Brave New World

There is no denying that it is man’s innate desire to want more, to be better, and to strive for perfection. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, that same desire is what drives the World State to construct a “civilized” society where happiness determines “Community, identity, stability (Huxley, 3).” Juxtaposed to a Savage Reservation, this “Brave New World” eventually reveals itself as being anything but a Utopia, because nothing is perfect.

Set in the year 2540 in London, Huxley presents a society that promotes happiness through technological advances, promiscuous sex and drug use. There is no more war and poverty, there is only happiness. From the very beginning of the novel, we are introduced to a cold and inhumane setting. Huxley uses the metaphor “The light was frozen, dead, a ghost, (Huxley, 3),” in describing the laboratory in which humans are produced in the masses. Such strong imagery conveys the idea that processes such as the Bokanovsky process are superficial and numb. This society rejects life and sees it merely as some science experiment. It thrives upon expediency and quantity over quality.

The inhabitants of the World State are created via test tubes, “innumerable rubies” that “make their world go round.” Through technological and medical intervention, and procedures such as hypnopaedic conditioning, each inhabitant is put into a specific category or class. From the elite Alpha plus to the lowest Epsilon semi-moron, each inhabitant is conditioned to be content with who they are and what status they belong to. With each class assigned to certain tasks, “Everyone works for everyone else (Huxley, 74).” Ironically, though this world prides in progress, such a caste system denies any progress. There is no climbing of any ladder of success.

Father of mass production, Henry Ford has become their god-like figure. Likewise, through hypnopaedic conditioning, “Everyone belongs to everyone else (Huxley);” sexual promiscuity is encouraged, as it prevents individuals from becoming involved in relationships. There are no feelings involved; sex has become some normal routine. In addition, children are taught to resent nature, for it also, along with relationships, act as distractions. With distractions, work cannot be done. If work cannot be done, there will be no stability, and stability is everything.

Ignorance truly is bliss in such a society which limits knowledge and deprives individuality, freedom, and feelings. And if it