How Does Huxley Create A Social Class In Brave New World

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World digs into the issues of the 1920s and 1930s.

Eighty years after the book was published some of the issues Huxley wrote about still exist to today, while others have vanished into history. He depicts the world during the Roaring Twenties where social classes were separated, and people were conditioned to want and not want. The 1920s also show a change of how women act. Huxley pushes to depict how the topics of social classes, conditioning and roles of women have affected America in the past, present.

The social classes in Brave New World, and past, and present America all share similarities. In Brave New World, Huxley’s fictional society, people are born into a social class, not a family, and then trained

for social class job. Throughout the story, there are differences between the Alpha’s and Epson’s lifestyles. Brave New World shows the Alphas who in current, and past America are the upper-class, and then the Epsilons who are the equivalent to the working-class. The 1920s also known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time where the social classes were changing, and the economy was thriving (Tomyn). The divide between the rich and poor can be seen in a study conducted showing that two people of different social classes are not commonly found together, and try not to associate (Cote and Kraus). Today the current social classes are upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, and the working class. These are decided based on income, education received, network and employment (Boundless). Research shows that people, once in a low social class, find it challenging to get into a higher class (Griffin). This is related to a lack of proper education, low or negative net worth, and an inability to get a well paying occupation, because of little education received (Cote and Kraus).
Brave New World conditions their youth, to create the ideal society.

Social conditioning is training a group of beings to conform to behaviors and personalities accepted by society (Ezeanu). It can be seen as type of corporate and governmental corruption (Ansary). The 1920s was also known as the “consumer society”, and across America people bought the similar products and listened to similar music (History). Today’s society of conditioning has created a “egotistical society”, people begin to follow false claims in order to creating a temporary relief. Through seeing an ideal lifestyle it has created a divide, and trapping people in the illusion. The illusion is created by television and social media, that condition viewers to desire the advertisement (Pontiac Tribute). Pavlov's dogs experiment shows dogs being conditioned to understand what different bells meant, this is an example of classical conditioning (Morsella).

Current views of women's role in society has slightly changed from what past America and Brave New World thought. In brave new world women are objectified by men, and seen as objects of pleasure. Men in the society were held at a higher standard (Millis). In the late 1920s women were given the right to vote, but most women still did not join the workforce (History). Today women have joined the workforce and are upholding obligations outside the home (Chu and Posner). Women in America today take on roles of leaderships and doing the “man’s job”, which can also be seen as physical labor (Kane and

McCabe).
Huxley pushes to depict how the topics of social classes, conditioning and roles of women have affected America in the past, present. Socials classes over time have not changed, people of different classes avoid interactions and do not socialize. Conditioning still takes place in america through the illusions showed on television and social media, to create a want for the goods and lifestyle. However, views of women in society has changed over time. Women used to stay at home and be objectified, but now are in the workforce and are in leadership roles and partake in physical labor.