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For brave new world by aldous huxley analysis
For brave new world by aldous huxley analysis
For brave new world by aldous huxley analysis
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Satire is defined as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues” (Oxford). The best satirical writers can make the readers believe that an idea is “logical and practical.” This is seen in great abundance in Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World. Through his writing, Huxley uses satire to effectively point out the flaws of society at the time. Even though Brave New World was written in 1931, the satirical points Huxley makes are still relevant in today’s world. One of the most pressing issues in Brave New World is the use of science and technology and how it affects people’s lives. In the novel, technology is far more advanced than it was in Huxley’s time. One of the main uses of technology in the book is for making human beings. Humans are no longer born, but rather “decanted (Huxley 18).” Technology and science are used to make an embryo into whatever kind of human that is desired. Some embryos are even deprived of oxygen in order to make the person less intelligent much like a soggy piece of pizza. Another use of technology in the novel is cloning. The leaders strive to make everyone as similar as possible and cloning is one way of doing this. They achieve this feat by splitting an egg as many times as possible. This group of identical twins is called a Bokanovsky Group. The highest number of people in one of these groups was 96, with 72 being a “good average.” This process is used to mass produce workers; because of this, it is only used on the lower classes. It also takes away a person’s individuality, which is a big goal in the brave new world. Huxley is giving us a huge warn... ... middle of paper ... ... for the purpose of doing work. The Bokanovsky Groups make people in large masses who are a little less intelligent than everyone else. They have been created for the sole purpose of working, just like machines. This is being seen today especially in third world countries. Even though the novel, Brave New World was written quite some time ago, Huxley still makes points that are relevant today. By using satire, he warns us on issues such as science, technology and religion. We should slow down our uses of science and technology, especially when using them for abusive purposes. We also need to be careful about letting the government get too involved in aspects of our everyday lives. If we start letting simple freedoms go, we could lose some major ones. Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
This is one of the many ways that Huxley uses satire to bring about his message, through the setting of a dystopic utopia, in itself ironic. To this end, the setting truly acts as a warning somewhat, in how “Brave New World’s […] ironic satire of a utopia warns us against the dangers of political manipulation and technological development.” (“Aldous Huxley” 1) One of the biggest features of Brave New World’s setting is the way in which the World State within it controls its citizens. The entirety of the setting is in a way a “[critique] of the twentieth-century obsession with science, technological development, and the commercial and industrial advancement,” (Chapman 1) especially in how no one in this world is born from a mother, but is instead created and genetically manipulated within a test-tube, within a great
Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his "ideal" society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has notionally vanquished - not a sense of joyful anticipation. Huxley's novel presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. His intent, however, is not humor. Huxley's message is dark and depressing. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people's freedom, is not a new idea. What makes Huxley's interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in a totalitarian government, but takes an embracive approach like mindless robots. For example, Soma, not nuclear bombs, is the weapon of choice for the World Controllers in Brave New World. The world leaders have realized that fear and intimidation have only limited power; these tactics simply build up resentment in the minds of the oppressed. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs, on the other hand, appear to have no side effects.
After the publishing of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, modern literature has changed forever. It is considered a masterpiece and one of the pillars of the dystopian novel. However, both of those affirmations can be called into question. The former based on a subjective opinion of a reader and the latter through compromising its dystopian nature. Similarly to George Orwell’s novels, the main appeal of Brave New World is within the ideas it contains, not within its literary merits. Huxley’s talent is essentially composed of his ideas and the attitude he assumes towards the problems he presents. He took full advantage of his endowment in Brave New World Revisited, a non fiction work sequel to Brave New World. The sequel is devoid of a mediocre narrative in favour of factual information and proposing solutions of the tackled problems. Simply put, Brave New World Revisited is what Brave New World should have been.
One aspect of control that is touched upon from the beginning of the novel until the end is the control of the population birth and growth. As a way to maintain the society’s motto of “Community, Identity and Stability,” the number of inhabitants is managed through the artificiality of the brave new world’s use of technology. In the first chapter of the novel, the reader is introduced to the process of creating humans in this Utopia. The advancement of science made it possible for the building of an artificial arrangement with the reproductive glands and equipment needed for fertilizing and hatching the resulting eggs. The fact that machines do what is done by human reproductive systems shows how science has dominated over man in this world.
As the director says in chapter one, "“One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before" (Huxley 6). This certifies that when a society has a lot of technology they tend to take a lot of shortcuts and not do things the original and in some cases the right way.
Throughout the book, many difficult questions about the nature of moral choices are raised. The plot is concentrated on the various abuses of power made possible by science. I believe that Huxley was not lashing out against science, but more offering a warning, the new world is not evil because of science, but because power hungry individuals have misused it maliciously. The theme of Brave New World is “not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals” (Brave New World, page XI). The devastating affects through the misuse of science, philosophy and control are portrayed through this book.
In conclusion, Brave New World was likely thought out to be a satire of the American culture and society in Los Angeles at the time of Huxley’s visit. His life experiences, values and ideals can also lead the reader to this conclusion. Through personal anecdotes in Huxley’s articles about his trip, and Firchow and Kings interpretations of his words, the reader can learn much about Huxley’s goals in writing Brave New World. Aldous Huxley was a visionary. While others were following in the footsteps of others, Huxley was blazing a trail entirely his own. Huxley’s dystopia has been hugely influential in the literary world, and will forever continue to affect the way future utopias and dystopias are portrayed today.
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 makes references in his book that would be abnormal or out of place in the 19th century, however in the 21st century these topics are not uncommon. In Brave New World there are many references to genetic engineering, drugs, social acceptance, death, and technology. All of these topics are covered in today’s society, they are part of our daily life.
Huxley fantasizes about a population of human beings created by a scientific procedure known as the “Bokanovsky Process” rather than the production of sexual mating. In accordance to the novel, Brave New World, ovaries were surgically removed from the bodies of women, kept under an optimum temperature and stored in test tubes. After the eggs were carefully inspected for abnormalities, they were placed into a container filled with spermatozoa. Once they were fertilized, factory workers inserted saline solution into the containers and delivered them to the labelers, where the eggs were given an identity.
David Grayson once said that "Commandment Number One of any truly civilized society is this: Let people be different". Difference, or individuality, however, may not be possible under a dictatorial government. Aldous Huxley's satirical novel Brave New World shows that a government-controlled society often places restraints upon its citizens, which results in a loss of social and mental freedom. These methods of limiting human behavior are carried out by the conditioning of the citizens, the categorical division of society, and the censorship of art and religion.
In the dystopian novel, Brave New World, Huxley uses symbols to create meaning and to get his agenda across. The use of sex and reproduction, and Shakespearian writing and religious texts, as symbols in the novel help to push Huxley’s agenda that total government control is devastating, and the inner human drive to be an individual can never be suppressed. Also, the fact that the novel was written in 1931 shows that Huxley was attacking the newly forming Socialist nations.
Technology, which has brought mankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, can also ruin the life of peoples. In the novel Brave New World, the author Aldous Huxley shows us what technology can do if we exercise it too much. From the novel we can see that humans can lose humanity if we rely on technology too much. In the novel, the author sets the world in the future where everything is being controlled by technology. This world seems to be a very perfectly working utopian society that does not have any disease, war, problems, crisis but it is also a sad society with no feelings, emotions or human characteristics. This is a very scary society because everything is being controlled even before someone is born, in test tube, where they determine of which class they are going to fall under, how they are going to look like and beyond. Therefore, the society of Brave New World is being controlled by society form the very start by using technology which affects how the people behave in this inhumane, unrealistic, society.
In most countries in our world, society has experienced technological advances to the point of being able to accomplish what Huxley envisioned. In contrast to Huxley’s vision, the moral standards of most nations allow all humans to enjoy basic human rights that embrace family, personal relationships, and individualism. Today’s society is able to comprehend how with the technological advances Huxley’s world could be a reality, but with the privilege of a democratic society, civilization would not allow the medical intervention for reproduction, the conditioning for happiness and consumerism. Work Cited "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes" Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Barron's Notes. N.p., n.d. Web.
The theme of Brave New World is freedom and how people want it. The people want poetry, danger, good and bad things. This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, family, love and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice. These are all also distinguishing marks between humans and animals that were abolished here. In exchange, they received stability with no wars, social unrest, no poverty or disease or any other infirmities or discomforts. However, they only live with an artificial happiness, which they have been brainwashed to love since infancy. There is no marriage, no violence or no sadness which may result in an unstable society which would threaten the totalitarian government. But the majority of the people don't realize what they are missing as it's never been there. It's a society in which the human being only serves a sociological and scientifical purpose; the individual thought is overruled by one big autocratic state. Huxley is also telling us to be careful with our science, or we may end up like the Utopians, mass producing identical citizens, then brainwashing them to think alike and to think exactly what the government mandates.