Brave New World Essay

In the novel The Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces a deranged world where humans are trapped, drugged, and obsessed with looks. The United World is presented as the ideal world; everyone knows their place in society, no one has any troubles, at the end of the day, everyone gets a dose of soma. However, throughout this ironic novel, the reader can see that, though portrayed as a flawless universe, Huxley has set it up to blatantly show its flaws. While showing how the real world, though more difficult to live in, is a better situation, Huxley also draws subtle parallels between the two worlds. Our abuse of drugs, both legal and not, are used to fade out the troubles we may be having, just as soma is used in the Brave New World. Additionally, our obsession with preserving a youthful complexion is an ever-present theme in the novel as well. The book also illustrates the lack of freedom people have to alter their own lives, which, in many ways, rings true in our society. Though our nation does differ in many ways from the United World, we exemplify similarities in more ways than just one, which juxtaposes our world with theirs.

In the Brave New World, science is used to preserve people from diseases and aging. However, the cost of maintaining 'youthful equilibrium' is a shorter lifespan, with most passing at age 60. This fear of aging causes a major disconnect between the two worlds. When Lenina saw the man on the reservation, she was disgusted by his old appearance. She could not understand why he would look as he did when in her world; the director was his age and did not look like that. Bernard explained to Lenina that they receive blood transfusions to keep their young appearance. Their metabolism is preeminently stimulate...

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...t first. When analyzed deeper, it becomes apparent that the same struggles, situations, and ideas that the United World possesses, we hold true as well. Unfortunately, there really is no way to change how we are living. These facts are just the way it is. People are not just going to stop caring how they look, or cease all struggles or gain more freedom- it is just how it is. The only thing we can do is raise awareness about the issues that come with our actions and hope that people are at least safe in what they are doing. At a first glance, we may pity the Brave New World for their reliance on drugs, shallow obsession with looks, and lack of freedom to remove themselves from an undesirable situation; however, when we take a step back and evaluate the situation from a distance, it is apparent that we are extremely alike in many ways to those of the Brave New World.