Brave New World
By: Anna • Research Paper • 1,729 Words • April 7, 2010 • 1,025 Views
Brave New World
Brave New World
The novel Brave New World is like no other in fantasy and satire.
It predicts a future overpowered by technology where the people have
no religion. Has Huxley written about a degrading way of life or has
he discovered the key to a perfect world that should be called Utopia?
This essay will show that upon close analysis the way of life in the
novel is justifiable and all the precautions that are taken are needed
to preserve their lifestyle. This essay will also show that however
different and easily looked upon, as horrible as their lives seem to
be, in actuality it is better than ours.
The first argument that would contradict the fact that Brave New
World is a Utopia is the government overpowering the world, causing
the loss of freedom and liberty in the people. Before judging their
lives the reader must ask himself one simple question: Is it really
that bad? Obviously no it's not. In the novel, the people don't have
to worry about having a job. One must remember that being born and
raised in Utopia, one does not know what freedom is and therefore does
not know what is missing. Freedom leads to happiness, and if one
already possesses happiness, then there is no need for freedom,
especially if your government is making sure that all your needs are
satisfied.
Religion plays an important role in people's lives. It represents
our principles and values. Religion guides us, gives us something
to believe in and a set of rules to live by. However, who is to say
that one hundred years from now people will still believe and
practice religion? Mustapha Mond when referring to the Holy Bible says
that "they're old; they're about God hundreds of years ago. Not about
God Now" (Huxley, p.237). Mustapha Mond is saying that with the
evolution of time the need for religion has disappeared and has been
replaced by the worship of another God who is Ford. They basically
live a fulfilled life and then they die. Also thanks to their
conditioning they do not fear death but accept it as a way of life.
That alone is a task that our world still has not been able to
accomplish. In our world we must go through the ritual of the funeral.
After one has died, his family must go through an enormous task of
planning, organizing and dealing with the death of their now gone
loved one.
In utopian civilization, the people are isolated from one another,
divided into five different classes. The classes range from the
Alphas, the Betas, the Gammas, the Deltas and finally, the Epsilons.
The members of each class are ranked according to their mental
capacity and physical appearance. During the D.H.C.'s lecture to his
students he tells them how by depriving certain embryos of oxygen will
affect their stature. "The lower the cast, the shorter the oxygen."
(Huxley, p.13) It seems unfair that even before you are born, your
future is already written out for you. However upon further study, one
will realize that this sort of precaution is necessary. In our world,
one has to face racism and stereotypes because people feel threatened