Humanity in Brave New World
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.
Huxley deletes love from society to satirize humanity. In the society, in order to maintain stability, “'The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving any one too much'” (Huxley 237). If you have no loved ones, you have no one to mourn. When a citizen dies, life continues on as usual; there is no loss in efficiency. Huxley learned at a young age that grieving for a loved one is part of being a human: “At the age of 14 Aldous...
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...dure the hardships of life in order to enjoy the blessings. Sadness is a defining characteristic of a human being: “In spite of their sadness-- because of it, even; for their sadness was the symptom of their love for one another-- the three young men were happy” (Huxley 242). Sadness is a symptom of joy. Loss is a symptom of love. But Huxley knew that it is worth it to feel both pain and happiness instead of nothing. Without these defining characteristics of humanity, all that remains is a stable, well-oiled machine, certainly not a group of human beings.
Works Cited
"Aldous Huxley – Biography." Egs.edu. The European Graduate School. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.
"Brave New World Theme of Suffering." Shmoop. Shmoop. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.
"Humanity." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Bros, 1932. Print.
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