Brave New World is a novel that encompases what it means to be a utopian society. A seemingly perfect world full of happiness, ease, and encouraged pleasure. Everything is uniform, decided and precise. Everyone fits a specific mold. Those who stray however, are set aside and exiled. Utopian societies have been attempted throughout history through various forms of government, all which eventually failed due to the fact that complete perfection cannot be achieved as long as there is free will. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley creates a world that has rid it’s society of free will through test tube births and childhood conditioning. In the beginning of the book, the director states “We also predestine and condition” (13 Huxley). What he means
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Families were encouraged, promiscuity was shamed, drugs were unacceptable and pursuing betterment through hard work was dreamed about. In the book however, families are just a bad joke, promiscuity is heavily encouraged, even expected, drugs are used daily and betterment is not an option due to conditioning. Brave New World was published in 1932 and during this time, societal moral standards and appropriation were still highly upheld by the majority of the public. Therefore, the content of the book came as a shock to most readers, especially with content such as “Orgy porgy, Ford and fun/ Kiss the girls and make them One/ Boys at one with girls at peace/ Orgy-porgy gives release. (84 Huxley)” A scene like that in cohorts with many others, some as much, or even more graphic. Even though this story was released during such a modest time, it paved the way and advertised a society to come. In Oedipus in Dystopia: Freud and Lawrence in Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World by Brad Buchanan, he quotes a letter written by Huxley to his father about his book in which he calls it, “a comic, or at least satirical, novel about the Future” (79 Buchanan). In this itself, Huxley seemingly predicts the beginnings of societal and moral norms that are taking shape in our community now. Nowadays we see people choosing jobs over families, publicly using drugs, …show more content…
On the reservations, the people resemble those of which we could associate with natives or tribes. They live in basic made housing and have odd worship. Aside from the apparent savage nature, they resemble society as we know it, with families and personal connections between people. When one of the deemed “savages” is brought into the city, the differences between the two cultures could not be more apparent. In one section, when there is entries being made about the “savage” one states, “It is worthy to note that, in spite of his m----’s senility and the extreme repulsiveness of her appearance , the Savage frequently goes to see her and appears to be very much attracted to her- an interesting example of the way in which early conditioning can be made to modify and even run counter to natural impulses (in this case, the impulse to recoil from an unpleasant object” (160-161 Huxley). This shows how opposite their viewing of others is. The savage sees his mother though love and attachment and thus places his value through that like we tend to with our families. While those who had been conditioned see her and place their value through a scale of physical attractiveness as we do in the media. Conditioning in Brave New World could easily be compared to media brainwashing, that which happens in our society to this very day. As Laura Frost states in Huxley 's Feelies: The Cinema of Sensation in
Families were encouraged, promiscuity was shamed, drugs were unacceptable and pursuing betterment through hard work was dreamed about. In the book however, families are just a bad joke, promiscuity is heavily encouraged, even expected, drugs are used daily and betterment is not an option due to conditioning. Brave New World was published in 1932 and during this time, societal moral standards and appropriation were still highly upheld by the majority of the public. Therefore, the content of the book came as a shock to most readers, especially with content such as “Orgy porgy, Ford and fun/ Kiss the girls and make them One/ Boys at one with girls at peace/ Orgy-porgy gives release. (84 Huxley)” A scene like that in cohorts with many others, some as much, or even more graphic. Even though this story was released during such a modest time, it paved the way and advertised a society to come. In Oedipus in Dystopia: Freud and Lawrence in Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World by Brad Buchanan, he quotes a letter written by Huxley to his father about his book in which he calls it, “a comic, or at least satirical, novel about the Future” (79 Buchanan). In this itself, Huxley seemingly predicts the beginnings of societal and moral norms that are taking shape in our community now. Nowadays we see people choosing jobs over families, publicly using drugs, …show more content…
On the reservations, the people resemble those of which we could associate with natives or tribes. They live in basic made housing and have odd worship. Aside from the apparent savage nature, they resemble society as we know it, with families and personal connections between people. When one of the deemed “savages” is brought into the city, the differences between the two cultures could not be more apparent. In one section, when there is entries being made about the “savage” one states, “It is worthy to note that, in spite of his m----’s senility and the extreme repulsiveness of her appearance , the Savage frequently goes to see her and appears to be very much attracted to her- an interesting example of the way in which early conditioning can be made to modify and even run counter to natural impulses (in this case, the impulse to recoil from an unpleasant object” (160-161 Huxley). This shows how opposite their viewing of others is. The savage sees his mother though love and attachment and thus places his value through that like we tend to with our families. While those who had been conditioned see her and place their value through a scale of physical attractiveness as we do in the media. Conditioning in Brave New World could easily be compared to media brainwashing, that which happens in our society to this very day. As Laura Frost states in Huxley 's Feelies: The Cinema of Sensation in