Social Criticism In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

Neil Postman a contemporary social critic made a statement about two novels known as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Neil Postman’s passage compared the novels to relate them to the year 1985, and Neil stated that Huxley’s Brave New World correlated more to his surroundings than the novel that is written exactly for the time period Postman wrote his passage. Postman’s assertion has been correct throughout time even in 2016. In the twenty first century the human body is not seen as something owned by someone anymore, but as something owned by ourselves. Some people use their bodies in a way that does not correlate to emotion or love, but as something to please basic human instinct, and Aldous Huxley made this statement clear in his book which made this relate to the world in 2016. George Orwell oppressed basic human instinct and created a taboo; even though prostitution is a taboo in the twenty first century, it has always been frowned upon. Orwell also saw the world turned into something that stripped away the freedom of the people, and the people knew that “Big Brother” took it away. Huxley saw the world turned into a place where the people never found out what they missed because they did not want it. Neil Postman’s assertion about contemporary society is supported since Brave New World brings the concept of soma which correlates to ecstasy, the overload of technology and style and

how it overrules the lives of the people in “The World State” and people in the twenty first century, and finally the giving of bodies from one person to another has become more common in the new age, since women do not want to be objectified anymore or shamed, and there is no longer a marriage “requirement”.
Huxley brought in a happiness drug that shielded the people of The World State from the truth.

They used this drug called “soma” to bring themselves into a happy place and distracts the people to come to a realization that they are being enslaved. This drug correlates a lot to ecstasy which has the effects of feeling content and makes the person taking it feel out of their realm and in a new world. Soma is used to calm down the citizens and to heighten the good moods, which Ecstasy does as well. There are many teens who take MDMA to feel happy and

passive.
And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears—that's what soma is (Huxley 47) .
This proves that the people who take soma re not really happy, but just depend on the happiness that the drug brings, just like ecstasy. Most of the people that take ecstasy take it because it brings them joy and when without it, or when the feeling fades away it leaves them back to normal or sad again.
In The World State, there is no such thing as families or love, but rather technological growth and how to improve the world by creating something new to get the citizens hooked on. They wanted to further the industry of technology, and grow the economy with it. The whole point of the world is to make it better and how to make the consumer buy. Just like in 2016, clothes are what make a person, and what they wear shows off to the rest of the world. The world judges based off what anyone wear, or how much money a person has spent on their attire. The World State is just like that, and they want to keep making the citizens buy. “‘But old clothes are beastly,’ continued the untiring whisper. ‘We always throw away old clothes. Ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending’” (Huxley 54). Along with technology in the twenty first century, there are iPhones, and iPads that keep young children to elderly people entertained. Children used to play with stuffed animals and cars, but now their eyes are glued to the screen of an iPad watching an unintelligent show. People in The World State needed the best technology and once they got it, their whole life centered around it.
The human body was once only known for sharing with someone who you married, but as years passed, bodies started to pass around and share with multiple people. Now in 2016, people share a once special moment very casually. In Brave New World sleeping with everyone is a normal thing, and is encouraged so it prevents the feeling of individuality and freedom. “Swallowing half an hour before closing time, that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the actual universe and their minds. Bottled, they crossed the street; bottled, they took the lift up to Henry's room on the twenty-eighth floor” (Huxley 19-22). It is supposed to be normal and not involve anything having to do with love because love creates a sense of independence, which is why the Controllers make sure it is only surrounded by soma. People in 2016 do not see sleeping with other people as a taboo, but now it is seen as a normal thing between consenting parties, and once they are done, it could happen again with other people just like in Brave New World.
The novel Brave New World was ahead of its time to see that the future could possibly be all about lust, drugs, and technology. In the world today, the four factors of The World State are a lot milder but still true. The drugs affect happiness of people and control their mind into thinking that they are actually in a happy place and nothing could go wrong. The lust makes it normal to sleep with anyone and nothing could possibly happen because there are no consequences sleeping with someone who is not your husband or wife. The technology takes over the lives of the citizens in the novel and in real life because everywhere people go there is always some sort of electronic in their hand, no matter what age they are. Neil Postman waited until 1985 to write a passage about the two novels and decide which one could most likely relate more to that date. Even though 1985 was some years ago, the agreement to his assertion has only gotten stronger. Society today does tie in with Huxley’s Brave New World, and even though Orwell’s 1984 did not overtake the future it did make some interesting points on what could have possibly happened.