Aldous Huxleys Brave New World example essay topic

What is a utopia Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary defines utopia as an imaginary and indefinitely remote place; a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, gov-ernment, and social conditions; an impractical scheme for social improvement. In Brave New World Aldous Huxley creates a dystopia (which Webster defines as an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives) by predicting a pos-sible utopia after many generations. Aldous Huxley analyzes how the utopia degenerated from its original intent into a terrible dystopia. In this essay I will discuss some aspects of this dystopia and relate to Aldous Huxleys dystopian vision. Aldous Huxley begins Brave New World by explaining to the reader the process of civ i-l ization in A.F. 632 of decanting children. First the children are led into the London Hatch-ery and Conditioning Center the main entrance of which reads the World States motto: COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY (Huxley 1).

This signifies that the world has become unified into one state with one main government and one set of rules and regula-tions. The world has become over-organized; everything has been taken over by what Aldous Huxley describes as the Power Elite: a group of people who control the world and everyone in it (Huxley [Brave New World Revisited] 1423). Hatchery workers wearing white lab coats working in sterilized scientific labs artificially fertilize sperm cells and egg cells in test tubes. Then, depending on the particular caste of the sperm and egg, some embryos are bokanovskified (made to bud / replicate by bombardment of X-rays); finally all embryos are sent to the Social Predestination Room, where during the nine-month process of devel-opment they are conditioned through additions or subtractions to their biological chemistry depending on their caste (Huxley 29).

This shows the reader that there is no concern for the tradition a family structure or any respect for the mystery of human creation. The society of Brave New World is totally based on scientific facts and possibilities. Ethics and religion have become obsolete. Instead of having Gods gift of free will, people are now prisoners of their predetermined conditioning. Ethics and religion are grouped with history and in the words of Mustapha Mond, History is bunk (Huxley 24). In Brave New World almost all the troubles in life are either eliminated or dealt with through the wonder-drug soma.

John the Savage gets annoyed by this and cries: You got rid of them. Yes, thats just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it. Whether tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them... But you dont do either.

Neither suffer nor oppose. You just abolish the slings and arrows. Its too easy... What you need... is something with tears for a change. (Huxley 183) The Savage has a very good point to know what happiness is one must experience un-happiness. The inhabitants of this brave new world that has such people in it are living a false happiness, a fake happiness happiness which is ultimately superficial.

They enjoy their utopia because they have no knowledge of the true freedoms of a member of the hu-man race. They never realize they are in a dystopia because they never know they never realize what the proper way of life is. They are blinded and brainwashed from Day 1 with the morals and guidelines of their society: I do love flying... I do love having new clothes... Ending is better than mend-ing... The more stitches, the less riches...

One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments... A gram is better than a damn. (Huxley 3643) The list can go on and on... The society is so brainwashed that they can only come to re-alize the truth if they are raised without the conditioning implied on the ordinary person. In Aldous Huxleys Brave New World many ideas are presented to the reader about dystopia and what our world might end up like.

Aldous Huxleys dystopian vision is a warning to the reader and society that we must be careful of over-organization and prop a-ganda, or else our world will become a Brave New World. Aldous Huxley has left us with an important and meaningful message. Let us not forget it!

Bibliography

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World & Brave New World Revisited. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1965.