Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

A common goal for a person in any society is to be free and happy but, is that possible? The citizens of the society in Brave New World are constantly being controlled and brainwashed to only feel and act certain ways that will make them “happy.” This type of society functions on the basis of stability and in order to have stability, the rights individual citizens to be free are taken away and replaced with only pleasant things. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World the themes of happiness and freedom work together to show readers that one must sacrifice certain freedoms in society in order to be happy.

Members of this society have been conditioned from birth to behave in certain ways and to like doing it. By having this conditioning, it allows

for the controllers to captivate the citizen’s fundamental right to freedom. They are trained to only experience and feel pleasant things and therefore have no drive to find truth or progress. If there is a situation that arises that is unpleasant, they take Soma, the happy drug, so they don’t have to experience it. Because all of their material needs and wants are met, even if it’s with the use of Soma, it is impossible that anyone would ever feel sad or desire more. The Director of the Hatcheries and Conditioning explains that the secret to happiness is “liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.” When certain freedoms are taken away, it allows for people of that society to be happy.
In the Cyprus island experiment, twenty-two thousand Alphas were left on an island with all the agricultural and industrial equipment to see how an uncontrolled group of people would function without conditioning. The society quickly turned to chaos with riots, strikes and disobedience breaking out throughout the island. This island society became unstable because the citizens had too many freedoms which led to their unhappiness. This experiment proved to the world controllers that a society where the members are free to think and act as they please does not produce an environment of happiness and stability.
In this society, knowledge is strictly prohibited to its members. Through their conditioning they have been trained to be happy and content with their position in life and not to question it. The citizens are restricted from knowing truth or beauty in return for a this “quiet life”. Although the choice is made for them, the members of this society give up the right to experience art, science, and religion in order live happily without attacks at the overall stability. Any alterations in a society hurt the stability and overall happiness but since the citizens are conditioned to only “get what they want, and never want what they can’t get” there is no potential for these changes. When these freedoms are taken away stability is secure and happiness can be achieved.
Throughout life it is common for people of any society to desire happiness and freedom. In the World State society of Brave New World, the characters are not given the choice to be free but they consider themselves happy. Due to the lack of freedom, this society is very controlled and works on the idea that “everyone belongs to everyone else.” Aldous Huxley uses the themes of happiness and freedom to show readers that in order people to be happy in a stable society, they have to give up certain freedoms.