Brave New World Happiness Essay

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As you know these words come from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest documents ever written. However, I do have a little problem with the last four words sentence, “the pursuit of Happiness” because I believe it actually sends an easily misinterpreted message.

Mahatma Gandhi one defined happiness as “when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Barring any better definition of happiness from either positive psychologists, self-help gurus, or any other academic source, I tend to think this is a great summation of the definition of happiness. Gandhi doesn’t say anything about how these things make you feel, rather looks at it from a point of view of harmony between thoughts, expressions, and actions. Since one single accepted definition of happiness doesn’t seem to exist, and happiness is different for everyone, this begs the question; how can you increase your own personal level of happiness?

The true meaning of happiness is different for everyone. For most people, it is feeling satisfied with every aspect of their life. The society of Brave New World does not know the true meaning of happiness because they have never had any form of true conflict show up their lives. When trouble comes up in their life, they avoid fixing it by taking soma. By taking soma, they base their happiness off a fake reality, therefore, it creates no true relief. Not having any form of conflict in their life creates a problem within itself because then they never get to experience true joy.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary uses three definitions for happiness: good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can redefine happiness through the government’s manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, keeping a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it: the ability to pursue and enjoy individual desires.

In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, a new society is created to secure happiness for all the people living in it. By doing this, they sacrifice truth, choice, family, science, and art. The government provides them with everything they need to be happy in life because they agreed to give up complete control of their lives. If I were given the choice, I would live in the world we live in now rather than the Brave New World. Like John, a “Savage” born outside the world and then brought into it, I think, “Well, I’d rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here” (Huxley 179). Even though there would be times when I am uncomfortable, unhappy, in pain, even though I would have to experience loss and disappointment, at least I would be living a full life full of emotion and some purpose.

Brave New World, acknowledges government control which results in the failure of a society. It is a world created where everything is under control, being observed, and synthetic. The society was manufactured in a test tube therefore, it was factory made. The people were born and developed in the test tubes, so their human nature became adapted so an individual cannot identify or approach it. Every little detail of a person's life is prearranged. These people's lives revolve around their community, their existence, and security; never their individual happiness. They are basically living for their society as a whole. This society was designed to be successful but it failed to give people their individuality. The individuals sacrificed

Happiness: a Human Disease -- An Examination of the Allegorical Theme of Existentialism in the Happy Man

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

In 1984, the concept of happiness is portrayed as meaningless and that the truth opposes happiness. According to Big Brother and the party, they can only survive by suppressing individual happiness and freedom. People are not allowed to pursue happiness because if they have the freedom they could revolt against the party, and the party wants to control people’s minds and emotions so that they follow Big Brother. Big Brother, though he never appears in the book, he is an extremely important figure. He is perceived as the ruler of Oceania and his image is everywhere, in every telescreen in every room. His image haunts Winston’s life and fills him with hatred. The party controls people through fear. The main character in 1984 is Winston, he

For our Economics subject, we watched The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie based on Chris Gardner, a salesman who was not making that much money and eventually experiences homelessness with his five-year old son. He faces problems when his wife is unwilling to accept his goal to become a stockbroker and leaves him. However, he perseveres even under all this stress.

I started to question about happiness in America after I saw a pattern in high school that students are often confused or stressed. I started out with the question, “why is it hard to be happy when being happy shouldn’t be that hard?” To answer these questions, I found Sophie Chan’s 2011 study, “Hong Kong Chinese community leaders’ perspectives on family health, happiness and harmony: a qualitative study.” This study would help answer questions on my audience’s curiosity about other countries happiness compared to the United States. Then I started to think that there were also other issues that friction with happiness in America and

"A library of wisdom, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it." -- Plato

At first glance, happiness is a state of mind that many, if not all people aspire to achieve in their lifetime. What exactly is that state of mind is up for debate among the east and the west, and varies between different cultures, traditions, and religions. In the west, happiness is mostly associated with success, wealth, fame and power. In the east, happiness can be viewed as freedom from mundane occurrences such as the occupation of western powers from within a country, the end of war, poverty and famine, and liberation of the false self. In contemporary times, and with the arrival of eastern philosophy, religions, and traditions in the west, many are turning inwards and using a tool believed to have more power than an atomic bomb, the human mind. In China, India and various other Asian countries, the mind has long been a powerful tool used to liberate one from suffering, the cyclic cycle of life, as well as a means to reach enlightenment and immortality. However, the mind is only a tool, and not the way per se.

It is common sense that all the human beings would like to live a happy life and they will spare no efforts in order to realize the purpose of really living a happy life in the end. However, different people have different definitions toward what a happy life is and they tend to have different standards as for how a life is that can be regarded as a happy life. There is no doubt that people will then try different means in order to pursue a happy life based on their definition toward what a happy life is. Therefore, the following will talk about the pursuit of a happy life from the perspectives of both Dalai Lama in The Art of Happiness and Viktor E. Frankl in Man’s Searching for Meaning, during which the experiences of some characters from the film Forrest Gump will be applied as evidence. Generally speaking, the pursuit of a happy life in the minds of Dalai Lama and Viktor E. Frankl can be achieved via experiencing sufferings and adversity. It is hoped that this analysis can help people understand what a happy is from a different point of view.