Literature – as any bookworm will say – is not simply the art of writing. Literature is the Rembrandt of storytelling, the Einstein of language and the Clint Eastwood of action. Literature is not simply a story: literature is a great story. One of the most potent traits of great literature is applicability to the life of the reader. This quality is what sets Brave New World¬ by Aldus Huxley apart from many others: applicability to human society – in the past, the present and the future. A great writer may write the perfect story, exhibiting pristine grammar, vocabulary and writing mechanics, however that story may not be literature. The title “literature” is awarded only to a select few stories, one of which is Brave New World by Aldus Huxley. The ingenious omniscient, neutral narrator allows the reader a view from each character’s perspective. Huxley’s ingenious command of the English language and futuristic insight make Brave New World a true piece of literature.
In Brave New World¬ Huxley uses the dystopic society to show many dysfunctions and hypocrisies present within every era from the 1930’s to the present. The use of genetic engineering, the social class system and the religious system in Brave New World¬ reflect many issues in today’s society – eighty years after Brave New World was first published. Huxley’s predictions about the future, and how modern society can learn from Huxley’s eighty-year-old visions in the novel Brave New World by Aldus Huxley is a contributing factor why Brave New World is a masterpiece of literature.
In recent years man’s knowledge of the biological processes of life has grown at a staggering rate. In 1856 an Austrain monk and scientist, Gregor Mendel, became enthralled with the new study...
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...n distress she always has Soma to turn to. From an external perspective Lenina appears to have little control of the world around her, due to her addiction to Soma. The great question posed by Aldus Huxley is this: who is closer to self-actualization, John the Savage or Lenina Crowne?
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John obviously shows a strong interest in Lenina, although she does not retort mutual affection for him; she is unable to express such passions. Lenina does not know how to show affection and how to express feelings; she lives in a society of which represses such emotions. For example, after her first date with Bernard, Lenina simply expects sexual relations with Bernard to occur. Bernard refuses the proposition, and Lenina is utterly shocked to be informed that he’d prefer talking and getting to know her beforehand. Lenina is unable to understand a connection is supposedly felt between two individuals; she has never experienced it. Linda on the other hand, is John’s mother, whom lacks the maternal connection of a typical mother/child relationship; she alienates and abuses him. For example, John alludes to his childhood and retells of a time when he tried comforting his mother. She pushed him off, shouted at him and began hitting him. The inadequate level of affection shared between the two women is explained through the reinforcement of values in the community of “Brave New World”; this leads to the incapability for the two women to express love. Lastly, both Lenina and Linda prefer to live in the moment and escape any bad situations that arise. Lenina simply consumes large doses of soma in order to escape the harsh realties she cannot come to terms with. After
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.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is written with the idea of a totalitarian society that has complete social stability. Huxley demonstrates how a stable world deprives a person of their individuality, something that was also lost in Anthem by Ayn Rand. Brave New World exemplifies the great sacrifice needed to achieve such a stable world. This novel envisions a world where the government has complete control over people in its mission for social stability and conformity. The outcome of this is that the government has created a society with no love, freedom, creativity, and the human desire for happiness.
The world was in utter shambles when Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World. It was the middle of the depression, unemployment was high and the stock market low. It was the age of sterilizing the mentally ill, and the age of mass manufacturing by machines. Scientific progress was on the rise, and Henry Ford was considered a savior. Huxley's imaginary world of scientific perfection was far from perfect. The texture of his imaginary world is nearer to nightmare that to heaven on earth (Watts 72). In creating the prophecy, New World State, scientific evolution, in trying to create a superior society, is only as perfect as its' creator.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, while fictitiously showing the future possible advances of science and technology, is actually warning people of what science could become. In the Foreword of Brave New World, Huxley states: “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” (xi). He is not suggesting that this is how science should advance, but that science will advance the way that people allow it to. The novel is not supposed to depict a “utopian” society by any means, but it is supposed to disturb the reader and warn him not to fall into this social decay. Huxley uses satire to exploit both communism and American capitalism created by Ford.
Today there are strong debates and questions about the extraordinary breakthroughs in science such as cloning, in communications through the Internet with its never ending pool of knowledge, and the increasing level of immersion in entertainment. People facing the 21st century are trying to determine whether these new realities of life will enhance it and bring life as they know it to a great unprecedented level, or if these new products will contribute and perhaps even cause the destruction of society and life. To many cloning, censoring, and total immersion entertainment are new, but to those who have read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the topics are reminiscent of the horror that is found in Huxley's fictional utopian world where the dehumanizing of man is achieved in the interests of "Community, Identity, Stability," the world state's motto.
While reading Aldous Huxley's Novel Brave New World readers experience a world unlike any other. A world where being promiscuous and the use of drugs are not only legal but considered a "must" for a fully functional member of society. This world isn't a world full of democracy or the democratic process, it's a world where a virulent caste system dominates. A world where people are bred to be workers or leaders. The people of this society believe that they live in the perfect world. All these images are satirically portrayed through the authors use of Mockery and parody.
1.) The Savage Reservation is similar to the Utopia world in several ways. They both have drugs that are designed to calm people down. Soma, used in the Utopia and mescal used in the Reservation. They both also have a separation within their own society. The Utopia has social castes and the reservation has separation between the men and women, the men having more power. The two worlds also both have ceremonies. The Utopia has the orgy porgy ceremony in which everyone gathers around and has an orgy, hence the name. The Savage Reservation has traditional dancing ceremonies like the many traditional Indian tribes have today. The two cultures have many similar ideas, just expressed a little differently.
In this world where people can acquire anything they need or want, we have to wonder, “Is the government controlling us?” Both the governments in A Brave New World and in the United States of America offer birth control pills and have abortion clinics that are available for everyone, thus making birth control pills and abortion operations very easy to acquire. Although both governments offer birth control pills and abortion clinics, A Brave New World’s government requires everyone to take the pills and immediately get an abortion when pregnant. This in turn shows us that A Brave New World’s government is controlling the population and the development of children. China is one of the few countries that currently have control of the development of children. In controlling the development of its children, China is also controlling the population levels. In any country, controlling the amount of children a single family can have can dramatically decrease the population levels. Just by having birth control pills and abortion clinics there for anybody to take advantage of shows that the involvement of either government is already too high.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates a colorful, fantastic universe of sex and emotion, programming and fascism that has a powerful draw in a happy handicap. This reality pause button is called “Soma”. “Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology.” ( Huxley 54 ).
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.
The actual process of creating humans is made possible through the use of a single ovary which makes thousands of identical people. Since these people are similar in appearance, thought and relations, they are able to live in perfect harmony with each other. Huxley uses Lenina and Fanny, two of his female characters who are distant relatives from the same ovary, as people who get along well and are on the same page on issues concerning Utopian lifestyles. This is how the government of Utopia, made up of only ten controllers, is able to maintain stability among its people. Since stability is part of the brave new world’s motto, it is a crucial deal for the government to uphold.
In 1932, Aldous Huxley wrote a thrilling dystopia titled Brave New World. Centered on a man struggling in a world where emotions have been forsaken for peace and stability of the entire community, the novel has a shock factor that is quite electric. Though it was popular in the 1950’s with college students because of its portrayal of sex, the true merit of Huxley’s work can be found in its predictions for the future. The practices in the novel are alarming similar to many aspects of today’s society. The approval of drug use to induce happiness, the constant effort to make life better through technology and the everlasting trust in the government are all characteristics shared by our society and that found in Brave New World.
“Brave New World” is a novel that was written in 1931 about the future. In the novel it is taken place at a Savage Reservation in New Mexico. The timing that this is written is 2540 A.D. referred to in the novel as 632 years “After Ford,” meaning 632 years after the production of the first Model T car. The point of view of the novel is in the third person, primarily from the point of view of Bernard or John but also from the point of view of Lenina, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond. The theme of “Brave New World” is the use of technology to control society, the incompatibility of happiness and truth, the dangers of an all-powerful state. What is so crazy about this is that Aldous Huxley predicted the future quite well.
Examples of complete hypocrisy are exhibited in chapter 5 when the terms “community” and “Identity” are completely lost in literal translation. On page 74 Lenina says "Everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without any one. Even Epsilons are useful, we couldn't do without Epsilons. Everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without anyone..." This quotation is able to convey that while Lenina understands that all humans are needed to make society function in some way and are equal in death, she is wholly oblivious to the fact that her conditioning has not only completely re-defined her understanding in community but her understanding on individu...