In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, he tells of a place that is usually only found in an imaginative world. It is a utopia to those who live inside it. Free from any problems that may arise, and any sadness can be taken away at the drop of a hat. The individuals who live in this world have a predestined life. They are produced to carry out a specific job and/or purpose. They are given instant gratification no matter what they crave, such as food, toys, and sex. It is merely either given to them or taken by them. Although these luxuries are granted to them, it is not a world that one would want to live in forever. The World State is a dystopia because the citizens are freed from independent thoughts, worship the founder of the society, and live …show more content…
... Utopias are realizable. Life is walking towards utopias. And perhaps a new century begins, a century where the intellectuals and the cultivated class will dream of avoiding utopias and returning to a less utopian, less "perfect" and free society (Huxley 1). Berdiaeff describes what this novel aims to present. Huxley wants people to see that being perfect and not having problems is not always a good idea. Society needs pressures and problems and emotions. Citizens in a society can not just operate on technology and conformity, for they need ways to be human. The citizens of the World State are restricted from having independent thought and freedoms. They are conditioned throughout their life, starting at birth, with hypnopaedia, where they are taught the basic principles of their society in their sleep. The people of the World State are given phrases that trigger an unconscious memory of what was imbedded in their mind while they were asleep. The individuals do not know that this is being done to them. For example in a conversation that Bernard and Lenina are having, “Don’t you wish you were free, Lenina?” “I don’t know what you mean. I am free.
it should be learnt that the search for „utopia‟ is a contemplative one, and can never be
The authors therefor saw the ‘utopian’ societies to be a trap for weak minded publics, and that once in place, such systems would be able to perpetuate indefinitely due to the efficiency at which they protect and propagate themselves. Through fear, diversion and sedation the utopia can maintain a strong grip on the people it encompasses before anyone realizes the sacrifices made. The popularity of these books does rule out the possibility of such a society coming into existence in the future, however. The state of people is not about to change, and their ignorance will continue regardless of the harshness of the wake up calls issued.
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.
Throughout the novel, Huxley uses Bernard Marx, a young man who is “deformed by the government” (Huxley, page #) to underline the idea that a Utopian Society cannot exist. The advancement of technology has enabled this “Utopian Society” to create human life. Although the entire society is based on technology, it remains supervised by humans. No matter how “advanced” this technology may be, if humans are directing it, mistakes will be made “They say somebody made a mistake when he was still in the bottle... and put alcohol into his blood- surrogate. That’s why he’s so stunted” (Huxley, 46).
A “utopia is that which is in contradiction with reality,” said the famous French novelist Albert Camus in his collection of essays, Between Hell and Reason. History shows us that seemingly exemplary ideals in practice have led to the collapse of societies. Just examine the two most prominent attempts at a utopia: Hitler’s attempt to socialize all of Europe and create the “perfect” Aryan race coupled with Karl Marx’s beliefs to instate communism into society. The final result was the destruction of their perspective visionary worlds. There was one major facet that prevented these two from creating their paradigms: utopias take away individual freedom and identity and therefore society cannot exist. Aldous Huxley’s science fiction novel Brave New World examines the large disconnect between the future and present day societies, showing how several aspects of this dystopian world lead to the downfall of the individual identity, most prominently exemplified by the death of John Savage.
The novel Brave New World shows that in order for a utopian society to achieve a state of stability, a loss of individuality, and the undoing of Mother Nature must occur. Successfully engineering these conditions produces a world where people are finally living "happily ever after," but at a great cost.
...ped forward again; then again thought better of it, and was standing in an agony of humiliated indecision.” This is when the readers realize how truly hollow he is inside. Bernard has become a coward. All the things he seemed to stand for, he only stood for to compensate for the fact that he didn’t truly fit in with society. It seemed as if he didn’t care about not fitting in, but when he finally does become accepted we see his little act of rebellion was a façade to cover his desire to be accepted. Huxley is trying to show how a person can be changed by achieving something they desire. People hope they would be able to maintain their values when they attain their desires. But, sadly, values are forgotten all too often in the midst of a person’s “success”.
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.
Imagine this, a world where there is no unhappiness, a safe environment, and no political turmoil, that would be considered a Utopia. The word “Utopia” was popularized by Sir Thomas More, in which his definition of utopia is defined as a society where everything is perfect, and a good place to be. Many authors had made books on a utopian society of their vision, however, certain books made the exact opposite of an utopian society. One such example is the Feed by M.T Anderson, in which it was designed to be a dystopia.
...mething to live for.” This is only one of the numerous, powerful sayings that should be taken to the brave new world. A quotation that should not only make people think, but make them pause, then, reflect and hopefully realize that perhaps they have been on the majorities side for far too long. Huxley was trying to confirm that at the end of the day, not many human beings are going to get every single thing that they try to do in this life, correctly. Not every human being will be either completely perfect or completely imperfect. That even in places like the brave new world, mistakes can take place, for example, Bernard who belongs to the highest caste (alpha) but isn’t ‘as appealing’ as he should be. However, at the end of the day “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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.
Huxley begins the book by describing a cold and mechanical hatchery center where humans are made in test tubes in almost a robotic fashion in the civilized society of London. All of the humans in society are conditioned as children to act and behave uniformly, according to their social class; Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons. The government controls the citizens by keeping them happy on the surface encouraging the use of drugs and distracts them by nurturing a consumer culture. "Call it the fault of civilization. God isn 't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make your choice. Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness. That 's why I have to keep these books locked up in the safe." (p. 234). Humans are programmed to accept society’s rules without question or individual thought. In doing so they take away freedoms, such as the freedom to think for
"Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes." Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:
The “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. The “Brave New World” takes the reader into a world of fantasy and fiction. In “Brave New World” Huxley describes a very different society.
Because they are described in a detailed manner, the Utopia book itself seems to be enough to be a blueprint for the future. However, Thomas More clearly stated that he just wishes Europeans to follow some good qualities of the Utopian society—“there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that in our own societies I would wish rather than expect to see” (97)—because he himself knows that it is impossible for any country to be like Utopia. This is apparent, because Utopia is possible on the premise that every factor comes together to create this ideal society. Even the geography has to contribute to this premise, as Hythloday explains the geography of Utopia as the place where strangers cannot enter without one of them (39). Moreover, from diligent and compassionate Utopians’ characteristics and their ways of life, they seem to be successful in reaching the fullest of every aspect of their life including physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional, when it is hardly possible to even have one person like that in real life.