A Brave New World Passage Analysis

Passage:
‘I was given the choice: to be sent to an island, where I could have got on with my pure science, or to be taken on to the Controllers' Council with the prospect of succeeding in due course to an actual Controllership. I chose this and let the science go." After a little silence, 'Sometimes,' he added, 'I rather regret the science. Happiness is a hard master–particularly other people's happiness. A much harder master, if one isn't conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.' He sighed, fell silent again, then continued in a brisker tone, 'Well, duty's duty. One can't consult one's own preference. I'm interested in truth, I like science. But truth's a menace, science is a public danger. As dangerous as it's been beneficent. It has given us the stablest equilibrium in history. China's was hopelessly insecure by comparison; even the primitive matriarchies weren't steadier than we are. Thanks, l repeat, to science. But we can't allow science to undo its own good work. That's why we so carefully limit the scope of its researches–that's why I almost got sent to …show more content…
Brave New World perpetuates the idea that happiness, the immediate appeasement of every desire, is more important than truth and knowledge about the surrounding world. From the beginning of the novel, the reader learns of the various conditioning methods used by the world state to control a citizen’s beliefs and desires from the moment of their fertilization until well into adolescence, and the passage states that happiness and truth are mutually exclusive; when, in reality, the two are only separated for those who have been conditioned in a manner that would ensure such an outcome. In truth, any passions can be simultaneously pursued when one is given the opportunity to explore and