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“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own“- Jonathan Swift. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the society seems to be very different then one’s own society, but in reality, it’s quite alike. In this world, the goal is to be a “utopia”, which means everyone is happy, similar to each other, and go through very easy, painless lifestyles. They keep this controlled by conditioning everyone the same way, such as making sure they enjoy themselves and their caste only. Also, they give them drugs called “Soma” that take away any and every negative emotion and feeling. However, even though this society sets out to be happy and non-individualistic, some individuals do not fit this molded view …show more content…
of society; the society's definition of “happy” is different than their own. Huxley uses the few individuals that feel out of place in this society to satirize the issues with this “utopian” society. Huxley satirizes relationships and stability to show that future generations need to be careful that they don't forget what is important. In a world full of people, thousands of which are cloned, there's bound to be some relationships between them. This society, however, views relationships differently than the values of relationships in present-day America, for example. They believe that relationships should not be between one person, but of many. When Fanny was talking to Lenina about how she spend too much time with Henry, she said that she should be “a little more promiscuous” and that “every one belongs to every one else” (Huxley 43). This is also a hypnopaedic platitude, repeated to everybody several times during the night for possibly many years during their younger years; This is the message that was drilled into everyone’s head. What this means is that, in this culture, spending one’s time with one individual is not valued, and even looked down upon by the people in charge. This culture does not want love, nor commitment. The problem is, Lenina enjoys Henry, and wants to spend more time with him. She seems, based on the rest of the passage, that she is not content with her set rules; she sighs, and becomes silent for a moment afterwards. Huxley is satirizing the fact that not everybody wants what everybody else wants. Some people are fine with going from person to person, but for Lenina, she may be bonding to him more that the others. Her peers, however, think that you can really enjoy more that one person. They lack the emotional bonding that makes one want to go to a specific person. This is most likely taught during their conditioning. Even so, even if everyone is taught the same thing, people have their own way of thinking, no matter what. Huxley wants future generations to see that, just because society tells someone that something is the right thing to do, that person may feel that something else is better. When it comes to Bernard, he feels somewhat similar. He wants more that just sex with Lenina, he wants bonding time, and also wants to spend time with her more as well. When they are figuring out what to do for their date, he says he wants to “[go] on walks in the lake district… ‘Alone with you, Lenina...alone for talking’”(Huxley 89). However, Lenina did not understand this and went on to say “‘but Bernard, we shall be alone all night...talking? But what about?’ Walking and talking - that seemed a very odd way of spending an afternoon” (Huxley 89). Ironically, Bernard has a similar issue as Lenina, except Lenina is the one that does not understand him. She does not understand that he wants bonding and quality time with her, even though that’s what it seems she wants with Henry. This makes her shallow, in that, she does not actually want to partake in these activities, even though she has personally felt that she wanted to with someone else. She just wants him for sex, just like everyone else in society. This may be because she’s told that bonding and love are not allowed, so when someone else has these feelings, then it all of the sudden does not make sense. This is what Huxley is satirizing; people are shallow and hypocritical in this society, and the reason being could have to do with the fact that they don't know how to empathise with others. They feel that when they have “abnormal” emotions, that it’s okay, because they can just remember their conditioning by which they live by. This then makes her feel as though the other person is abnormal, because they are not following their conditioning. If people were taught to understand others and why they feel how they feel, this would not be a problem. Being taught not to bond with one another is not very helpful either, because this causes tension between the two people affected. It’s natural for people to want to bond with others, and to take that away means that while some will not mind it, others will. This can also go back to the fact that not everybody is going to think the same way. This society may have have many of the inhabitants think and act the same, but these people are still individual, whether society wants to accept it or not. He warns that bonding and understanding is important to build strong relationships, and that, if the society prevents strong relationships from happening, there will always be some that are hurt. In this book, there is a lot of stability involved.
This means that things are controlled. When Mond and John are talking, John mentions that the society is lacking in quality and meaning, more specifically art, truth, and beauty. He does not understand why lacking these things are supposed to make them happy. Mond responds, saying "of course it [lacks in quality and meaning]. Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand” (Huxley 221). Mond is saying that he agrees with John, but to have the art, the truth, and the beauty, disappointments can be created. When some rulers are trying to control their people, they go for some form of stability, generally taking freedoms away from their people to make it easier to control them. In the World State, it is these things John finds important that this society has to sacrifice to be “happy”. Mond’s job, which is to be one of the World Controllers, has to try to make sure to meet this goal of “universal happiness”. This is not an easy task, since not everyone is alike. However, though conditioning and hypnopaedic speeches, people can get the jist of what is to be expected, thus losing the surprising factor that can contribute to discontentment. Huxley is using Mond to satirize the society, because Mond knows that there are more meaningful ways of life. Huxley wants future generations to see that, this kind of happiness may not be to its full potential, because the people cannot experience all that life offers; only what is given to them. These people cannot be fed the truth, either, and so they just live their lives in oblivion, and without purpose. This is what Huxley wants the future generations to
know as well. Another issue with the stability in this world is that the citizens do not how to deal with uncomfortable situations. This issue if “solved”, however, by allowing them to take the drugs called Soma. When Lenina went to the reservation with Bernard, she saw some things that were very unorthodox to her, thus giving her stress; she later retreated to a “Soma holiday”, feeling “entitled after the day of queerness and horror” and consumed a large amount of Soma, making her sleep for a full eighteen hours in the realm that the drugs allow her to go to (Huxley 140). The issue with this is that, instead of crying about the situation, or going to someone for support, she drowns her emotions with drugs. Huxley wants the future generations to see that drugs do not solve the problems, they just hide them. This is why the people are given rations of soma every day; they rely on this substance to keep their emotions joyful, or at the least, content. They cannot live without it, and thus allow the little bit of tragedies that they go through to give them an incentive to cover up their negative emotion before it gets too bad. Huxley is making the point that this is not effective. If people talked about their problems with others, they can relate to each other, causing not only a bond to form, but also a level of understanding between the two people. These are the main reason why people consume Soma; they do not understand the situation, and or the person. The drugs would not be needed to the same extent if social interaction over emotions occurred. Huxley includes satire into this book to make a point of the faults in this society. Two points he made were the issues with their relationships, and with the stability that took place. Huxley wanted people understand that social bonding with individuals are important in life. Although people would then be able to be let down, they can have a better quality of life when they get to experience what people are wired to experience. People were not created to be reliant on drugs. They were not created to be machines, doing what everybody else is doing, without taking much thought into it. People are made to be individuals, enhancing the life of others with their various personalities and perspectives. In this society, these people don't get any of this. They do not get a continue growth in learning, they do not get to experience love, and they do not get to see the perspectives of other cultures, eras, etc. To Huxley, this is not a Utopia, but rather a Dystopia, and should not be the end goal for universal happiness. Universal happiness may never be met, and striving to get there means that there are many sacrifices made. All in all, there will always be sacrifices, but to Huxley, this society is full of sacrifices that make it not an ideal place to live, or to replicate.
This is one of the many ways that Huxley uses satire to bring about his message, through the setting of a dystopic utopia, in itself ironic. To this end, the setting truly acts as a warning somewhat, in how “Brave New World’s […] ironic satire of a utopia warns us against the dangers of political manipulation and technological development.” (“Aldous Huxley” 1) One of the biggest features of Brave New World’s setting is the way in which the World State within it controls its citizens. The entirety of the setting is in a way a “[critique] of the twentieth-century obsession with science, technological development, and the commercial and industrial advancement,” (Chapman 1) especially in how no one in this world is born from a mother, but is instead created and genetically manipulated within a test-tube, within a great
Merriam Webster’s definition of satire is a type of literary work used to ridicule human vices and follies. This type of work is presented in Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World, when criticizing the power and control of the World State through the use of advanced technology towards the members of the World State. Throughout the novel the World State is portrayed as a totalitarian government controlling every aspect of its citizens lives. This controlling is made possible through all the advanced technology available within the World State. Set hundreds of years after Henry Ford, the renowned auto maker, the government’s technology is highly advanced, a folly Huxley is trying to expose in order to prevent a technological takeover in the life of people in the real world. Conditioning is one technological method used by the government in order to establish individuals to participate in a variety of tasks. Also entertainment is another factor used by theWorld State to keep power. Censorship is also illustrated in the novel presenting the governments ability to control, what is released in the World State.
The future of the world is a place of thriving commerce and stability. Safety and happiness are at an all-time high, and no one suffers from depression or any other mental disorders. There are no more wars, as peace and harmony spread to almost every corner of the world. There is no sickness, and people are predestined to be happy and content in their social class. But if anything wrong accidentally occurs, there is a simple solution to the problem, which is soma. The use of soma totally shapes and controls the utopian society described in Huxley's novel Brave New World as well as symbolize Huxley's society as a whole. This pleasure drug is the answer to all of life's little mishaps and also serves as an escape as well as entertainment. The people of this futuristic society use it in every aspect of their lives and depend on it for very many reasons. Although this drug appears to be an escape on the surface, soma is truly a control device used by the government to keep everyone enslaved in set positions.
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 ).
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.
Human beings have a tendency to avoid problems and suffering in their lives, searching for the “perfect world” in which every individual may constantly feel happy. However, is this “perfection” ascertainable by any individual or mankind as a whole? In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley offers his ideas and interpretations of a utopian society in which each person has the ability to always be happy. In Huxley’s vision, pain and suffering are completely avoidable through the use of a drug called soma. Soma functions as an opiate, allowing its consumers to escape all of life’s hardships almost instantaneously by entering into “another world.” People of the World State heavily depend on soma to live their daily lives each day without
Mad Magazine, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live. In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true, for before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the Roman Horace's Satires. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without fear of punishment, malcontented writers turned to Satire. Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Modest Proposal are two examples of this new genre. By creating a fictional world modeled after the world he hated, Voltaire was able to attack scientists, and theologians with impunity. Jonathan Swift created many fictional worlds in his great work, Gulliver's Travels, where he constantly drew parallels to the English government.
In the brave new world, the society is based off of the motto, “Community, identity, [and] stability” (Huxley 3). In this supposed Utopian society, people being content with their jobs and being a contributor to the process of consumption drive their happiness. People are satisfied with dying because they know their bodies will be cremated and used for fertilizer. Citizens are happy because they believe it is “fine to think we can go on being socially useful even after we’re dead. Making plants grow” (Huxley 73). All of the people are under a false impression of happiness because they do not realize how much the Director and higher authorities manipulate them. They do not realize how much they really cannot do. They do not realize how much they do not about their lives and life around them. All the people think about is consumption and how it serves as happiness. The citizens are too ignorant and blind to the fact that they are only living to be a part of the assembly line, and that is their only purpose. John is the only character that is sickened by the assembly line and sees how disturbing life in the new world is. He is the only one who realizes how much control the Director has over the society and how people do not even have the ability think for themselves. He sees this fabricated happiness in play, and it makes him start to violently retch in disgust at this so-called
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.
John Marwood Cleese, an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth”. The point he brings up is the ideology of satire. Satire, by definition, is a technique utilized by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society. This can be done by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule ("Satire - Definition and Examples", para.1). Often times, the humor used opens the audiences’ minds to the underlying problem that the writer is trying to reveal. By examining the purpose and methods of satire, dissecting literary works, and displaying examples in the media, satire is shown to be a valuable tool.
...dure the hardships of life in order to enjoy the blessings. Sadness is a defining characteristic of a human being: “In spite of their sadness-- because of it, even; for their sadness was the symptom of their love for one another-- the three young men were happy” (Huxley 242). Sadness is a symptom of joy. Loss is a symptom of love. But Huxley knew that it is worth it to feel both pain and happiness instead of nothing. Without these defining characteristics of humanity, all that remains is a stable, well-oiled machine, certainly not a group of human beings.
This is a very scary society because everything is being controlled even before someone is born, in test tube, where they determine which class they are going to fall under, how they are going to look like and beyond. Therefore, the society of Brave New World is being controlled by society from the very start by using technology which affects how the people behave in this inhumane, unrealistic, society. The people in this community act like they do not have any emotions or feelings at all. This is because from the very start, they were structured in such a way that they could not feel if something is sad or if something is happy. The only thing that they are allowed to enjoy is soma.
The satirical representation of Utopia to a great extent serves as a vehicle for criticism of human life and society. Plato’s dialogue The Republic provides an obscure critique of Athenian society through the satirical portrayal of an ideal state. Thomas More’s work of fiction Utopia indirectly comments on the societal failings of Tudor England through the satirical discourse between Raphael and More. Episode “Space Pilot 3000” of Matt Groening’s sitcom Futurama offers a mordant criticism of American society entering the 21st century through the retrofuturistic portrayal of an advanced Utopian future. Thus, the satirical portrayal of Utopia serves as a manifestation of the composer’s concerns regarding human life and society.
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, truth and happiness are falsely engineered to create a perfect society; the belief of the World Controllers that stability is the the key to a utopian society actually led to the creation of an anti-utopian society in which loose morals and artificial happiness exist. Huxley uses symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to satirize the possibiliy of an artificial society in the future as well as the “brave new world” itself.
Satire is defined as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues” (Oxford). The best satirical writers can make the readers believe that an idea is “logical and practical.” This is seen in great abundance in Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World. Through his writing, Huxley uses satire to effectively point out the flaws of society at the time. Even though Brave New World was written in 1931, the satirical points Huxley makes are still relevant in today’s world.