The Place I Am Referencing Is The World State From Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World

In the Novel Brave New World, there are many different subject and themes that portray the plot. The subject and theme of the utopian story is based on several ideas, but one in particular is the pursuit of happiness carried to an extreme.

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.

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” “In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.” “All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy,” This significant quote from Brave New World had moved innumerable readers’ heart, so do I. Exaggeration? No. It’s the satire to the false meaning of the universal happiness, and it’s this quote which made me had rethink what do I really want and the way of living I want to choose. Because the deep influence and rumination brought by the book, I would like to say

A quote in the book expresses their enforcement of happiness onto the people, “‘Oh I do want you to be happy’… Two minutes later the voice and the soma vapour had produced their effect.” (Huxley 215) The government in Brave New World wanted only happiness and did anything to ensure there was happiness. Soma is the drug that made a person happy so if a person refused the pill, they would turn into a vapor to breathe in. Conversely, Gattaca did not try to enforce happiness. When Eugene became drunk and Jerome took him home, Eugene had said ¨I knew what I was doing when I walked in front of that car-´¨ (Gattaca) Eugene had admitted that he tried to commit suicide. Later on, Jerome had told him ¨´It’s alright.´” (Gattaca) Jerome didn’t react hatefully towards his confession nor did he force happiness upon him. Allowing a person to feel how what they feel is a form of free will. The people of Brave New World do not have that freedom to feel what they feel; it shows the absence of free will even with something mentally

Happiness in our society is harder to find than in the society of Fahrenheit 451, but once achieved, it is a true happiness, one which grows upon its seeds, and sprouts a great and fulfilling life for that person. The average citizen in our society believes themselves to be happy, but in reality, they too are replacing their true desires and childhood dreams with superficial entertainment and mindless activities, which resembles the society which is portrayed in Fahrenheit 451.

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.

Imagine a world where happiness is given to you. Happiness is not worked for nor earned, you just get it. Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, is a novel written in 1932, where Huxley predicts the future of humankind. At the time, Henry Ford was famous for the cheap mass production of the T-model cars using the assembly line. Thus, Huxley predicts a future in which people from the World State(the society he predicts the future will hold) are engineered in test tubes and conditioned to be one of the castes in their society. In this society, the characteristics and emotions that makes humans human are banned. Families, love, passion, literature, natural birth, religion and monogamy are banned because

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.

There are five social classes, Alphas are ranked the highest then the Epsilons are ranked the lowest. The Alphas are certain to become the most successful and outstanding. They worked in the same place since birth, and wrote false advertising phrases. They enjoyed all their advantages in their pursuits of life. The Epsilons, were very unfortunate, and were used to feeling less important than everyone else. Their job field included the friendly workers; such as coal miners, elevator operators, and steel workers. Every person from each different working field appreciated the work and found themselves indeed happy with their daily tasks. The key for happiness of the people in Brave New World was to try "creating people like their unavoidable destiny" (Huxley 37). “By brainwashing the people they saw happiness in their own attempts” (Huxley 34). John, who was naturally born, was astonished when he arrived to their community. He couldn’t comprehend how people could live under total control and not be aware of the fact that they never knew true happiness. He questioned how those individuals were so content doing the most simplistic tasks. They worked the jobs that the community assigned them. No questions asked, being under control, therefore they couldn’t discover happiness in their society.

John explains how soma isn’t the truth in attaining happiness as, ‘I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin’ (Huxley

In Brave New World soma is seen as “the perfect drug”. It has all the benefits that any other drug has (calming, 10-hour high), yet it does not have any of the side effects (brain damage). The citizens of this perfect world have been conditioned to love the drug soma. They can use this drug whenever they feel remotely dissatisfied. John the Savage believes that people who take the drug soma are constantly “absent” (Huxley 104). He believes that soma makes people emotionless human beings.

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

Happiness can be experienced if there is no love, hate or passion, sadness, relationships, or family. One of the central themes of Huxley’s “Brave New World” is to erase emotions and feelings from its citizens to achieve happiness. This society is based on logical thinking, and all evidence of history and religions have been destroyed. The closest thing to a religion or God that the citizens have is Ford Company founder, Henry Ford. Ford is motivated, and an innovator that has a vision for the future and has a way of getting things done. Huxley’s choice of Ford as a god-like figure depicts that the most significant value of this new world is production and consumerism. Consumerism is of the

Firstly all family relations must be completely abolished. People no longer know what monogamy, romance, families and mothers are, and along with that, stripped of the right to practice them. Then there is the use of soma. As Mustapha Mond exclaims, you can now carry half your morals around in a bottle, because the slightest bouts of any negative emotions can be instantly cured by the drug. Like ostriches the whole civilized world choose to bury themselves in their soma holiday in face of the tiniest adversity. Living in that bubble of false happiness, they have lost all ability and freedom to have emotions. John the Savage believes that being happy all the time is a prison on its own, and he claims the “right to be unhappy”. After all, being a human, even at its most abject and abased state, is about the right to feel, to love and to hate.