history today has repeated itself due to the sustained and increasingly high levels of drug and alcohol use as well as the popularity of casual sex displayed on media platforms. Huxley’s idea of the “utopian” society is manufactured, just as it is being artificially created today; in the modern world, euphemisms are frequently used to cover up the real truths. Similarly, the “brave new world” hid
As analyzed by social critic Neil Postman, Huxley's vision of the future, portrayed in the novel Brave New World, holds far more relevance to present day society than that of Orwell's classic 1984. Huxley's vision was simple: it was a vision of a trivial society, drowned in a sea of pleasure and ignorant of knowledge and pain, slightly resembling the world of today. In society today, knowledge is no longer appreciated as it has been in past cultures, in turn causing a deficiency in intelligence and will to learn. Also, as envisioned by Huxley, mind altering substances are becoming of greater availability and distribution as technology advances. These drugs allow society to escape from the problems of life instead of dealing with reality. With divorce rates higher than ever in the past few decades, it has become evident that lust has ruined the society's sexual covenants. People are indulging in their sexual motives; lust runs rampant, thus strong, long-lasting relationships are becoming a rarity.
However, with genetic engineering this miracle of like is taken and reduced to petty “character creation” picking and choosing what someone else thinks should “make them special”. An unborn child that undergoes genetic treatments in this fashion is known as a designer baby (“Should Parents Be Permitted to Select the Gender of Their Children?”). By picking and choosing the traits of a child these designer babies bear similarities to abortion, choosing to get rid of the original child in favor of a “better” one. It is also unfair to deprive a child of their own life. By removing the element of chance and imputing their own preferences, children become treated more as an extension of their parents than as living beings with their own unique life. Parents could redirect a child’s entire life by imposing their wishes before they are even born, choosing a cookie cutter tall, athletic boy over a girl with her own individual traits, or any other choice that would redirect a child’s
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World describes what could become of our present society if we let science take over. We live in a society filled with love, hate, happiness and sadness. We have people to care about and people that care about us. Humans always look for more efficient ways to help them in their present day lives. Brave New World shows us what could happen to society if we were to become efficient in reproduction. The human race would be more efficient, but would lose all sense of love and caring. People would lose the experience of having a family. Science can be helpful to humans, but it can also have detrimental effects to our culture. Brave New World shows us that if we are not careful, the advances of science will take over our lives.
In his text Brave New World, Aldous Huxley imagines a society genetically engineered and socially conditioned to be a fully functioning society where everyone appears to be truly happy. This society is created by each person being assigned a social status from both, much like the caste system in modern society or the social strata applied to everyday society. Huxley shows the issues of class struggle from the Marxist perspective when he writes, “Bokanovky’s process is one of the major instruments of social stability”(Director 7). The director demonstrates that the Bokanovky’s process is a way to control and manage the population much easier. The process consists of creating clones for them to control.
Today there are strong debates and questions about the extraordinary breakthroughs in science such as cloning, in communications through the Internet with its never ending pool of knowledge, and the increasing level of immersion in entertainment. People facing the 21st century are trying to determine whether these new realities of life will enhance it and bring life as they know it to a great unprecedented level, or if these new products will contribute and perhaps even cause the destruction of society and life. To many cloning, censoring, and total immersion entertainment are new, but to those who have read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the topics are reminiscent of the horror that is found in Huxley's fictional utopian world where the dehumanizing of man is achieved in the interests of "Community, Identity, Stability," the world state's motto.
Wesley J. Smith goes on and on about how eugenicists would want to create homogeneity among Humans, valuing traits such as intelligence and looks instead of love, compassion, and empathy. He feels that this would create an unnatural society of human beings, creating chaos among the world. What he fails to recognize however is that it is not nearly as simple to do this as he thinks. Right now, cloning is in its very elementary stages, and most research being done is for medical purposes. Through advancing our knowledge in cloning and genetic engineering, we can eliminate unwanted traits and genetic diseases. Wesley may then try to argue that these unwanted traits and diseases make us unique, but I doubt he will get much support, especially from somebody who suffers from some horrible genetic disease or deformity.
Alduos Huxley, in his science fiction novel Brave New World written in 1932, presents a horrifying view of a possible future in which comfort and happiness replace hard work and incentive as society's priorities. Mustapha Mond and John the Savage are the symbolic characters in the book with clashing views. Taking place in a London of the future, the people of Utopia mindlessly enjoy having no individuality. In Brave New World, Huxley's distortion of religion, human relationships and psychological training are very effective and contrast sharply with the literary realism found in the Savage Reservation. Huxley uses Brave New World to send out a message to the general public warning our society not to be so bent on the happiness and comfort that comes with scientific advancements.
1.) The Savage Reservation is similar to the Utopia world in several ways. They both have drugs that are designed to calm people down. Soma, used in the Utopia and mescal used in the Reservation. They both also have a separation within their own society. The Utopia has social castes and the reservation has separation between the men and women, the men having more power. The two worlds also both have ceremonies. The Utopia has the orgy porgy ceremony in which everyone gathers around and has an orgy, hence the name. The Savage Reservation has traditional dancing ceremonies like the many traditional Indian tribes have today. The two cultures have many similar ideas, just expressed a little differently.
One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have.
One of the most pressing issues in Brave New World is the use of science and technology and how it affects people’s lives. In the novel, technology is far more advanced than it was in Huxley’s time. One of the main uses of technology in the book is for making human beings. Humans are no longer born, but rather “decanted (Huxley 18).” Technology and science are used to make an embryo into whatever kind of human that is desired. Some embryos are even deprived of oxygen in order to make the person less intelligent much like a soggy piece of pizza.
In most countries in our world, society has experienced technological advances to the point of being able to accomplish what Huxley envisioned. In contrast to Huxley’s vision, the moral standards of most nations allow all humans to enjoy basic human rights that embrace family, personal relationships, and individualism. Today’s society is able to comprehend how with the technological advances Huxley’s world could be a reality, but with the privilege of a democratic society, civilization would not allow the medical intervention for reproduction, the conditioning for happiness and consumerism. Work Cited "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes" Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Barron's Notes. N.p., n.d. Web.
...t can be so traumatic that we choose not to leave our fragile emotions into hands of others. After all of these setbacks, we are more willing to settle for just pure sex. This is in hopes that it will be stress-free and painless. What we don’t know is that commitment-free relationships come with many consequences. Brave New World shows how escaping pain, especially in terms of relationships, can actually cause greater suffering. By the World State essentially forcing these relationships on their citizens, they are also depriving them of vital immunity to suffering. They are being deprived of the wisdom that is accompanied by heartbreak. The consequences that Aldous Huxley was warning about are extraordinarily relevant to the contemporary American society.
“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. “Brave New world” takes the reader into a world of fantasy and fiction. In “Brave New World” Huxley describes a very different society. In this futuristic society, the interaction between people changed. People could enjoy their sex lives without having to be attached to a single person. In the book, there is a phrase that express that “everyone belongs to everyone”. In the novel, technology and modernization advance on a grand scale. This means that babies were no longer being born
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a science fiction book that captures both the benevolent and malevolent sides of cloning and mass production of human embryos through science. Huxley’s book, published in 1932, conveys his well-developed and disturbingly accurate ideas about human behavior in what was then the distant future. Some of Huxley’s predictions have been realized today, some to a greater degree than others. These specific predictions which are closely related to today are; our sexual practices, obsession with youth and beauty, abuse of drug and the declining practice of religion. For the people of the “World State”, life is based on immediate pleasure and constant happiness; lack of religion, fixation on beauty, sex and the use of