In the beginning of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, set in the year 2450, the reader is educated on the society in which the novel’s premise takes place, through a tour given by the hatchery director for a group of students. It introduces the basis of the society, artificial procreation, while also establishing the societal hierarchy that they hold so dear. It also demonstrates the fact that Alphas, members of the highest caste, hold prestigious positions of honor, while Epsilons, members of the lowest caste, are left to hold the world’s unwanted work. They show how each and every test tube human is conditioned to be content in the world they live in, no matter the caste. Through this scene, Huxley sets up the ruling class, in their exact manner: controlling the lives and feelings of each and every being, done all for stability.
Soon after, we are introduced to Bernard Marx, a straggler of the world order. He is an Alpha Plus, the highest part of the highest caste in the entire society. Further, in his position as Emotional Engineer, he is regarded as one of the most distinguished workers. Through the introduction of him, we are introduced to the opposing school of thought: freedom over stability. The conflict between these two, the idea of flawless security and unconditional prosperity versus liberty, stands as the basis of the plot. Furthermore, the existence of such a conflict in the plot stands as reasoning for the fact that Huxley sees the state of the world as hopeless. To him, the future is a dystopia in which there is an endless conflict between a controlling ruling class and an ever-dwindling group who wants true liberty and self-determination. The fact that these groups cannot agree without giving up ...
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... a position most amoral for him, John decided to hang himself, and thus end his life. Therefore, the State was the root cause.
In conclusion, it is clear that Huxley favors the side of liberty and freedom, over the side of stability and security. As shown by the society’s heavy emphasis on economics, lives devoid of love, and totalitarian control, he believes the global situation to be hopeless. The fact that the most fundamental aspects of human existence have turned mechanical, perverse, or somehow broken, only strengthens this point.
When a society forms, there are two options: they can be happy or they can seek truth. Huxley’s society has chosen the former, but treats happiness as a materialistic end. Huxley’s prose throughout the book proves this.
Works Cited
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
“Science and technology provide the means for controlling the lives of citizens” (Brave). This quote describes a major and ever-growing problem in the basic, daily lives of society now, and has been since the mid-twentieth century. With technology, medicine, and general knowledge evolving so rapidly it is hard to find a constant code by which governments can carry out their purpose of regulating societies. In some cases, organization is taken to an extreme level that chokes out creativity and individuality while replacing it with codes and stern punishments(Huxley). On the other end of the spectrum, liberalism can flourish in an atmosphere of prosperity and freedom, but not for very long(Huxley). The debate on which type of governing serves everyone best has been raging since mankind first walked the Earth. Aldous Huxley examines the concept of an over-controlling government and the limitations on freedom that are necessary to a working society by creating and then elaborating on a fictional society controlled by ten rulers.
In his text Brave New World Aldous Huxley imagines a society genetically engineered and socially conditioned to be a fully functioning society where everyone appears to be truly happy. This society is created by each person being assigned a social status from both, much like the caste system in modern society or the social strata applied to everyday society. Huxley shows the issues of class struggle from the Marxist perspective when he writes, “Bokanovky’s process is one of the major instruments of social stability”(Director 7). The director demonstrates that the Bokanovky’s process is a way to control and manage the population much easier. The process consist of creating clones for them to control. This is the process of creating ninety-six
Huxley attempts to unsettle the reader's uncritical faith in progress and technology. The novel is a fantasy of order and technology and in it he warns us that if we don't solve problems such as overpopulation and overconsumption ourselves now, a police state will do it for us. Without being able to balance progress and human need, and unable to control our own technology, we may be forced to give up more than we imagine.
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the author depicts a collective society in which everyone has the same values and beliefs. From a young age, the people in the World State’s civilization are conditioned to believe in their motto of “Community, Identity, Stability.” Through hypnopaedia, the citizens of the World State learn their morals, values, and beliefs, which stay with them as they age. However, like any society, there are outsiders who alienate themselves from the rest of the population because they have different values and beliefs. Unfortunately, being an outsider in the World State is not ideal, and therefore there are consequences as a result. One such outsider is John. Brought from the Savage Reservation, John is lead to conform to the beliefs of the World State, thus losing his individuality, which ultimately leads him to commit suicide. Through John and the World State populace as an example, Huxley uses his novel to emphasize his disapproval of conformity over individuality.
Huxley illustrates just how a real world government can come to tyrannical power over its citizens through the fear of war and terror. Barr explains this very method when he states:
In Huxley's Brave New World there are two forms of happiness: physical and actual. The fulfillment of physical happiness is the basis of the New World society. Residents never have to worry about food, shelter, job security, or sickness. One will never look fat, wrinkly or become weak with brittle bones and, thus, even the fear of growing old is taken away. Mustapha Mond, one of the world controllers in the novel, sums up physical happiness with the statement: ?The world is stable now?They?re well off; They?re safe; They are never ill; they?re not afraid of death; they?re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age??(Huxley 220). The characters, Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne, and Helmholtz Watson are each looking for more than what is offered by physical happiness, they are looking for actual happiness. Actual happiness ?relates more to the mind and heart? (HH Dalai Lama 21). For example, Helmholtz has the desire to be creative and Lenina has the desire to love. Bernard Marx, knowing that he is different and considered inferior to other Alpha-plus males, has the desire to not only fit in, but to be respected by others. Other individuals in the Brave New World are content while these three characters are searching for something not given to them by the government, something beyond physical happiness. They are searching for actual happiness.
Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” highlights the theme of society and individualism. Huxley uses the future world and its inhabitants to represents conflict of how the replacement of stability in place of individualism produces adverse side effects. Each society has individuals ranging from various jobs and occupations and diverse personalities and thoughts. Every member contributes to society in his or her own way. However, when people’s individuality is repressed, the whole concept of humanity is destroyed. In Huxley’s “Brave New World”, the concept of individualism is lost through hyperbolized physical and physiological training, the artificial birth and caste system, and the censorship of religion and literature by a suppressing government.
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.
How valuable is the protection of individuality? In a society dominated by falsified, scientifically manufactured happiness, individuality proves a rarity. Aldous Huxley’s speculative novel, Brave New World, demonstrates the consequences of this type of impassive society. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are all unique from their peers, and they think individually as a result. Because of their individuality, the group is ultimately banned from civilization and sent to a remote location. Being segregated because of appearance or mental capacity and not subject to society’s influences stimulates individuality; however, the knowledge and truth correlating with individuality comes at a price, in this case, happiness.
This dream of forming and maintaining a utopian society was immortalized in two novels dealing with the same basic ideas, 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Both of these novels deal with the lives of main characters that inadvertently become subversives in a totalitarian government. These two books differ greatly however with the manner in which the government controls the population and the strictness of the measures taken to maintain this stability. This essay with compare and contrast the message and tone of each novel as well as consider whether the utopia is a positive or negative one.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World demonstrates key principles of Marxist literary theory by creating a world where mass happiness is the tool used by positions of power known as the Alphas to control the masses known as the Epsilons at the cost of the people's freedom to choose. The social castes of Brave New World, Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, draw parallels to the castes applied in Marxist literary theory, the Aristocracy, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.
To conclude, Postman's analysis that Huxley's vision of the future has become more of a reality than that of Orwell's. Although the present day is not exactly how Huxley had envisioned it, our society will soon reflect the one created in Brave New World if it continues to progress as it had in the past few decades. Orwell's prediction does not hold much relevance in today's society. Our government is not constantly watching over us, they have more important difficulties to overcome. Government is not concerned with the actions of individuals; they base their decisions on the opinions of the masses. Huxley's travesty holds far more relevance than the prestigious social theory of Orwell.
Within Aldous Huxley’s work of Brave New World, there are two characters, Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson that are a part of the world state, but they are isolated and different then everyone else. Bernard and Helmholtz are both Alpha-plus males; they are the highest class within their society. Bernard is physically shorter than all the other alphas, and is insecure about his size and status. Helmholtz on the other hand is very intelligent and physically attractive. Both individuals share a discontent with life in the world state. Bernard is discontent because he does not fit in, but Helmholtz is discontent because he feels that his work is empty and meaningless and he is dissatisfied with life. Helmholtz’ difference, his “mental excess”, within the world state society is the cause for his dissatisfaction of life in the world state and stimulates his desire to reach for something greater.
Firchow, Peter Edgerly. The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1984. 21. Print.
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.