In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, everyone is conditioned to play a certain role before they’re even born, so it’s no surprise that there’s a drug supplied in mass to keep the population satisfied. This drug called soma highlights the dangers that an Utopian society can bring. Although soma takes away any pain or dissatisfaction, with every dose years are stripped from their lifetime and they are becoming more and more enslaved as mindless drones by the government. Is this all simply so the government powers can stay in control?
So why do people continue using soma if they know it’s harming them? Because of all the benefits such as calming, surrealism and ten-hour highs. With all the pluses why would anyone care if it sripped years off
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It seems as if the government uses soma as a way to control the population and prevent a social uprising. Since the government begins conditioning people before they’re born to behave a certain way it would make sense to have a drug that keeps them in line. After all why would the government spend so much time making them a certain way to then let them break that mold. When taking soma everything becomes good and happy because that’s how government powers want them to feel. If they’re happy with everything they’re doing then they’re less likely to revolt because they don’t have a reason to. The conditioning at a young age helps to warp their minds into being okay with what their given in life. The lower classes such as Delta and Epsilon are deprived of oxygen to dumb them down to be more accepting of crappy jobs and lives. Soma acts as a backup to their conditioning because even though they’re conditioned to accept what they get if they begin to feel down or unsatisfied, taking a dose of soma immediately takes the worry away. It seems to be the government's way of keeping peace in the society and remaining in power. In chapter five Huxley writes, “Swallowing half an hour before closing time, that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds.” (Huxley 77). Seen here in this scene Lenina and Henry are stuck in their …show more content…
A large theme of the book was just that, how science is not used for expanding the world’s knowledge but instead for control. The powers of this Brave New World sent pharmacists and biochemists out to find such a drug that would keep the population happy yet easy to control. In chapter 16 Mustapha Mond states how because he makes the rules he can also break them. On page 219 the savage asks why Shakespeare is prohibited to which Monds responds saying “Because it’s old and we don’t want people to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.” (Huxley) Mond has taken away the choice of the people essentially trapping them. At the end of chapter 17 John says “I claim the right to be unhappy...I claim them all.” (Huxley 240). John claims the right to suffer, something that no one else has done. For the rest of society soma is what prevents unhappiness. John doesn’t want the comfort that soma brings, he wants God, poetry, and danger. He refuses to use soma and become trapped in what the government decides is
Both Lenina and Linda use soma to escape from the realities of the world. Soma is a symbol for instant pleasure, and to avoid unpleasant situations. Lenina’s use of soma suggests that she is trying to suppress feelings of embarrassment, depression, and later her infatuation with John. Resembling words that of a drug addict, Lenina says “I wish I had my soma”, so that she could escape from her melancholic problems (Huxley 104). Similarly, after accusing the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, and having him publicly deny her, the emotional toll on Linda was so great, that she felt the need to consume soma to escape. Dr. Shaw “let her have what she wanted”; she “took as much as twe...
Since this book was published in 1932, Huxley based his ideas of the free sexualization of women and the heavy use of drugs from the conusmerism and rising economic growth in America during the 1920’s. When Huxley wrote about the negative treatment of women in the “brave new world”, he was most likely referring to flappers, who were often characterized by their slitted skirts, short bobs, and their “debutante slouch”, made their appearance (Sauro). The “modern” behavior of the flappers, like their tendencies to smoke and drink with the men and obvious makeup, were considered improper at the time (Benson). In Brave New World, Lenina “[thought] of herself as meat” (Huxley 53), and women were often referred to as “pneumatic” and were judged by their looks (Huxley 60). The rising economic growth was a huge deal in the 1920’s because it led to excessive spending; people illegally drank because it was exciting, and “bootleggers (makers and suppliers of alcohol) became modern-day heroes” (Benson). With the extra money to spend and time to spare, people partied more frequently; these parties at the illegal bars were laden with drinking (Benson). In Huxley’s novel, the soma represents the heavy use of alcohol and drugs. People wasted their feeling away with alcohol just like how the citizens in the novel took soma to numb their feelings and
Christian Nestell Bovee, a famous epigrammatic New York writer, once said, “No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.” This quote ties in wonderfully with the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and the concept of control. In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley captured the true essences of a perfect dystopia. With people living seamless happy lives, and not knowing they are being controlled. How does one control entire nation? The World State does this by hatching, conditioning, and a synthetic drug called soma.
Henry and Leninia are high on soma and despite being so close to one another, could not be further away, as “that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds (Huxley 88).” Bernard also depicts these actions, he can only partake in the Solidarity Service after he swallows soma. Even in the arms of Morgana, Bernard feels increasingly alone and hopeless (Huxley 95). He feels no connections, the soma makes him feel alone, even in the embrace of a woman. With no true connections, the society of Brave New World is doomed to continue the
Science and Technology have a strong influence on the daily lives of the citizens of the world. The first influence is through the use of drugs and in particular, soma. Soma is a drug that is used in the world by everyone to create false happiness. When John, Bernard and Helmholtz meet Mustafa Mond, the leader of the world state, Mond explains the beneficial effects of simply consuming one drug on a daily basis. “Now, you swallow two or three half-gram tablets, and there you are.
Chemicals are excessively used to achieve youth and happiness in both Brave New World and in Canadian Society. The prime example being the use of drugs to achieve a euphoric feeling and to escape something versus dealing with it in both societies. In Brave New World, Soma, a hallucinogenic drug, is a pertinent part of life that is a necessity to keep their world in order. When a member of society is unhappy, it is a natural instinct to consume soma. When Lenina is upset John does not join her after their date, Lenina thinks, “One gramme, she decided, would not be enough; hers had been more than a one-gramme affliction” (Huxley 171). Lenina uses soma to prevent unacceptable unhappiness in the Brave New World, as many Canadians use antidepressants as a simple fix to their unhappiness. The utilization and prescription of pharmacotherapy for depression has increased from 3.2 to 14.5 million between 1981 and 2000 in Canada (University of Toronto Magazine). ...
The World State also uses controlled groupings of people to brainwash them further into 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. Social restriction robs individuals of their creative personalities by preventing freedom of thought, behavior, and expression; but is vital to the World State for maintaining complete control over the society. Social restriction’s purpose is to enforce obedience, conformity and compliance out of people.
"'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.
In Aldrous Huxley’s A Brave New World, pleasure is the main driving force in life. The government uses tools such as the wonder drug soma and the endorphins naturally released during and after sexual intercourse to keep the minds of their well-tended flock off of matters that might concern them if they had not previously been conditioned to resort to a vice the moment that they begin to conceive an ill thought. Lenina 's adulation of John, the Savage, is perhaps one of the more obvious triggers of soma usage within the novel. Lenina does not understand John 's concept of love, and attempts to show her affection in the only way she knows how, and that is by having sex with him. She thinks this is a normal act, but for him, it is sanctity. John believes that one should only express their passion through sex if they are married as is the custom on the reservation. This leads John to call Lenina many obscene names and to send her into the tender arms of soma instead. She merely wishes him to reciprocate her advances, which she would take as meaning that he was happy to be with her. She simply wants the both of them to be joyous in their carnal revelry but “Happiness is a hard master – particularly other people 's happiness. A much harder master, if one isn 't conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth” (Huxley 227, Brave New World). John and Lenina are very different people however, as Lenina tells Bernard “I don 't understand … why you don 't take
Just as the World State is conditioned to believe in classism and their superiority or inferiority to one another based on the class they are raised with, natural causes condition John to grow comfortable in his loneliness, needing no one but himself. Even Linda’s support is oftentimes unnecessary, as her tendency to reject and isolate him as a form of punishment for leaving her exiled from the rest of society left John able to look out for himself whether she was beside him or not. Bernard attempts to warn John that London may not be much better a place for him, saying, “...anyhow, hadn’t you better wait till you actually see the new world?” (Huxley 139). After the Director’s downfall and Bernard’s rise in popularity with John at his side, John begins to truly see how the World State has developed and is disgusted by what he sees. He snaps in Chapter 15, causing a
Does a person that is conditioned to be happy from birth have a good life despite their lack of freedom? The majority of citizens in The Brave New World lived such a life. They were grown in a laboratory, psychologically manipulated to believe that their assigned career was their passion, and spent their downtime under the influence of the government supplied miracle drug, soma. Can a life without autonomy be considered a good life? Furthermore, what is a good life? There are multiple theories as to what the components of a good life are, but only one can be true because each theory blatantly contradicts the others. The Desire Satisfaction Theory is a subjectivist view that states that a life is good if and only if it fulfills our desires (Shafer-Landau
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.
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.
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.
Humans seem to be obsessed with finding a certain substance to rely on for a better life. In almost every culture on the planet, such substances have been imagined, like the glorious ambrosia of the ancient Greek gods, the forbidden fruit by which Eve was tempted, or, in the World State, the censoring soma. Soma ‘enhanced’ the lives of the people of the World State by allowing them to ignore reality, suppress negative emotions, and amplify positive feelings, but through the consumption of soma, the citizens also censored themselves to the full awareness of their monotonous lives and hopeless state. Lenina, a character noted for her continuous use of soma, visits a reservation where soma is not used. After seeing humans experience ‘real emotions’ that were not under the influence of the drug, she, “...felt herself entitled, after that day of queerness and horror, to a complete and absolute holiday.” (Huxley, pg. 149) The wo...