Inequalities In Brave New World

Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness. That's why I have to keep these books locked up in the safe. They're smut." -Mustapha Mond (234). Instead of relying on fear to control the people and letting them choose from their own perspective, the government controls them through happiness; a fake happiness which is put into their heads as they grow up. In the novel, according to the World State, happiness is combined with stability. The basic goal of the brave new world is, supreme: the "happiness" of all, even if the consequences lead to the loss of freedom and free will. We can see how important it is for the state to improve happiness upon the people when Mustapha Mond says: "The world's stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get. They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age they're so conditioned that they practically can't help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there's soma." (220). The government's goal is to control people but it uses a very inhumane way. People aren't experiencing what life is really about because the state wants to keep people away form questioning. The essay Brave New World Society's Moral Decline found in www.123helpme.com, talks about Huxley's beliefs and predictions of the future when he was writing the novel. Some of these, he believed were

Everything comes at a price, and the price that is paid for the new order is sadly high, costing the Utopians the benefits of high art, true religion, real science, and family life, which all have been removed to promote stability. "'Othello's better than those feelies.' 'Of course it is…But that's the price we have to pay for stability. You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art. We have the feelies and the scent organ instead.' 'But they don't mean anything,'" (Huxley 226) This conversation shows one of the tradeoffs made. Stories like Othello are inspired by strong emotions, and Utopia has done away with them. Now, there is nothing to write about, and if something was written along the lines of Othello it might cause people to think, causing instability. The movies people see are idiotic and plotless, based solely on sensations. Religion as we know it has been done away with also, as Mustapha Mond showed by his comments quoted at the beginning of this paper. Religion usually involves self-denial, and that is contrary to everything the new society is based on. With instant gratification

After reading the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley I realized that this is no ordinary story. It predicts a future overpowered by technology and government and where the people have no true freedom of choice. This book made me think about whether the utopia depicted in the novel would be a perfect place to live or a terrible place to live. It is hard to distinguish where the line is drawn between making life simpler and losing the meaning of life. Although some may look upon this type of life with envy I personally would rather have to work hard and earn my living than to lose the chance to make my own destiny.

Throughout the entire world there are issues with our societies brought upon by the lack of clear thinking and/or compassion. Many of these issues may not be problems necessarily but just topics discussed when the word “issue” is brought up. One can clearly compare our society to the society described in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World. In this novel the society Huxley has created is meant to be a utopia, made up of a hierarchy known as the caste system. Social classes in both societies create issues due to the fact that everyone has always had different standings in society.

In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, there is a drug used and mentioned throughout the story called Soma. The characters have been conditioned by birth that Soma is always the answer when you feel alone or sad. This drug is used so people can go on "holidays" from their reality and is used as payment for the lower caste groups. People want Soma because they go on these highs and live in their "Heaven" to escape reality. After all, they do call Soma "All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects"(Huxley 54). Soma becomes a tool to control the people in society.

In the novel Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, the use of “soma”, a drug similar to an opiate, is used to help control peace and the world. Since soma has been used to configurate the world, there has been no war, mental disabilities, depression or sickness throughout the people. The people are given soma every day to function throughout society without having to deal with stress, anxiety, depression or any other negative feelings, the soma blocks out “feelings” in order to properly thrive without any implications. Soma is not just only used to hide feelings and keep the people feeling youthful, but also to keep the community become more societal and unified. Soma is depended on through the society to deal with any problems, whether

Often individuals choose to conform to society, rather than pursue personal desires because it is often easier to follow the path others have made already, rather than create a new one. In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, this conflict is explored. Huxley starts the story by introducing Bernard Marx, the protagonist of the story, who is unhappy with himself, because of the way he interacts with other members of society. As the story progresses, the author suggests that, like soma, individuals can be kept content with giving them small pleasure over short periods of time. Thus, it is suggested in the book that if individuals would conform to their society’s norms, their lives would become much

Soma is the answer to all of life's problems and is invented in an attempt to distract society from worry, tension, and pain. The drug is rationed by the government and is normally consumed after a hard day's work. In this utopian society, people choose to "know no pain" (Clareson 238). Instead of suffering, people fill their days with the mindless acts they were predestined to perform. At the end of each day, everyone gathers in crowded distribution rooms and waits eagerly to receive the one thing that truly makes the day worthwhile, which is his or her ration of soma (Huxley 215). This valuable drug goes beyond the literal meaning in which it is being used and becomes the one thing that everyone really lives for. The idea in the novel is that pleasure is the most powerful motivator (Clareson 238). So by giving the masses pleasure, the directors keep the world running smoothly. The directors also eliminate the time between desire and fulfillment, so one cannot help but take the quick fix of soma rather than using logic to figure out his or her problems. It is the mass' motivator and problem solver, and brings the people all the great moods and feelings that they could possible ask for because of its hypnotic power to relax the mind (Meerloo 236). Unfortunately, when the futuristic people take this drug, they eventually

In the book Brave New World, soma is described as “Swallowing half an hour before closing time, that second dose of soma had raised a quite impenetrable wall between the real universe and their minds” (Huxley 77). Soma is used to escaping pain, sadness, or anger, in other words, it’s an antidepressant, but there is more to soma that meets the eye. Without the mentioning made by the book, soma clearly is being used to distract the society from recognizing that they are enslaved. It is obstructing out the society from cognition, and making them stay unidentified about the what the government is doing to them. Later, Huxley advances his theme of the danger of all-powerful government, by using the allusion of hypnopaedia. Hypnopaedia is an allusion to hypnopedia, which is education delivered while asleep through auditory. In the book Brave New World, hypnopaedia is to control the society, by brainwashing them, and making them accept values and creed. One of the forced values is happiness. In Brave New World, Huxley states “A gramme is better than a damn” (Huxley 54). This hypnosis is made, to make the guild take soma, which keeps them happy, but actually just keeps them insensible of their enslavement.

The World State forbids the citizens from experiencing any negative emotion, for fear of losing control. Soma, Latin for sleep, renders its users to a coma-like blissful state, which Congdon describes, borrowing the statement from Huxley himself, that soma allows the citizens to,“periodically escape from the pressure of routine and worldly cares”(Congdon). Citizens are conditioned to use the drug at the slightest challenge to the cultural norms, preventing any thoughts of rebellion or contempt against the government.

In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces the dystopia of a society created on the principle of social stability at all costs. Huxley wrote this book in 1932 hoping to warn future generations of what he feared might happen if society did not do something to stop the inevitable. The leaders of our society today hope for and work towards social stability without taking away primitive rights. Social stability can only be achieved by a society whose beliefs in social and ethical issues are never challenged. So even though modern society hopes for social stability, it is not a practical aspiration because it is obvious that some of the social and ethical

As man has progressed through the ages, there has been, essentially, one purpose. That purpose is to arrive at a utopian society, where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger, or sadness is unheard of. Only happiness exists. But when confronted with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, we come to realize that this is not, in fact, what the human soul really craves. In fact, Utopian societies are much worse than those of today. In a utopian society, the individual, who among others composes the society, is lost in the melting pot of semblance and world of uninterest. The theme of Huxley's Brave New World is community, identity, and stability. Each of these three themes represents what a Brave New World society needs

The novel Brave New World uses soma as a symbol for power and control over citizen’s emotions. Aldous Huxley, the author of the novel uses symbolism to show soma helps user receive a quick fix for their problems and the consequences that comes with the drug. Everyone has their own obstacles to face, some may be harder than others. We cannot experience all the good things in life without some of the bad. Taking drugs and alcohol to escape from problems is not the solution. They might make you feel blissful for a while but sooner or later you will have to face those issue that you were once running away

Brave New World is greatly dependant upon soma, as in our world where prescribed drugs and drug abuse are prominent. This is evident when Bernard and Lenina return from the Savage Reservation. Lenina is devastated from her experiences, so decides to take soma. It illustrates how like our world when something upsets

The people are nothing more than consumers. They believe everything the government tells them, and they have no right to disagree because they do not have the ability to make value judgments. Emotions are artificial, created by the government for the people. Brander claims that in Brave New World “Affection and loyalty are unnecessary… truth is arranged in a test tube … which by its action annihilates identity” (61). Freedom of expression is nonexistent because the people are conditioned to believe they are in a state of pure happiness all the time (Watts 77). Discontent with the society is nonexistent also. If someone is ever unhappy, they are given soma. This drug wafts the people “into the heavens of a restorative illusion” (Woodcock 99). The irony is in the fact that the government uses a drug that distorts people’s realities in order to control them. While the people may be content, the society is still dystopian. This is evidenced in the fact that Henry Ford has become their deity. The people worship someone who has made it possible for the government to impose absolute control (Calder 74). The religious ceremonies themselves are more than spiritual; they are sexual also. Attendance is required, and at the end of each ceremony, the attendees are forced to take soma. The