A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

"'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.

American physicist and Nobel Prize recipient Steve Weinberg once claimed that “ for good people to do evil things, it takes religion”. However, the culprit isn’t the mere term and message behind religion, but the institutions that tug the puppet strings of it’s meaning and impact. Secular “religious” institutions have proven time and time again that an idea as controversial as religion can be used for a wide spectrum of uses, and unfortunately, Fordism in Brave New World falls under the corrupt end of the spectrum. In this novel, the author Aldous Huxley uses Fordism and its purpose to mirror the modern day secular institution trend in religious communities to illustrate how lack of religion and spirituality can give way to a sovereignty of

Smith and Bradford use religion as a literary tool to persuade the reader towards their own interests. There are similarities and differences in the motivation to use religion by these two authors, yet the use is still prevalent in their writings. The reasons for these similarities and differences are found in the greater interest of each individual author.

Moreover, the World State explicitly harvests this “religious emotion” through requiring the citizens to prescribe to their own self-made religion, Fordism. As practitioners of Fordism, the citizens of the World State revere real world Henry Ford as their savior. Huxley utilizes satirical comparisons between Christianity and Fordism to illuminate that today’s government utilizes Christianity in a similar way, to quell the masses. Huxley uses obvious parodies such as switching “Our Lord” for “Our Ford” and cutting the tops off all crosses so they resemble T’s, a reference to Ford’s Model T car, to bring the truth to light without explicitly stating the fact. The followers of Ford also attend regular “Solidarity Services.” These services are comprised of twelve individuals sitting around a table while they sing hymns and ingest soma until the climax of an

“God is Power—infinite, irresistible, inexorable, indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable—trickster, teacher, chaos, clay. God exists to be shaped. God is Change.” (Butler 25). In Parable of the Sower Octavia Butler introduces the concept of religion through her characters specifically Lauren. In a society that is crumbling, religion is seemed to be the only thing striving. The idea that although society could be falling apart many of the characters either cling to their beliefs, or shy away from them. Laurens creation of “Earthseed” proves that in a failing society, the concept of religion somehow still survives.

From a biblical sense, it is believed that every human is created with the desire to worship and have faith within something. This society in the attempts to diminish that craving only fueled the fire more, it just has been redesigned into something darker. The novel starts off with a scene where it is described how the tops of crosses have been cut off; the most well-known symbol for Christianity. Huxley pens, “religious sentiment is superfluous… God is not compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness,” describing how this society was focused on cutting ties with the spiritual realm so they were able to live with perfect unity as science describes (Huxley, 2005, pg. 210).

Chapter 5 Part 2 of Brave New World is the most disturbing chapter of the book I found repellent. The worst part of this chapter was during the religious service attended by Berndard. It has used a comparison towards Christian icons and concepts. On this part of the chapter consisting Berndard's Solidarity Service, which he attends every two weeks. Unlike us, Christians, we go to church every week.

He is revered as a god-like figure, and throughout the novel is referenced to with religious allusions; Ford effectively replaced the concept of God within the society. Appealing to the ideals of Ford is important above all else; a spin on the classic phrase now reads “cleanliness is next to fordliness” (110). With Ford as their God, the people lose all concept of religious freedom or a chance to consider morality. Instead, they are forced to blindly follow the examples of homogeneity set for them. This ideal of sameness removes vital aspects of humanity: creativity, freedom, opinion, and reduces people to robot objects.

From the moment of birth, to the moment of death, humans are flooded with emotions both good and bad. Individuals are continuously seeking fulfillment, some failing to find it while others succeed. Many seek adoration; love, accomplishment and greatness. In literature, authors take the readers on journeys that allow imagination, granting the possibility for the reader to grasp inner desires and decide what is truly important in life. Literature allows readers to dive into a different world where happiness and fulfillment is plentiful and eternal, also described as a utopia, while other pieces of literature direct the reader into a world of dissatisfaction which is a dystopia. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is in 26th century England. With

     "'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.

Laprade 10 Brave New World Versus Today?s Society Brave New World is a shocking story that tells of a utopian society placed hundreds of years in the future. It challenges the human race as a whole to see if it can overcome the sudden sweep of vast improvements in science and technology, and if humans can learn how to use their inventions with dignity and respectfully on mankind. In Brave New World, Huxley does not try to accurately describe what the future will hold, rather he predicts a future in which humans have succumb to the awe of science and the power that comes with it.

The "Charing Cross Tower," which is now the "Charing - T Tower," symbolizes the religious icons that the society has (61); the T itself is a distorted cross, and thus further shows that though the society thinks it can live without religion, it can not. Though the society has no God, the year of the "Ford's first model - T" and the birth of Christ both act "as the opening date of ... [a] new era" (52). In their society, not only is the T a powerful symbol, such as a cross is in today's, but the influence of it also. Religion helps individuals believe that life is or will be better, and soma, which is considered the "advantages of Christianity" is "euphoric, narcotic, [and] pleasantly hallucinant" allowing the individual to feel that life is better than it actually is (53-54). In addition to distorting religious symbols, the author also does the same for religious leaders. Though the utopia believes that it can live without a religious leader, they follow their leader Mustapha Mond as if he were the Pope. With distortion, Huxley allows the reader to visualize the religious society that the brave new world has created, and the religious society that they try to avoid.

In “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, the character of Ford is used both as a concept worshipped by the citizens and propaganda to control the citizens of the World State. Ford controls the people into remaining in a dystopian state through the worshipping of Ford himself, the conforming of citizens to uniform expectations, and the restriction of independent thought and freedom are restricted.

Aldous Huxley was born into a family of renowned scientists in 1894. He lost his mother at age 14, became virtually blind due to illness three years later, and lost his older brother to suicide at age 21. Despite these setbacks, he went back to school after dropping out of Eton and earned a degree in English literature from Oxford. Because of his blindness, he was not able to do the scientific research he had previously wanted to do, and turned to writing. He wrote Brave New World in four months, before Hitler and Stalin came to power, which allowed him to think beyond the confines of the traditional dictatorship. He was also deeply concerned, particularly in his later years, with the prospect of humanity becoming subjugated by drugs, mass media, or technology, which makes a significant appearance in Brave New World. In 1958, he published a collection of essays revisiting Brave New World, which critically examined the implications of overpopulation, excessive bureaucracy, and hypnosis. He became increasingly interested in parapsychology and philosophical mysticism, especially a branch of religious, theological, and philosophical concepts generally called Universalism. He died at the age of 69 in 1963 of laryngeal cancer.

In addition to such problem there are clear allusions to Christianity; take the founders of the Circle thought out the world they are known as The Three Wise Men. In biblical texts, the Three Wise Men are known as Magi who bestowed gifts on the day Jesus was born; typically the gifts were given in order to prompt a better lifestyle of Jesus. Although, in Dave Eggers novel, the Three Wise Men did bring gifts to the world—mainly the Circle and the programs they created—rather than creating a better world look at Mae, Annie, and Mercer. Mae becomes a dehumanized version of herself who ends up being alone at the end of the novel; Annie by being part of the PastPerfect project it caused for her to have a nervous breakdown resulting in a comma; and lastly, Mercer, Mercer ends up committing suicide by the hands of the Circle. Although the Three Wise Men in a religious view brought gifts to help Jesus, the Three Wise Men in The Circle brought chaos; they might have the same title of the Three Wise Men but in fact they are not the same. After seeing the affects the Circle has on people’s lives, it is interesting to note how “cult” like the Circle is in regards to their goals, thus leading to the final question, is the rise of technology going to lead us to a utopian society—“heaven”—or a dystopian