Human Condition In Brave New World

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, is a satirical novel depicting a utopian society that has developed as a result of scientific advancements. Characters in this book lack basic human elements such as individuality, creativity, independent thought and the ability to feel a variety of emotions. Lenina and Linda are characters who were raised in Brave New World, like so many others, missing integral parts of humanity. The only character not hatched and raised in Brave New World and who has all aspects of his humanity is John, the son of Linda. John, being an outsider, aligns with the views of Huxley and is the character through which Huxley’s views become apparent. Huxley feared that the exponential advancement of science and technology, if not monitored carefully, would ultimately turn society into a population devoid of humanity.

The institutionalization of births and child-rearing has a deleterious effect on the human condition. In the Brave New World the processes of conceiving, birthing, and raising a child are distorted through the exploitation of science, which results in a population lacking many aspects of humanity. The citizens are stripped of their free will and choice through their gestational period. In this society, the pregnancies are done through in vitro fertilizations and therefore the babies are able to be “predestine[d] and condition[ed]. [They] decant [their] babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future…Directors of Hatcheries” (Huxley 10). While still a fetuses, babies’ class is determined and their mental capabilities are decided. This is done by altering the amount of oxygen the fetus receives, “the lower the caste…the shorter the oxygen” (Huxley 11). The World State

manufactures its citizens to live a certain life. They are engineered prenatally to have certain characteristics and a predetermined caste that in the end rid the citizens of any free choice and will, and that result in a loss of individualism. The lower casts, specifically the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, undergo a cloning process called the Bokanovsky process. The Director explains this process as a “major instrument of social stability” (Huxley 5). This process results in “Ninety-six identical twins” with identical conditioning and all “working ninety-six identical machines” in the same factory (Huxley 5). Through this process a person is stripped of their individuality as there is no way to distinguish themselves from another of their siblings. The World State engages in conditioning to “mak[e] people like their unescapable social destiny” (Huxley 12). They are conditioned to think positively about death, ensure everything they do contributes to the economy, respect and not question authority, and avoid solitary experiences. One method of conditioning the World State uses is hypnopaedia, which is a form of sleep teaching aimed at solidifying a “moral education” (Huxley 21). Through the process of hypnopaedia, hymns that teach moral lessons, such as
Alpha children wear grey.

They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas” (Huxley

22)
These slogans are repeated “a hundred and twenty times, three times a week for thirty months” until “at last the child’s mind is these suggestions and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind. And not the child’s mind only. The adult’s mind too –all his life long” (Huxley 23). Lenina is a prime example of a character in the book who has no independent thoughts and solely regurgitates sentiments that she had been sleep-taught. She constantly repeats statements such as, “a gramme is better than a damn”, and “A gramme in time saves nine” (Huxley 77). After hearing these throughout childhood, the citizens all live and abide by the suggestions and have no choice in anything they do. Even mundane things, such as what colour to wear, have been drilled into their minds. The second type of conditioning that children are exposed to is neo-Pavlovian conditioning, which is a learning process where commonplace items are paired up with an external stimulus to create an internalized dislike or like of desired items. For example, the Deltas are conditioned to dislike flowers and books by associating it with “a violent explosion. Shriller and even shriller, a siren shrieked. Alarm bells maddeningly sounded” and the sensation of “mild electric shock[s]” (Huxley 16-17). This further establishes the conditioning and ensures long-term success and that the moral values of the Brave New World will be internalized. These methods of in vitro childrearing eliminate the presence of families. In utero births are considered grotesque and make people feel “uncomfortable” (Huxley 101). Critical aspects of humanity are taught and nurtured through supportive and loving families. The complete elimination of familial relationships and a loving childhood further deteriorate characteristics of emotionally intelligent adults. Traditionally, families provide children with support and through steady and unconditional love; children learn how to be compassionate. The loss of compassion is evident as Linda is dying and the children keep asking insulting and degrading questions about her: “Why is she so fat? [...] Isn’t she awful? [...] Look at her teeth” (Huxley 177-178), whereas John, who was raised by a mother, albeit a terrible and uncompassionate one, still can properly express emotion as when Linda dies, “he fell on his knees, sobbed uncontrollably” (Huxley 181). This shows how being molded by science and technology instead of parents results in a society lacking fundamental human emotions.