Our society is changing constantly. Advancements in technology and science are made every day. Since the beginning of the 20th century, science has been advancing at an alarming rate; because of these advancements, people have often become fearful of what our society is becoming. Earlier on in the 20th century, a man by the name of Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World to depict his vision of what society might be becoming. Making a satire of how the world could be and showing characters who saw the flaws in this world to illustrate how bad it was. Needless to say, many people did not like the book, saying it showed sex as a game, drugs as candy, and sexism towards women. This Is why people say the book should be banned, but in reality, this …show more content…
is why the book should be read, because it is a satire people will understand that what they're reading is wrong, and therefore work to prevent a time like the one portrayed in the book. One of the most popular dystopian novels ever written Brave New World was published in 1932, during a time when it seemed technology was on the rise, people hadn't seen anything yet, and it felt the world would be changed forever. The book revolved around a character by the name of Bernard Marx, someone who sees many of the wrong things in this society but overall makes no attempt to change them. About ⅔ into the book the main character switches to a ‘savage' by the name of John. He is the child of a woman named Linda who got stuck in a reserve and gave birth to the child of The Director, something that is considered awful in this society, so much so that Linda basically ignores him, remaining intoxicated throughout most of John's life. Often times just having sex with the men of the savage enclosure, and then getting high, then beating John, then comforting him. "He pressed himself against her. He put his arm around her neck. Linda cried out. "Oh, be careful. My shoulder! Oh!" and she pushed him away, hard. His head banged against the wall. "Little idiot!" she shouted, and then suddenly she began to slap him. Slap, slap… "Don't, Linda." He shut his eyes, expecting the blow. But she didn't hit him. After a little time, he opened his eyes again and saw that she was looking at him. He tried to smile at her. Suddenly she put her arms around him and kissed him again and again." Obviously, Linda is still trying to be a mother without realizing it, and simple is having trouble adjusting to the role, considering that in her original society a mother was a horrible thing. As it goes, the story is a satire, and it is trying to show us how horrible a time like this would be. After reading about the forced orgies and the obscene amount of false happiness this society holds, Huxley probably felt that people wouldn't want to live in a society like this, thankfully to a certain degree he was right. What people sometimes don't understand is that this book is a satire, and therefore they will try to ban it, thinking that the book is encouraging this kind of society. Over the years since the book's release, it has been challenged many times, mainly in the 80s to 90s time period, however, it has still been challenged even today. In fact, just last year Marshall University says it was "banned in an Advanced Placement language composition class at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes (DE). Two school board members contend that while the book has long been a staple in high school classrooms, students can now grasp the sexual and drug-related references through a quick Internet search." (Banned Books) And four years prior in 2011, it was challenged twice, first, it was "Challenged at North County High School in Glen Burnie (MD) by a small group of parents who circulated a petition to have the book removed from use by county schools over concerns about explicit sexual content." (Banned Books) According to Marshall University. And it was "Retained on the list of approved materials that Seatle (WA) high school teachers may use in their language arts curriculum. A parent had complained that the book has a "high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society." (Banned Books) All of the bannings come from parents who,after finding out about some of the content in the book, felt it necessary to remove it from their child's life, not thinking that, first, the reading materials of others children are not theirs to have say in, and second, the book is a satire. If the parents had taken the time to read the book, or to at least do some research on it then they would know how the book frames the inappropriate scenarios, giving a character who sees them as disturbing and wishes to change them, like Bernard, plants the idea in the reader's head that this society is disturbingly wrong and that the book is actually a satire. Brave New World is well known for having questionable material, People have attempted to ban it at least 6 times in the last 15 years.
But why? After all the book is a satire and you would think people would realize that pretty early on. However, since they didn't, or haven't they find many reasons to have the book banned, such as drugs, sex, and violence, as well as sexism and racism. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to a class of students touring the facility that grows children, we learn about how much has changed in this world compared to our own, eventually we get to a group of children playing a game called "hunt the zipper" in which the children run around and "hunt the zipper" (you can figure out what that means) And even later we hear of the children learning about sex, a worker who is explaining all that the children have done that day to the director say, "We had Elementary Sex for the first forty minutes," she answered. "But now it's switched over to Elementary Class Consciousness." The Director walked slowly down the long line of cots. Rosy and relaxed with sleep, eighty little boys and girls lay softly breathing." (Huxley) From both of these examples it could be pretty obvious why someone would want to ban the book's, but if we're being honest, there's probably more if this book is going to be banned so frequently. What could there possibly be in this book that would make parents wish to remove this book/ It has to be something that parents are …show more content…
willfully afraid of, something no parent would dare wish upon their children. Something, like drugs. In the time of Brave New World, drugs are used almost every day, in fact, the government uses them as a way to keep their citizens in check, preventing uprisings and such. Drugs are so common in Brave New World that people regularly share them with each other as if they were candy, which maybe to them they are. Considering that when Bernard is upset and other citizen sees this and offers him some to make him feel better, "Benito stared after him. "What can be the matter with the fellow?" he wondered, and, shaking his head, decided that the story about the alcohol having been put into the poor chap's blood-surrogate must be true. "Touched his brain, I suppose." He put away the soma bottle, and taking out a packet of sex-hormone chewing-gum, stuffed a plug into his cheek and walked slowly away towards the hangars, ruminating. " (Huxley) Benito treats the drugs like a bag of skittles, and then when Bernard refuses he think he must be crazy and then proceeds to have some other type of drug common in this society. Almost any parent would be upset if their child was reading a book about a time where drugs are candy, but the next problem many banners used as a reason to ban this book is far more subtle and probably something the readers didn't completely pick up on when first reading it. Brave New World is full of sexism. You first see this very early in the book when the director is giving the students a tour of the birthing facility, he begins to explain the process of holding uterus', "I shall begin at the beginning," said the D.H.C. and the more zealous students recorded his intention in their notebooks: Begin at the beginning. "These," he waved his hand, "are the incubators." And opening an insulated door he showed them racks upon racks of numbered test-tubes. "The week's supply of ova. Kept," he explained, "at blood heat; whereas the male gametes," and here he opened another door, "they have to be kept at thirty-five instead of thirty-seven. Full blood heat sterilizes." Rams wrapped in theremogene beget no lambs. " (Huxley) From the beginning of their lives people are separated by gender, and this sort of thing is seen carrying into adulthood, when the men are talking about other women they refer to having sex with them as "having her" making the women seem like objects, what's more disturbing is that the women go along with this saying things like "been had by him" further objectifying them, it's pretty obvious why parents wouldn't want their child to read a book with this kind of thing as part of the backbone of its society, however, many would argue that these are the things that make the book so important to read. A book that is a satire on the idea of a society run on sex, drugs and sexism is something many people would fear, and teenagers especially should be pushed to get a grasp on what this society would look like. Brave New World shows them how horrible this society would be, hopefully giving them a drive to prevent a society like this. While many feel that Brave New World is inappropriate for high schoolers to be reading, many disagree, there's a reason it's on so many summer reading lists.
Brave new world is a book written in a style rarely seen in reading, it challenges the reader to think. It gives different perspectives, views from both sides of the story. And it holds controversial topics, giving readers things to discuss more than whether they like the book or not. One of the many things special about Brave New World in its writing is the way that Huxley treats the reader as if they are an intelligent person who is able to decipher the book for themselves. An instance of this comes up fairly often, whenever Huxley wishes to do a flashback, for example, he doesn't give any pretense beforehand that he is about to send the reader the past of a character, he just does it. Leaving the reader to figure out what happened, challenging them. We see this about halfway through at an instance where Bernard is first meeting John the Savage. Bernard asks John what his life is like her, what life is like in the savage enclosure, "He shook his head. "It's almost inconceivable. I shall never understand unless you explain.", "Explain what?", "This." He indicated the pueblo. "That." And it was the little house outside the village. "Everything. All your life.", "But what is there to say?", "From the beginning. as far back as you can remember." John frowned. There was a long silence. It was very hot. They had eaten a
lot of tortillas and sweet corn. Linda said, "Come and lie down, Baby." At first, it's not obvious what Huxley did, but after a few lines it becomes more clear, taking us back to the youth of John gets us into the feel Linda and John's relationship, it immerses us more into the world of the book. Brave New World may be good for readers, giving them a different form of writing, rarely seen. But it also is informational, considering it's a satire it kinda has to be. The main underlying theme in Brave New World is that technology can get out of hand, and this is what Huxley thinks the result will be. A reviewer of the book from The Guardian stated, "I think this book is really interesting as it explores the dangers of technology and what it can do to a whole world; indeed, Huxley is trying to convey the idea that technology does not have the power to save us successfully." (Aiman) The World Huxley comes from a time when cars were beginning to take popularity, when Ford began mass manufacturing them, when the radio had just come to fruition, and the silent movie was at it's most popular. If this is the world Huxley came up with then, what would he come up with now? But this does give readers a lesson, don't take technology too far, Huxley is trying to tell the reader that, while technology is great, the world around us is more important, and we can't let it go to our heads. If people banned this book how would teenagers, the ones who need to learn this the most, ever get that message? While it is true that Brave New World contains material that is inappropriate and definitely contradicts our own world, but banning this book would only allow these things to eventually come to fruition, this is why the book should be read (and also why it was written), To warn people of this kind of world, and that it is a possibility. Huxley's intentions for this book were to give people a view of a time corrupt with technology and ignorance, something that our current world would dislike. This book is telling us that this place that it portrays is possible and we need to work to prevent it or it will become our reality.
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
People ban books for dumb reasons that make absolutely no sense. Another is dumb religious reasons. Ministers and educators challenged it (it being the wonderful wizard of oz) for its “ungodly” influence and for depicting women in strong leadership roles They banned the wizard of oz because it showed girls in a leadership role (what?).This is really important because they are banning a classic book because the princess was a thing that people got really people got upset with it. “Others accuse the novel of attacks on religion, the disabled and women.” Lord of the flies (“http://www.banned-books.org.uk/sections/corrosive”). Once again PC police have come again to shut down another book that is actually pretty good.Also once again imagination is not encouraged. Don’t ban books for religious reasons that are not valid. Finally racism (that is not racism). “"A review of the book in question shows it to include pervasive vulgarity and racially insensitive language,"(The Hate you Give) Hindt said.” The story is about the struggles of a black girl in a racist environment (wouldn’t this be considered anti-racist). They can basically just ban whatever book they want.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
The novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley has been reviewed over time by many different people. Neil Postman is a man who has read Huxley’s novel and came to conclusions himself about the comparison between the novel, and the modern day problems we have in today’s society. Postman has made many relevant assertions as to how our modern society is similar to what Huxley had written about in his novel. The three main points I agree on with Postman is that people will begin to love their oppression; people would have no reason to fear books; and that the truth will be drowned by irrelevance.
Imagine a society in which its citizens have forfeited all personal liberties for government protection and stability; Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, explores a civilization in which this hypothetical has become reality. The inevitable trade-off of citizens’ freedoms for government protection traditionally follows periods of war and terror. The voluntary degradation of the citizens’ rights begins with small, benign steps to full, totalitarian control. Major methods for government control and censorship are political, religious, economic, and moral avenues. Huxley’s Brave New World provides a prophetic glimpse of government censorship and control through technology; the citizens of the World State mimic those of the real world by trading their personal liberties for safety and stability, suggesting that a society similar to Huxley’s could exist outside the realm of dystopian science fiction.
"Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes." Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:
Why are books challenged and further on banned? To challenge a book is an attempt to remove the material from schools and/or libraries, and to ban a book is to successfully remove the material from these places. Books are usually challenged to protect children from the censors of these books. This book was banned for all the wrong reasons. This paper will focus on racism, sexism, homosexuality, and violence since these were reasons the book got banned which on the contrary should have given it much more motive to let high school students read and learn from it.
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.
Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in the 1930s. He made many future predictions and many or most of them have already come true but not to the extent that he writes about. The society in Brave New World is significantly different to the present one, and to the society in Huxley’s time. Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World not as a warning, but as something to look forward to.
Aldous Huxley was a living anachronism, writing literature about a currently nonexistant dystopian world. At the time of its release in 1932 the concept seemed just a bit far fetched (even after World War I), but when World War II rolled around the corner Huxley’s one-world, eugenic riddled story became plausible. Years later in a world filled with valium, legalized marijuana, open and celebrated promiscuity, a nearly one world language, and technology galore Huxley’s utopia feels closer and closer. In Brave New World, Alfdous Huxley creates a frightening world of satire to discuss the worlds resemblance to a haunting dystopia. He does this with symbolic characters, allusions and a setting that jabs at the automation of the modern world, and
Huxley suggests that Brave New world became a futuristic society through advances. What Postman feared the most was that “there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one”. We are slowly developing into a futuristic society that relies heavily on technology. One example would be the fact that the majority, if not the whole United States, has a phone or a device. Through those devices we are not only able to communicate faster, but we are able to seek the internet and gather information with a touch of a button. In the novel, the director informs the nurses that "they'll grow up with what the psychologists used to call an 'instinctive' hatred of books and flowers”(20). Everything is being served in a silver platter for us as technology advancements increase in their capabilities to do so. Postman and Huxley greatly point out the fact that our society is a representation of Brave New World due to technology
Satire can be defined as the use of trenchant wit, ridicule and humour in order to expose and discredit the folly and vice of an individual, or society, in the hope that they will overcome their shortcomings. Throughout Aldous Huxley’s and Michael Moore’s respective texts, Brave New World (1932) and Bowling for Columbine, (2002), the author/composers build the foundations of their texts with constant satire, in an attempt to present their criticism or thought to their contextual issues. Huxley, in his dystopian vision of a cold, bleak future, utilises juxtaposition and irony to delve deeper into the detrimental consequences that may follow, should technology no longer serve humans, but instead begin to master them. Similarly, Moore looks to
In Brave New World there is a society brought about by new technologies and futuristic ideas that, in 1932, seemed impossible to even think about. Aldous Huxley was very bold by making such assumptions in which closely relate to a society that we currently live in today.
Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, was originally published in 1932. The Industrial Revolution happened not long before the book’s publishing. The Industrial Revolution is marked by big events such as the railroad system, cars, and mass production of many other materials within the confines of a workshop. Knowing this, most of the population would have had a low paying factory job. When Henry Ford initiated the idea of the assembly line, it made many United States citizens crave speed and efficiency. The producers have to meet consumers’ expectations; so many other factories adapted this idea. By doing so, it made it easier to replace workers if one falls ill or is an unreliable worker. America had a very strong focus in technology
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World contains many predictions of the future a few centuries in, but the way the book is depicted the future can be defined as today in the year 2017. This novel is written in a satire tone therefore it is not meant to be taken serious but in today’s day and age it is not as far-fetched as it seems. Brave New World can be considered to be a prophetic vison because being published in 1932 the reader would have never expected that the majority of the details within the book would become facts and not fiction in the future. Huxley would have never figured his thoughts and ideas would be true. Huxley incorporates drastic changes in the scientific realm to how their society is formed. The novel takes place in a dystopian society which leaves the reader with the question: Is our society any different than the society in Brave New World?
Even though the novel, Brave New World was written quite some time ago, Huxley still makes points that are relevant today. By using satire, he warns us on issues such as science, technology and religion. We should slow down our uses of science and technology, especially when using them for abusive purposes. We also need to be careful about letting the government get too involved in aspects of our everyday lives. If we start letting simple freedoms go, we could lose some major ones.