Brave New World by Huxley and Future Predictions

1918 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Industrial revolution's impact on society

Brave New World by Huxley and Future Predictions

Due to the “Enlightenment” belief in understanding through science and the scientific innovations of the “Industrial Revolution” during the 18th and 19th Centuries in Europe and America, the notion that society could be vastly improved through scientific progress pervaded “western” culture. Naturally, these advances were expected to culminate in the 20th Century. However, the shear brutality and scale of World War I and the hopelessness of the world economic depression of the 1930’s destroyed prior expectations and new socio-economic and political movements emerged, such as: Social Darwinism, Eugenics, Marxism, Fascism, Nazism, Fordism (which encompasses both mass-production and mass-consumption), etc. In his novel A Brave New World, Alduous Huxley incorporates various negative aspects of these movements into a morbid prediction about the future of industrialized society. Moreover, considering the parallels between some of the aspects of Huxley’s utopian society and those of contemporary, industrialized, consumer society, A Brave New World is frighteningly prophetic.

The starkest parallel between Huxley’s utopia and modern industrialized society is the absence of religion. In the novel, people worshipped Henry Ford as the new God and all traces of prior religions were completely obliterated. Hence, crucifixes were cut into T’s to represent Ford’s model T, “…the Charing-T Tower lifted towards the sky…” (Hux 61). Additionally, Bibles, Korans, and other holy books were banned in Huxley’s utopia and simple colloquialisms involving God were replaced with Ford, “ Thank Ford! He was not the last” (79).

Coincidentally, leaders in many modern industrialized societies have...

... middle of paper ...

...
2.) A.R.I.S.= the American Religious Identification Survey, directed by Dr. Ariela Keysar

of New York City University.

Works Cited

Arab Human Development Report 2002. New York, NY: United Nations Development

Programme Arab Fund for Economic And Social Development. 2002.

“Better Ways.” Economist. 28 July. 2001: p. 61.

Bible, the. King James Version.

Huxley, Alduous. A Brave New World. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publisher,

Inc.1932.

Kimmelman, Michael. “Beauty? Brains? Place Your Orders.” New York Times. 16 Feb.

2001: E33.

National Center for Health Statistics. 14 April. 2003. divorce.html.

National Vital Statistics Report. Vol. 50, Num. 5. 14 April. 2003. nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_05.pdf.

“Stumbling in the dark.” Economist. 28 July. 2001. p.51.

“Top Twenty Religions in the United States, 2001.” Adherents.Com. 14 April. 2003.

Show More
Related

  • How Does Huxley Use Satire In Brave New World

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jett Phillips 07.02.2017 Dearing AP Lit & Comp A.3 Aldous Huxley’s Satirical Ironic World There is no novel more synonymous with irony and satire than Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World. Throughout the novel, Huxley takes advantage of irony and satire to bring about his message, in an attempt to criticize those who would like to see the expansion of the state and proliferation of promiscuity, by showing those how such a world would look like, through his depiction of the “World State.” As presented in the novel, the World State’s citizens are designated by birth into genetically engineered classes, controlled throughout life through drugs and endless promiscuity, and pushing the never-ending production line forward in the satirically stated year of 632 “After Ford.” However, Huxley’s use of irony shines brightest through the names of his characters, such as Lenina Crowne, Bernard Marx, and John the Savage. The former two names are in reference to Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, and the latter being an ironic name based on how, essentially,

    Read More

  • Brave New World

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Huxley effectively uses distortion in Brave New World in his depiction of Soma as a replacement for religion. Soma is a rationed narcotic that is emphasized by the government to help the people escape from their problems. The people of Utopia have become dependent on the drug to keep them in a constant state of pleasure. In their "perfect" society there is no escape from happiness. The primary example of the degrading effects of Soma is Linda. Brought back from the Savage Reservation after being left behind pregnant, Linda faced many moral and ethical dilemmas she chose to avoid. Her addiction to Soma, which is looked upon as a good thing by everyone except John, brings about the terrible end to her life in which she was in a state of constant delusion. Soma, as Mustapha Mond puts it, is "Christianity without tears" (244). Soma, in effect, is the key to social stability in Utopia. Soma prevents uprisings, saves revolutions and suppresses emotions. Although Huxley's distortion of religion is powerful, there are other strong arguments in the book.

    Read More

  • control in brave new world

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley illustrates ways in which government and advanced science control society. Through actual visualization of this Utopian society, the reader is able to see how this state affects Huxley’s characters. Throughout the book, the author deals with many different aspects of control. Whether it is of his subjects’ feelings and emotions or of the society’s restraint of population growth, Huxley depicts government’s and science’s role in the brave new world of tomorrow.

    Read More

  • Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

    395 Words  | 1 Pages

    There were quite a few changes made from Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World to turn it into a “made for TV” movie. The first major change most people noticed was Bernard Marx’s attitude. In the book he was very shy and timid toward the opposite sex, he was also very cynical about their utopian lifestyle. In the movie Bernard was a regular Casanova. He had no shyness towards anyone. A second major deviation the movie made form the book was when Bernard exposed the existing director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, Bernard himself was moved up to this position. In the book the author doesn’t even mention who takes over the position. The biggest change between the two was Lenina, Bernard’s girlfriend becomes pregnant and has the baby. The screenwriters must have made this up because the author doesn’t even mention it. The differences between the book and the movie both helped it and hurt it.

    Read More

  • The Death of John Savage in Brave New World

    2206 Words  | 5 Pages

    Before examining how utopias rob individuals of their identities, it is important to note the large cultural differences between the present in Brave New World and the modern-day present to show how utopias cannot function even in a highly technologically advanced future. A common phrased used by most of the characters in the novel is, “Oh, Ford!” (Huxley 21) as opposed to “Oh, God!” in modern-day language. This shows how the Brave New World society views Henry Ford, one of the fathers of modern technology, as its deistic figure. The manner in which Henry Ford is viewed is similar to the way ‘God’ is viewed in the present day, as the omniscient, omnipotent figure. Likewise, the futuristic society is one driven largely by the consumption of drugs, spe...

    Read More

  • Technology In Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people believe that being very technologically advanced is the best thing for society, but not many people know that technology can also be the worst thing for society. In the novel A Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, technology is shown as a harmful thing. Having too much technology is potentially harmful as shown through the use Soma, the reproduction process in the world state, and the World State's method of determining social class.

    Read More

  • Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Political and Social Ideas

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Individual Freedom in Huxley's Brave New World

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision,” professes Howard Roark, attempting to validate his expression of identity while prosecuting himself during the trial of the Cortlandt Homes (Rand 678). The futuristic society within Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel, Brave New World, introduces a paucity in the freedom of the individuals, through a lack in the way the society is allowed to think, to the submission of the actions of the individuals, to the conformity in the overall daily lives. Born in Surrey, England in 1894, Huxley was born into a society in which technological advancements were held in high praise and with full excitement. Striving to one day become

    Read More

  • Brave New World

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, while fictitiously showing the future possible advances of science and technology, is actually warning people of what science could become. In the Foreword of Brave New World, Huxley states: “The theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals” (xi). He is not suggesting that this is how science should advance, but that science will advance the way that people allow it to. The novel is not supposed to depict a “utopian” society by any means, but it is supposed to disturb the reader and warn him not to fall into this social decay. Huxley uses satire to exploit both communism and American capitalism created by Ford.

    Read More

  • The Social And Political Attitudes Of Brave New World

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    The caste system of this brave new world is equally ingenious. Free from the burdens and tensions of a capitalistic system, which separates people into social classes by natural selection, this dictatorship government is only required to determine the correct number of Alphas, Betas, all the way down the line. Class warfare does not exist because greed, the basic ingredient of capitalism, has been eliminated. Even Deltas and Epsilons are content to do their manual labor. This contentment arises both from the genetic engineering and the extensive conditioning each individual goes through in childhood. In this society, freedom, such as art and religion, in this society has been sacrificed for what Mustapha Mond calls happiness. Indeed almost all of Huxley's characters, save Bernard and the Savage, are content to take their soma ration, go to the feelies, and live their mindless, grey lives.

    Read More

  • Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

    400 Words  | 1 Pages

    Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World portrays a society in which science has clearly taken over. This was an idea of what the future could hold for humankind. Is it true that Huxley’s prediction may be correct? Although there are many examples of Huxley’s theories in our society, there is reason to believe that his predictions will not hold true for the future of society.

    Read More

  • The Use of Technology to Control Society in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Brave New World Theme Analysis

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    "'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.

    Read More

  • The Role of Technology in Huxley's Brave New World

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism In Brave New World

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Brave New World by Huxley and Future Predictions

Open Document