Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World contains, at its heart, a fundamental question that is a point of contention amongst readers: would it be more beneficial if we as a population strived to create a civilization that mirrors that of the society found in Brave New World? The themes and notions regarding this question that are sprinkled throughout the book are made bare in Chapter 16 and 17, where John and Mustapha Mond meet and discuss the morality of such a society.
Mustapha’s moral defense of society is rooted in the fact that he is obligated to maintain “happiness and stability.” He views his civilization as a vast, complex machine that must be preserved in order to sustain the happiness of those who inhabit it. This idea is most likely inherited …show more content…
It is however, one where each person is content, happy, and without any negative aspect of humanity. This is why Mustapha is correct. It would be more beneficial towards us as a population if we strived to adopt a society that holds the same values. By Huxley’s standards, we as independent, free-willed humans are comparable to Alphas, and as Mustapha stated, a society consisting of Alphas cannot exist in harmony. It is simply the price we must pay for our liberty. Furthermore, the irrepressible hardships that all humans have to inevitably face is the price we must pay for our liberty. The only reason this system is maintained is because we have developed a cultural value for “claiming the right to be unhappy.” Through religion, art, and science, contemporary society has learned to transform their tribulations into beacons of light, hoping to find some respite from their self-conceived discontent. However, there is no natural, objective value to human struggle. Mustapha presents a world in which humanity has surpassed a need for pain, and has become an oblivious, but happy society. It is in this world that individuals are completely unaware of what they are missing, similar to the absurdity of an ant learning astrophysics, or a human attempting to imagine a new color. It is in this world that pleasure and satisfaction reign supreme, and people are unfettered by any grievance. The society in Brave New World is, unquestionably, a utopia, and like any utopia, it should be humanity’s goal to inherit
Mustapha’s moral defense of society is rooted in the fact that he is obligated to maintain “happiness and stability.” He views his civilization as a vast, complex machine that must be preserved in order to sustain the happiness of those who inhabit it. This idea is most likely inherited …show more content…
It is however, one where each person is content, happy, and without any negative aspect of humanity. This is why Mustapha is correct. It would be more beneficial towards us as a population if we strived to adopt a society that holds the same values. By Huxley’s standards, we as independent, free-willed humans are comparable to Alphas, and as Mustapha stated, a society consisting of Alphas cannot exist in harmony. It is simply the price we must pay for our liberty. Furthermore, the irrepressible hardships that all humans have to inevitably face is the price we must pay for our liberty. The only reason this system is maintained is because we have developed a cultural value for “claiming the right to be unhappy.” Through religion, art, and science, contemporary society has learned to transform their tribulations into beacons of light, hoping to find some respite from their self-conceived discontent. However, there is no natural, objective value to human struggle. Mustapha presents a world in which humanity has surpassed a need for pain, and has become an oblivious, but happy society. It is in this world that individuals are completely unaware of what they are missing, similar to the absurdity of an ant learning astrophysics, or a human attempting to imagine a new color. It is in this world that pleasure and satisfaction reign supreme, and people are unfettered by any grievance. The society in Brave New World is, unquestionably, a utopia, and like any utopia, it should be humanity’s goal to inherit