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The Concept Of Power In Mustapha Mond By John Huxley

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The concept of power underpins the motivation for control over a mass population and its maintenance to ensure political stability, often through exploitation. Huxley shows the manifestation of power in his seemingly utopian civilization through the use of science and technology as the world controller, Mustapha Mond, justifies a society devoid of illness and loneliness by sacrificing the human condition. The underlying slogan of “community, identity stability” is epitomised by the characterisation of Lenina Crowne who is essentially one of the many exploited “cells in the social body”. The World State’s power is exemplified through her characterisation as she symbolises citizens who are filled with ‘words without reason’, otherwise known as ‘hypnopaedia’, which forces them to embrace their exploitation. The sense of isolation evoked through the pathetic character, Linda, whose self-demeaning dialogue “what are you to answer if you’re a Beta and have always worked in the Fertilising Room” demonstrates the results of political control restricting free, independent thought. In addition, the conditioning received at Hatcheries and Conditioning centres propagates the stability in Huxley’s idyllic world, that ‘[chose] between happiness and what people used to call high art”(ch16), by superficially fulfilling their needs to avoid questioning their personal freedom. Furthermore, the provision of artificial gratification such as the narcotic ‘soma’, or “Christianity without

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