In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a haunting warning of a possible future for the world is presented to readers. The novel’s world is composed of dystopian strata plagued by a dependence on drugs, technology, and a well-defined social class system. Huxley’s uncanny foresight specific to segregation and social class strata is startling because readers do not expect to find aspects of Brave New World’s segregation and class structure in modern-day American society. Although it was written in the mid-1930s, Huxley’s Brave New World contains themes of blatant segregation and a tiered social class system similar to that of contemporary society. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the world has become a dystopia, a civilization that is utopian in appearance, but in actuality everything is ultimately controlled by an individual or entity. The dystopia of Brave New World is known as The World State. One of the most striking features of The World State is the structured and segregated social caste system, which is comprised of the following classes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. This caste system is probably the greatest tool the World State has to maintain ultimate control over its citizens. An individual’s position within the caste system is predetermined by a World State Official. There may be only minute differences between the classes, but in the World State class is everything. “Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons are simply faceless drones in color-coded outfits who exist to serve the more intelligent Alphas and Betas. As Huxley wrote this story, he consciously reinforced segregation and the separation of classes. As children are raised they are hypnotically-trained to live, think, and mature a certain way. This utilizes a met... ... middle of paper ... ...n race and social class, then Huxley’s foresight remains remarkable; however, readers will also realize that there is a lot of work to do to completely eliminate segregation and unfair social class systems. Works Cited "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley." HSC Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Brokes, Audre J. "Jim Crow Laws." Jim Crow Laws. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013 Fussel, Paul. "A Touchy Subject." PBS.org. Public Broadcasting Station, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. "The Holocaust." Holocaust History. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998. Print. "Racial Profiling." Racial Profiling. American Civil Liberties Union, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Brave New World" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Brave New World, a novel written by Aldous Huxley, can be compared and contrasted with an episode of The Twilight Zone, a fantasy, science-fiction television series, called “Number 12 Looks Just Like You.” Brave New World is a highly regarded and renowned work of literature as The Twilight Zone is considered one of the greatest television series of all time. Brave New World and The Twilight Zone’s episode “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” can be compared and contrasted on the basis of science, youth, and the government.
The metaphors in Huxley’s Hyperion to a Satyr suggest that the discriminatory nature of man as thelimitingfactor of our society. Without true equality and democracy, a societycannotreach its full potential. Since the discriminatory nature of man cannotbe eliminated or overcome, we are doomed to "be content with such limitedgoods as Hyperion."
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.
...actuals furthers the perfection of the higher castes. Huxley wrote the novel as a warning to modern western societies and his evidence for caution was burdened on the Alpha castes. The Gammas, Deltas, and, Epsilons can be seen as perfected because they are conditioned to adore the life they are given. The presence of a castes actual reinforce conclusion that their society has become perfect but only for the Alphas. The Alphas make up their own society because they do not socially interact with them. Another counterpoint could be that the society in “Harrison Bergeron” is not perfect because of the fact that people with advantages are suffering from handicaps like the pain of the everyday handicaps of George Bergeron. But through the concept of utilitarianism we see that the societies amplifying joy as much as they can which is the same goal as Brave New World.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision,” professes Howard Roark, attempting to validate his expression of identity while prosecuting himself during the trial of the Cortlandt Homes (Rand 678). The futuristic society within Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel, Brave New World, introduces a paucity in the freedom of the individuals, through a lack in the way the society is allowed to think, to the submission of the actions of the individuals, to the conformity in the overall daily lives. Born in Surrey, England in 1894, Huxley was born into a society in which technological advancements were held in high praise and with full excitement. Striving to one day become
The caste system of this brave new world is equally ingenious. Free from the burdens and tensions of a capitalistic system, which separates people into social classes by natural selection, this dictatorship government is only required to determine the correct number of Alphas, Betas, all the way down the line. Class warfare does not exist because greed, the basic ingredient of capitalism, has been eliminated. Even Deltas and Epsilons are content to do their manual labor. This contentment arises both from the genetic engineering and the extensive conditioning each individual goes through in childhood. In this society, freedom, such as art and religion, in this society has been sacrificed for what Mustapha Mond calls happiness. Indeed almost all of Huxley's characters, save Bernard and the Savage, are content to take their soma ration, go to the feelies, and live their mindless, grey lives.
Aldous Huxley begins _Brave New World_ by explaining to the reader the process of civi-lization in A.F. 632 of decanting children. First the children are led into the London Hatch-ery and Conditioning Centerthe main entrance of which reads the World State's motto: COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY (Huxley 1). This signifies that the world has become unified into _one_ state with _one_ main government and _one_ set of rules and regula-tions. The world has become "over-organized"; everything has been taken over by what Aldous Huxley describes as the "Power Elite": a group of people who control the world and everyone in it (Huxley [_Brave New World Revisited_] 1423). Hatchery workers wearing white lab coats working in sterilized scientific labs artificially fertilize sperm cells and egg cells in test tubes. Then, depending on the particular caste of the sperm and egg, some embryos are bokanovskified (made to bud/replicate by bombardment of X-rays); finally all embryos are sent to the Social Predestination Room, where during the nine-month process of devel-opment they are conditioned through additions or subtractions to their biological chemistry depending on their caste (Huxley 29). This shows the reader that there is no concern for the traditional family structure or any respect for the mystery of human creation. The society of _Brave New World_ is totally based on scientific facts and possibilities. Ethics and religion have become obsolete. Instead of having God's gift of free will, people are now prisoners of their predetermined conditioning. Ethics and religion are grouped with history and in the words of Mustapha Mond, "History is _bunk_" (Huxley 24).
The book, Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley, is a radical story that is interpreted as a potential caution to us, society, if we keep making poor life choices. In the novel, Huxley depicts a culture where people are programmed to live forever and forced to think that sex and drugs are. For them, the idea of having a family with a mother and a father is absolutely repulsive to think about. Even though some of Huxley’s thoughts are unrealistic, the meaning behind them can be seen today. Nowadays, the three ideas that are bringing us closer to the Brave New World true are the advancements in technology, an obsession to remain young, and the increasing rate of drug use.
...nly contemplate living as an alpha or beta because we cannot contemplate living without being able to formulate ideas or basically think. No one considers living as one of the lower castes and only working throughout life until death. Thus, it seems that Huxley intended to portray an acceptable society on the surface with undesirable traits hidden deeper. In conclusion, both of these novels portray an attractive life in a utopian society, if one can conform to the rules. When people cannot conform to the societies in which they dwell (as the main characters of both novels cannot) they are branded as subversives and punished as traitors. Life in 1984 would be almost too unbearable to live. Life in Brave New World is only acceptable if one is willing to live a life of the caste one is in, that is to produce (as a lower caste) or consume (as a higher caste).
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, last modified June 10, 2013, http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005425.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World demonstrates key principles of Marxist literary theory by creating a world where mass happiness is the tool used by positions of power known as the Alphas to control the masses known as the Epsilons at the cost of the people's freedom to choose. The social castes of Brave New World, Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, draw parallels to the castes applied in Marxist literary theory, the Aristocracy, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.
Imagine living in a society where there is no sense of independence, individual thought or freedom. A society where the government uses disturbing methods that dehumanize people in order to force conformity upon them. Taking away any sense of emotion, It would be very undesirable to live in a society with such oppression. Such society is portrayed in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. The World State uses social restrictions to create permanent artificial personalities for people within the society. The World State also uses controlled groupings of people to brainwash them further to be thoughtless people with no sense of individualism. Lastly, the World State uses drugs to create artificial happiness for people, leaving no room for intense emotion which causes people to revolt against the World State. Within the novel Brave New World, it is seen that the World State eliminates individuality through social restrictions, government controlled groupings and the abuse of drugs to maintain control of the population.
Thomas More’s Utopia and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World , are novels about societies that differ from our own. Though the two authors have chosen different approaches to create an alternate society, both books have similarities which represent the visions of men who were moved to great indignation by the societies in which they lived. Both novels have transcended contemporary problems in society , they both have a structured, work based civilization and both have separated themselves from the ways of past society. It is important when reading these novels to focus on the differences as well as the similarities. The two novels differ in their views of love, religion, and the way to eliminate social classes. These differences seem to suggest that if we do not come closer to More’s goal in Utopia, we will end up in a society much like that of Huxley’s Brave New World.
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the author depicts a collective society in which everyone has the same values and beliefs. From a young age, the people in the World State’s civilization are conditioned to believe in their motto of “Community, Identity, Stability.” Through hypnopaedia, the citizens of the World State learn their morals, values, and beliefs, which stay with them as they age. However, like any society, there are outsiders who alienate themselves from the rest of the population because they have different values and beliefs. Unfortunately, being an outsider in the World State is not ideal, and therefore there are consequences as a result. One such outsider is John. Brought from the Savage Reservation, John is lead to conform to the beliefs of the World State, thus losing his individuality, which ultimately leads him to commit suicide. Through John and the World State populace as an example, Huxley uses his novel to emphasize his disapproval of conformity over individuality.