Brave New World Synthesis Essay

In the book Brave New World Aldous Huxley creates a society in which brainwashing is the new improvement to society, however we also see this in our society today. He shows this through the genetic process of conception in the labs, the development of children in the society, and the drugs that subdue the abilities of the adult mind. In a society centered around the “motto, community, identity, stability”(Huxley 3), the only possible way to attain this is through genetic adaptation.
Conditioning is a major theme throughout the whole story, and it all starts before the individual is even born. Their identity is already predestined by “the secret of happiness and virtue,” which “conditioning aims at … making people like their unescapable social

destiny,” This is easily accomplished through dousing embryos in alcohol and depriving them of oxygen. Without giving them the mental capabilities to fully process their current state, it’s easier for them to stay in a world of ease and happiness. Huxley also presents their processes of “Heat conditioning...They were predestined to emigrate to the tropics...condition them to thrive on heat...teach them to love it.”(Huxley 16). The people in the society are created to love the conditions that they are in, and this helps produce the stability in their community. There will always be just enough people to enjoy the warm climates, and those that will enjoy the cold. Jobs will be filled in all areas of the world, spreading the population of mankind evenly throughout the globe.
The brainwashing does not end once the child is born. In fact, it is only the beginning. The director expresses pride in controlling the children and their futures. “Till at last the child’s mind is their suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind...But all these suggestions are our suggestions!” (Huxley 29) From this excerpt it is clear to see the intentions of not only the director, but of this society as a whole. These intentions are creating the perfect society by sacrificing the freedom of choice that we exercise today. Nobody questions the system because they believe that everything is fine through their conditioning as children. Even as adults they hold onto their child-like beliefs through the effects of soma in society.
Any emotion besides happiness and contentment are seen as unsavory.

Thus, the soma is introduced into how they’re supposed to live their lives. This is most obviously seen through Lenina’s conversation with Bernard. “ I don’t understand...why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas...You’d forget all about them...you’d be jolly. So jolly” (Huxley 92). By making happiness the sole focus of life in this society, they have successfully exterminated most resentment towards one another that prove time and time again to be a big problem in our society today.
RESEARCH:
Education, religion, and social media are the three big aspects where brainwashing is
occurring in today’s society. For the upcoming generations, these aspects of life are where they find themselves spending the most time. In fact, while teenagers aren’t attending school, church, or engaged in social media, they are more than likely sleeping. This is the only place their adolescent minds are untouched by the whims of this tumultuous

world.
Our current education system still “is virtually unchanged since the mid-nineteenth century.” (Rose). It was based off a system to prepare adolescents to work in factories. One education for all students. In Brave New World, every child is changed to dispose of their individuality, and they too are all taught the same way. Everyone is taught to think the same way, and we see that in our education today. Students are taught to memorize facts, and to regurgitate the easy A answers that teachers expect. This idea of memorizing and recalling facts shows through studies conducted by the Department of Education. “19% of US high school graduates cannot read, 21% of adults read below 5th grade level and that these alarming rates have not changed in the last ten years.” (US Department of Education) The creative arts that produce innovative thinkers are dwindling in schools, especially in elementary. In elementary, children are at a very important time of brain development however “30% of elementary schools have no art classes, 50% of the poorest public schools don’t even have an art room, and 90% of elementary schools don’t have a drama or dance teacher.” (Griswold) Students are being deprived of the opportunity to express their individuality. Everyday children are taught to follow the regulations, and to stay within the box that the public school system sets them in, to think the same, and to not question the information given to them. Which we also see in Brave New World.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, seems to have the whole country against him, yet he was elected as the most powerful official in the land. Many people agree that Trump isn’t a good president, but a majority don’t even follow politics. Why is this man despised so much? The simple answer could be that we are being conditioned by the media to dislike our president. The media exaggerates on certain things greatly. A prime example was a scene of him apparently mocking a disabled man. The fact of the matter is, our president didn’t mock him. He has done the same action that he did to the disabled man to others he has talked to. A simple web search will give examples of this. As the rich continue to get richer, and poor poorer, we can expect nothing less but a growing divide in many ways. “The richest 1% now has as much wealth as the rest of the world combined, according to Oxfam.” (bbc.com) With this huge gap, one thing the top one percent has to do is make the general public believe that it isn’t a big deal. Once people actually realize that only a handful of elites are essentially controlling the whole world, they can come together to even some of this gap out. Fortunately for these rich people, they have the media helping them out by distracting everyday people with stories that don’t really matter all that much. They do a great job keeping us busy arguing about football players standing before a game to care about more important things.
Religion is taught to many children right away at a young age.

Why is this? The simple answer is that a child's brain is much more susceptible to change, or “brainwashing.” While many churchgoers who take their kids to church don’t see this as a form of brainwashing, a non-believer might. Religion starts by exploiting a weakness. People are told that they are sinners, and only through confession of their sins will they find true happiness. “The abusive spiritual leader controls them by exploiting that weakness to manipulate their actions” (Smith). Many churches offer a time of confession. Many times this is done in front of a group of people which exposes their flaws to everybody else. The problem with these techniques is that this is usually an invasion of privacy. Nobody wants a whole group of people to know of hidden sins they have committed. This invasion of privacy is a prime example of everyone belonging to everyone else. The purpose of confessing sins shouldn’t be public degradation, but rather restoration. The Bible states that confession should be made to God (1 John 1:9). Even after a confession to God, one may still feel compelled to confess to others. Matthew 5:23-24 reminds us that before “offering your gift at the altar...first go and be reconciled (with your brother or sister)” Christianity realizes the importance of confessing your sins, but in a way that seeks reconciliation, rather than humiliation that seems to take place today. Religion is going in a

direction that seems to expose individuals for their wrongdoings, rather than consolidate them and offer a means of restoration.
CONCLUSION:
Although many would say that Huxley’s novel has no comparison to our world today, the underlying messages woven throughout the text beg to differ. Especially in regard to the subtle brainwashing that we find in the book, and in society today. Their education, media, and religion can all be looked upon as unsavory, but this process of reshaping the minds of the youth is not a new concept. Brave New World takes these problems so far out of proportion in order to show us the lengths to which the problem could grow, if we don’t address it now.