Brave New World: Utopia or Dystopia

Different societies have risen and fallen in the continual search for the “perfect” society. The definition of this utopia is in constant flux due to changing times and cultural values. Many works of literature have been written describing a utopian society and the steps needed to achieve it. However, there are those with a more cynical or more realistic view of society that comment on current and future trends. These individuals look at the problems in society and show how to solve them with the use of control and power. Such a society is considered undesirable and has become known as dystopian society.

It is astounding how two pieces of literature can be similar but different at the same time, just by how the authors choose to use different literary devices. Two novels, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, portray these differentiated attributes because of the way the two authors vary in these literary techniques. Brave New World portrays a futuristic society in which people are artificially made and their jobs are pre-selected before they are created. All of the emotions and desires of man have been inhibited in these beings to create a so-called “utopian society” in which everyone lives and works harmoniously. The

The World State also controls reproduction in the society, which takes place in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. The state’s goal is to create an unwavering community and they use a special process called the Bokanovsky’s Process. The Director explains this process to the new students that

“People are just as happy as they make their minds up to be.” –Abraham Lincoln

Brave New World is a dystopian novel, written by Aldous Huxley, that shows the difference in a world similar to the 21st century, and a new world with many changes. There are major differences in the two, and the similarities are little to none. Huxley’s novel uses setting and juxtaposition to help explain how the “civilized” and “savage reservation” differ. The setting in Brave New World is shown through the “savage” reservation, which is in New Mexico, and the “civilized” world of London.

Brave New World depicts a world in which Resident Controller Mustapha Mond governs a society where every aspect of an individual's life, from decantation onward, is determined by the State. Predestination by God has been replaced by predestination by the government. Through the Bokanovsky Process, future-citizens are made with a virtually inexistent level of individuality. Once decanted and technologically altered to comply with their pre-determined caste, children are brought up and conditioned by state officials, not by a traditional family. Value has been stripped away from people as individual beings; humans have become standardized and interchangeable. Brave New World portrays a society in which innate originality has been sacrificed

When these and other questions weigh upon his mind he begins to realize that something is fundamentally wrong with the world he is living in. In Brave New World the main character, Bernard, is set apart from society by physical differences, which, in a society of ‘engineered’ people is extremely inhibiting. It is these ‘defects’ which cause him to look for a deeper meaning than the drug induced happiness forced upon him. These characters, although alienated in the novels, are believable and rational. The acts of their questioning in their search for the truth and real emotion persuade the reader to do the same thing. It is in this manner that the utility of these novels becomes apparent; through the demands they make of the reader personally - a superior social commentary, one that demands interaction, is born.

No emotion. No love. No mothers, fathers or families. No marriage and no pregnancies. No individuality. It’s all non-existent. Aldous Huxley’s brave new world written in 1932 introduces us to a vision of a utopian community that is fashioned as one of mindless drug use, sleep hypnoses, conditioning, castes in society and a community were fidelity is shunned and social stability is key. All of these combine to discourage any possible individuality. Bokanovskys process also deliberately deprives human beings of their appearance, intelligence, job and level in society. They become nothing but mindless faceless colour coated sheep. One of the main themes in the novel is individuality and is exposed through the bold individualism of the protagonist

Dictatorships can only survive with an ignorant population to dictate over. An informed population is aware of what they are missing. Those who have the possibility of sparking change are immediately eliminated in a community in order for the state to attempt to shield its subjects from life. A society such as this, works to beat down its people from fear and intimidation. Those who have the desire to help their environment are stopped by fear before taking action against those in charge.

In Brave New World their society is taught moral lessons and slogans by hypnopaedia. For example "a gramme is better than a damn." Today we are forced into believing propaganda and advertisements. We are bombarded with ads and pressure to buy certain things, or believe what people tell us. In Brave New World if they do not follow propaganda they are considered abnormal, and are forced out of society.

Nearly every successful society has some form of individuality. Brave New World was written in 1932 by Aldous Huxley. This book takes place in the Central London Hatchery in the year 632 A.F., which means 632 years after the invention of the Ford Model T. Each person is bred in a factory on an assembly line to have certain characteristics that make them identical to others in the same caste. Since everyone is nearly identical, individuality becomes difficult to acknowledge and accept. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley reveals that in order for society to be successful it needs freedom to be an individual.

Dystopian novels have become more common over the last century; each ranging from one extreme society to the next. A dystopia, “A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control,”[1] through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, criticizes about current trends, societal norms, or political systems. The society in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is divided in a caste system, in which humans are not individuals, do not have the opportunity to be individuals, and never experience true happiness. These characteristics of the reading point towards a well-structured

such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man" (40).  In

The Brave New World portrays the perfect society, where citizens of “Utopia” live a life without depression, and any socioeconomic problems. In the New World, every portion of life is controlled. Only when a person is able to dig deeper inside of himself will he find that this world is nothing close to perfect. Drugs, sex, and mind games control this world and solve any problems that may arise, such as overpopulation, and caste tension. The usage of such tactics causes a loss of individuality.

The world in any society has two sides, Utopia which is defined as the perfect world and the peaceful life that is free from disasters. This word " Utopia " is derived from Greek roots by Sir Thomas More which means "a good place" (More 37). Merriam Webster defined Utopia as "an imaginary place, all life aspects are perfect, as the world suffers from nothing" (Webster 19). while Dystopia is defined as an imagined universe in which the unequal society controls the fancy of an ideal society which are maintained through technological, moral, corporate or totalitarian control " Beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds but we still have the power to change our own" (Condie 75). in which the genre challenges utopia’s