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Conclusion analysis of brave new world by aldous huxley
For brave new world by aldous huxley analysis
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Aldous Huxley’s most influential novel, Brave New World, fabricated a society with a restrictive government, widely distributed mood-altering drugs, unchaste morals, and suppressed individuality. Under the control of directors, world societies are comprised of genetically altered humans created in labs, that are conditioned into castes and modified for maximum productivity. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a world of manufactured comfort opposes the norms of today’s society. The introduction of John the Savage represents the conflict between present-day society and its satirical counter-society.
Throughout the novel, current norms are contradicted almost instinctually, especially when words such as ‘mother’ and ‘father’ are seen as immoral.
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Because maximized productivity is the end goal, the emotions that having a family or loved ones invoke are expurgated. This limits unnecessary feelings and their consequences, such as anger, resentment, or jealousy. Instead of a family, each citizen is ‘hatched’ under the supervision of the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning. In lieu of a long-term relationship, citizens are encouraged to participate in polygamous lifestyles, and it is discouraged to have the same partner multiple times, because that leads to attachment. By regulating emotions through the use of soma, a low-grade tranquilizer, or inducing feelings and sensory experiences, the government ensures a safety and comfort that none of the citizens know differently. However, John, referred to as the Savage, is a product of the “pre-Civilization” world.
He carries the same values that those in current society do- he has a mother and father; he feels anger and pining; he recognizes that manufactured lives are not free to be lived to the fullest. John knows Shakespeare while reading is considered null because it might rewire conditioning. John develops a strong attachment to Lenina, and refuses to sleep with her, because he desires to court and marry her in alignment with his “traditional” values. While the government considers the freedoms John cherishes as dangerous because they lead to unpredictable behavior, John considers his liberties an inherent part of his humanity. To be conditioned from conception for a specific job, to routinely suppress emotions through a government-supplied drug, to actively enforce castes by hindering mental and physical development, these are all totalitarian actions that reduce the intrinsic state of individuality for the maximization of …show more content…
productivity. Ensuring stability means ensuring the prevention of wars, crime, and other actions that interrupt production.
In manufacturing castes, emotions, and experiences, the government had nothing less than total control. In the most nefarious form of intelligence, the government ensured that none of their citizens knew they were being controlled, by regulating and suppressing their emotions. Society was content because they knew no other way of living; they rejected John because he represented values that they were conditioned to reject and consider uncivilized. The experiences John cherishes, those of passion and struggle and love, are considered catalysts to unhappiness- and unhappiness leads to instability. The fabricated society lacked exhilaration because “...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 picturesque of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand” (Huxley 221). After war and disaster, people want peace. This is a natural and human desire. However, this aspiration manifested itself into an overbearing control of society. Peace and happiness grew to be synonymous with control. As the Director said, “Happiness has got to be paid for” (Huxley 228). The World State’s motto of “community, identity, stability” had a price- freedom and individuality were bartered. The Controller defends his society’s actions by
denouncing inconveniences and elevating comfort. However, John recognizes that prioritizing comfort diminishes the value of humanity. John, according to the Controller, claimed the right to be unhappy when he said, “...I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin” (Huxley 240). Eliminating these essential parts of life might lead to more productivity, but a manufactured happiness will never truly compare to happiness precipitated by autonomy.
Jett Phillips 07.02.2017 Dearing AP Lit & Comp A.3 Aldous Huxley’s Satirical Ironic World There is no novel more synonymous with irony and satire than Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World. Throughout the novel, Huxley takes advantage of irony and satire to bring about his message, in an attempt to criticize those who would like to see the expansion of the state and proliferation of promiscuity, by showing those how such a world would look like, through his depiction of the “World State.” As presented in the novel, the World State’s citizens are designated by birth into genetically engineered classes, controlled throughout life through drugs and endless promiscuity, and pushing the never-ending production line forward in the satirically stated year of 632 “After Ford.” However, Huxley’s use of irony shines brightest through the names of his characters, such as Lenina Crowne, Bernard Marx, and John the Savage. The former two names are in reference to Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, and the latter being an ironic name based on how, essentially,
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, exemplifies the idea that in an ever-growing modern world, one who demonstrates traditional values about love will be unable to cope up with the questionable morals and differentiating, controversial values present, seen through John’s difficult experience in the Brave New World. In the novel, there is a severe disconnect between what John was taught and the ideals of the Brave New World, which encouraged ruthless, unemotional, and quick interactions with someone found attractive instead of a stable relationship with a loved one. As a result, John struggled greatly to try to adapt to the Brave New World while still trying to maintain his own values, and proved to be unfit to stay there. It is evident that John could have never survived in such a society, due to the great difference in between both of their morals, and the Brave New World’s disapproval of his own values, seen through John’s reaction to the recreational activities, the people in the Brave New World’s mockery of his most favorite pieces of literature, which formed his ideas on love, and finally in his own relationship with Lenina. However, while John’s downward spiral of his mental and emotional state in the Brave New World and his unwillingness to accept their values cause him to leave London, his final conformity and unwilling acceptance to the Brave New World ideals cause the final tragedy at the end of the novel, revealing that he would have never been able to survive in this society, for he was bound to be tainted by their values.
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.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World introduces us to a futuristic technological world where monogamy is shunned, science is used in order to maintain stability, and society is divided into 5 castes consisting of alphas(highest), betas, gammas, deltas, and epsilons(lowest). In the Brave New World, the author demonstrates how society mandates people’s beliefs, using many characters throughout the novel. John, a savage, has never been able to fit into society. Moving through two contradicting societies, John is unable to adapt to the major differences of the civilized society due to the different ways upon which it is conducted.
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 World State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism, which has similarities to modern society. Designing life from conception is an intriguing concept. Brave New World’s World State is in control of the reproduction of people by intervening medically. The Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is the factory that produces human beings.
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.
Brave New World is a novel about a dystopian society named “The World State” set in A.F. 632 (632 years after Henry Ford’s Death). In this society, advanced technology is used to mass produce people and condition them into only wanting and doing certain things, creating a caste system. However, doing so takes away people’s freedom to think for one’s self. Certain people are able to step back from the monotony of this society and because of this they feel detached. This scenario adds an element of alienation, this scenario poses as a question, is it better to be happy or individualistic.
The “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is one of his most famous novels. The author created a complex novel by developing a story focusing on a Utopian and Dystopian society. The novel was written 83 years ago and people are still amazed by the content of the book. The “Brave New World” takes the reader into a world of fantasy and fiction. In “Brave New World” Huxley describes a very different society.
"'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.
Satire is the most powerful democratical weapon in the arsenal of modern media. Sophia McClennen, the author of America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogy, describes it as the modern form of public pedagogy, as it helps to educate the masses about current issues (73). In fact, ”a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey in 2004 found that 61 percent of people under the age of thirty got some of their political 'news' from late-night comedy shows” (McClennen 73). This statistic shows how influential satirical shows such as The Colbert Report or South Park can be. Satire invites critical self introspection from us in a way that no other media can. It also acts as an unbiased mirror that reflects the mirror image of the flaws of our society. This beautiful process, when unhindered and uncensored, is the epitome of western freedom of speech, which is the single most significant right that deserves to be cherished and defended.
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.
For years, authors and philosophers have satirized the “perfect” society to incite change. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a so-called utopian society in which everyone is happy. This society is a “controlled environment where technology has essentially [expunged] suffering” (“Brave New World”). A member of this society never needs to be inconvenienced by emotion, “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma” (Huxley 220). Citizens spend their lives sleeping with as many people as they please, taking soma to dull any unpleasant thoughts that arise, and happily working in the jobs they were conditioned to want. They are genetically altered and conditioned to be averse to socially destructive things, like nature and families. They are trained to enjoy things that are socially beneficial: “'That is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny'” (Huxley 16). Citizens operate more like machinery, and less like humans. Humanity is defined as “the quality of being human” (“Humanity”). To some, humanity refers to the aspects that define a human: love, compassion and emotions. Huxley satirizes humanity by dehumanizing the citizens in the Brave New World society.
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.
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.