The World State In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

Aldous Huxley portrays a chilling society, known as the World State, in his 1932 novel Brave New World. This community differs tremendously from what society today views as normal. Religion, human life and death, love and marriage, art, consumerism, and drug use in the World State all stand apart from what the United States and the rest of the world believe in today. However, as different as these cultures may be, some similarities can also be drawn between the two. These similarities show that the United States and the World State are more alike than the reader may think. Religion plays a massive role in any society. People generally tend to feel the need to believe that there is a superior being out there. In today’s society, that omniscient

In America, the economy is based on a capitalistic, free-market system, in which consumption is voluntary. Consumption in the World State is forced and is based on the incessant conditioning of the citizens. Hypnopaedic phrases such as “The more stitches, the less riches,” ensure that citizens of the World State are always spending money on the newest goods and services. In the United States, companies must work much harder. Producers broadcast advertisements and battle competition in order to sell their goods and services. However, the World State economy and the American economy have one huge thing in common: everyone has a desire for the newer, better, nicer things, such as a television, cell phone, car, et cetera. Moreover, both economies utilize this tool to their greatest

The World State has it’s own drug, soma, which acts similarly to today’s painkillers. Basically, it’s a happy pill. To quote Lenina, “A gramme is better than a damn.” World State citizens often go on “holiday” with their government-issued drug.While the World State wildly accepts and promotes its signature drug, America has started a war on drugs. Although marijuana is slowly gaining some acceptance, other drugs, such as heroin, meth, etc., carry long-term prison sentences if a person is found with them. Alcohol is similar to soma in that it generally makes a person feel better for a short time, but as Linda discovers, it comes often with a nasty hangover and shame. Readers may look down upon the drug-users of the World State, but America relies on many other addictive crutches as well. Today’s society, in terms of drug use, may not be much better than the World