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Huxley’s Soma
Aldous huxley explains brave new world
Aldous huxley explains brave new world
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Are we as a society agreeing with putting are individualism at risk for social stability? Aldous Huxley in Brave New World where the idea about personality is set away for world peace, Is this the right thing to do. We have already became intuned with allowing are personal live almost become non existent with social media taking over our personal lives. Mustapha Mond a world Leader believes in sacrificing real feelings and emotional attachments for stability. This means no families, no love, and no real individuals. But, at least there are no wars and everyone is happy, will simulated happiness. The New World’s motto is “Community, Identity, and Stability” (1) which is ironic, due to the fact that there is no community with no relationships, no identity sense everyone is government controlled, even though the New World is very Stable that seems to be broken down when one does not take soma. Is Mustapha Mond concepts acceptable to protect the public?
I disagree with Monds ideas of risking the individuals for the sake of public, but I do believe that it is an theory we are becoming to practice more and more in modern society. Aldous Huxley wicked vision of the future in which perfectly accordant with our society makes it a perfect example of Brave New World. While responding to John the savage, Mustapha Mond claims “You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art.” (226) the high art consider in this statement is referring to the old civilization before ford of humanity being one with no wars, with no soma. This was consider art due to the rarity of a civilization having the ability to have peace. Although, Even in todays Society I see glimpses of The New World, we have se...
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...t is until someone stops taking soma. The slogan counterexamples itself so well that you would realizes that Huxley ideas are to prevent his ideas of spreading, almost as raising awareness of the tragedy he believes society will come to.
So are we as a society agreeing with putting are individualism at risk for social stability? I believe that we are allowing it more and more, but I disagree with having stability take away from are individualism. If there is no real attachment you can consider me out, love is a much better emotion then everyone thinking they are happy. We will never have a perfect society that loves all, but that balances us out and is needed in away. Huxley wanted to scare his readers of this evil world which is so over joyed its miserable, to allow them to make better choices for themselves, and say no to the government every now and then.
The world is divided up into numerous things: Countries, states, cities, communities, etc. However, when looking at the big scope of things, one can group the vast amount of people into a society. This society is where the majority lie in the scheme of things - in other words, the common people. Individuals do exist in this society, but they are scarce in a world of conformism. Society’s standards demands an individual to conform, and if the individual refuses they are pushed down by society.
The first way Aldous Huxley shows the art of happiness is through the World State’s motto, “community, identity, and stability”. Being oneself is the best person one can be. Bernard says “I’d rather be myself. Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly” (Huxley 89). Bernard gets mocked for being short but he does not want be anybody else, he wants to be himself. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we were all the same? Lenina says “everybody belongs to everyone else” (Huxley 26). This is a powerful quote by Lenina and describes the World State society accurately how the D.H.C
Huxley effectively uses distortion in Brave New World in his depiction of Soma as a replacement for religion. Soma is a rationed narcotic that is emphasized by the government to help the people escape from their problems. The people of Utopia have become dependent on the drug to keep them in a constant state of pleasure. In their "perfect" society there is no escape from happiness. The primary example of the degrading effects of Soma is Linda. Brought back from the Savage Reservation after being left behind pregnant, Linda faced many moral and ethical dilemmas she chose to avoid. Her addiction to Soma, which is looked upon as a good thing by everyone except John, brings about the terrible end to her life in which she was in a state of constant delusion. Soma, as Mustapha Mond puts it, is "Christianity without tears" (244). Soma, in effect, is the key to social stability in Utopia. Soma prevents uprisings, saves revolutions and suppresses emotions. Although Huxley's distortion of religion is powerful, there are other strong arguments in the book.
They have a proverb which is stated thousands of times, “every one belongs to every one else” (40). People do not care so much about monogamist relationships. Romance is no longer something that people have or do. Huxley writes, “these poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. Their world didn’t allow them to take things easily, didn’t allow them to be sane, virtuous, happy” (41). This sense of no emotion makes this world a better place because everyone is happy. Monogamy is something that causes things to be unstable, and everything in this world is about stability because “[n]o civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability” (42). Since every individual is artificially made, the Predestiners have control over the stability of the
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing.
The novel, Brave New World, takes place in the future, 632 A. F. (After Ford), where biological engineering reaches new heights. Babies are no longer born viviparously, they are now decanted in bottles passed through a 2136 metre assembly line. Pre-natal conditioning of embryos is an effective way of limiting human behaviour. Chemical additives can be used to control the population not only in Huxley's future society, but also in the real world today. This method of control can easily be exercised within a government-controlled society to limit population growth and to control the flaws in future citizens. In today's world, there are chemical drugs, which can help a pregnant mother conceive more easily or undergo an abortion. In the new world, since there is no need...
In his universe, Soma is the cure for everything. All problems, be they psychological, physical, or social are totally forgotten, their lurking shadows temporarily banished from sight. What is worrisome about this futuristic fabrication is its ideal reality. People in our current and very non-fictional times are taking steps toward the world of massive Soma use and acceptation. When one stops, and sees the world today, Huxley’s idea of the common drug; cure all, pleasant, and religion-exterminating seems to be a reasonable estimation of our future developments.
All in all, the greatest danger to society is this idea of collectivism and the suppression of basic human rights that go along with it. The idea that an individual should not put their priorities ahead of their parties or state is completely absurd and will harm the human race in creating the next big invention. Freedom and Capitalism drives innovation it has cured diseases and built the worlds biggest skyscrapers. When you eliminate that and take everything under state control all you do is destroy any incentive for people to work harder. This also sets the stage for a dictator to take control and keep control with brutal means. The vivisection morality is still around and until more people begin embracing the idea of individualism around the world will we finally reach a utopia.
In most countries in our world, society has experienced technological advances to the point of being able to accomplish what Huxley envisioned. In contrast to Huxley’s vision, the moral standards of most nations allow all humans to enjoy basic human rights that embrace family, personal relationships, and individualism. Today’s society is able to comprehend how with the technological advances Huxley’s world could be a reality, but with the privilege of a democratic society, civilization would not allow the medical intervention for reproduction, the conditioning for happiness and consumerism. Work Cited "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes" Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Barron's Notes. N.p., n.d. Web.
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 a question, is it better to be happy or individualistic?
It is human nature to see those who are different and group them into distinct categories. The distinction of Individualism versus Collectivism is one that is currently being studied extensively. On one side, individualism sees individuals as the fundamental unit of a society. Individuals are supposed to be unique, independent, and most importantly, willing to put their own interests above all others. On the other hand, collectivism views the basic building block of society as social groups, stressing the interpersonal bonds between people. Collectivist values dictate that group goals and values have higher precedence than an individual’s. Due to the seemingly polar opposite nature of these ideologies, it is inevitable that they will be compared to see which is more beneficial to the country and its people. Some might point to the success of the US, an extremely individualistic country, in support of individualistic values. They will point to the freedom of choice and diversity that individualism boasts of. Others stress the flaws of the US in response, and while both sides do have their truths, the costs that come with individualistic values are too great to be ignored. Highly individualistic attitudes have caused many large scale problems which have long been identified as difficult to resolve issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, promoting aggressive acts, creating an obsession with social power, and allowing a system of injustice to be born.
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.
A community by no means provides a sense of stability but in retrospect only the opposite. Stability is not a belonging or a community but the true individuality and embracement of ones own identity. In the excerpts of “A Wobegon Holiday Dinner” by Garrison Keillor, “The Amish Charter” by John Hostetler, and “It Takes a Tribe” by David Berreby, traditions and social standards are only proven to sacrifice ones individuality and threaten one’s stability. The world is ever evolving and so are it’s paradigms. The only community that will provide one with stability is that of the individual’s own self.
The idea of Individualism can be traced all the way back to England before America’s existence. As we know, individualism has been interpreted in many forms throughout history. The 19th century is no different, taking hold of its own idea of individualism, called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism suggests freedom should not be confined to those focused on money and superficial gains. Instead, people should depend on no one but themselves. This movement focused on “greater individualism against conformity” (Corbett et al.). Heavily influenced by the Romantic period, transcendentalism adopted the belief that reason was more important than logic as Benjamin Franklin has believed. Reason must also include unique emotion and spirit (Corbett et
Structure is important for a society to function, because it is due to these structures that huxley says “we have raised ourselves above the brutes”. Rules and systems set in place ensure safety. Without systems, and rules, people act out, and society cannot function. This has been proven in many studies. However, many times with systems and power, follows abuse of power. If an abused system is in place, sometimes it seems as if humans can no longer be their own individual, instead they are dehumanized and made into bodies that are practically like empty capsules, full of similar thought, lacking creativity and a sense of being unique. I believe this is why Huxley stresses that we cannot look at the world indirectly, instead we must prevent behaviors that create a generic label for human beings, lacking