Huxley In A Brave New World example essay topic

Aldous Huxley, said to have created the best utopian novel of all time, did not start out his career as a writer. He began his life in the midst of a sea of social pressure, not unlike most teenagers today. However by the age of 16 Huxley was already studying medicine and planning to be a doctor. Things were going very well for Huxley until he contracted a disease, which left him temporarily blind and prevented him from following his dreams in science.

As an alternative he turned to literature and found writing to be his outlet. Huxley developed his writing skills and poured all aspects of his life and personality into his writing. Aldous Huxley, through his family influence, social philosophy, and interest in science, was able to create an entirely new style of novel writing and thus created A Brave New World, one of the most masterful utopian novels of all time. Huxley, born into a prominent English family, was raised a privileged child in a strict class structured English society. However, even as a privileged young man he seemed to stand out, showing subconscious differences that even his brothers noticed; it was what they called, "a superiority". He showed an alertness and intelligence uncharacteristic of small children (Aldous Huxley Author 1).

This separateness from society played out in his writing of A Brave New World. The savage, one of the main characters in A Brave New World, seems entirely aloof from society. Throughout the novel, he exhibits differences the other futuristic characters cannot understand (Aldous Huxley Author 1). Even with his differences Huxley, following family precedent, seems to walk in the footsteps of his many prominent ancestors. His family was extremely well known on both his maternal and paternal sides for work in literature and science. Huxley's father, Leonard was a well-respected essayist in England, and his grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley, was a highly esteemed biologist (Aldous Huxley Contemporary 1).

Along with his father's side of the family his mother's ancestry is equally literary elite. His Aunt was Mrs. Humphrey Ward, a highly regarded novelist, and his mother's uncle, Matthew Arnold, was a talented poet. Not to mention Huxley's Great Grandfather, who during his life was one of the most venerated educators of his time and became the headmaster of The Rugby School in England (Aldous Huxley Author 1). The family legacy in literature and science also extends into Huxley's immediate siblings. Huxley's brother, Julian, was a distinguished biologist and his half brother, Andrew, was a renowned physiologist who, for his work, won the Nobel Prize in 1963 (Aldous Huxley Contemporary 1).

To state that none of this tremendous lineage had anything to do with Huxley's career choices and interests in life would be an enormous oversight. A direct correlation can be drawn to his novel. The skill Huxley exhibits in portraying his new world requires much literary skill, which apparently is an inherent gift in his family. In his futuristic society Huxley makes great allusions to his scientific knowledge. However, even with the family influences Huxley was an innovative and self-assured thinker who preached his thoughts through his writing.

Aldous Huxley, who was a self-proclaimed moral philosopher, used his work as the means by which he could spread his reasoning. "Huxley is a humanist horrified by the theories and accomplishments of his own time" (Clareson 1). Although Huxley never explicitly states in the text his position, his general portrayal of the world around him clarifies his point. Huxley, during A Brave New World, parodies numerous advancements in society to portray his humanistic philosophies. The rigid class structure, which is shown in A Brave New World, has a direct correlation with England, where he was raised (Aldous Huxley Author 1). Huxley did not like the way England separated its classes, nor did he like much of what the rest of the world was doing.

He even felt that he had a moral obligation to prove erroneous the notion that class structure leads to happiness (Aldous Huxley Author 1). Thus Huxley's parody of society bases much of its totalitarian government on the fascist government of Mussolini, and the communist Soviet Union (Aldous Huxley Author 1). He utilizes parody to show the extent of structure and control, and to show the flaws of both as well. He also parodies the social principle of pleasure.

Through A Brave New World, Huxley shows that pleasure "is the most powerful motivator of man" (Clareson 5) and that the aggressive pursuit of pleasure is a plague on society and may eventually cause its demise. This directly relates to his views on drugs and how they influenced his thinking. He uses the advancement of the drug, "Soma" which is similar to modern tranquilizers, to parody the western society's need for pleasure. Huxley shows the extent of this drug addiction in that the entire Utopian world is constantly high and would be utterly unhappy without this artificially induced feeling of happiness. Throughout A Brave New World he denotes this use of drugs which he calls "Mysticism", however ironically, later in his life, due to curiosity, he began to use these "psychedelic" substances himself (Aldous Leonard 1). This radical contradiction his brother later attributed to his fascination with scientific discovery, which influence is clearly discernable in A Brave New World (Aldous Leonard 1).

Science was what Huxley was most interested in. Throughout A Brave New World, Huxley makes reference to the science and the scientists of the day. Ford, the superior being of the Utopian land, and the symbol of ford, the T, is directly related to Henry Ford and his model T, which maximized the usage of conveyor belt assembly and became a major building block of our society (Clareson 1). The Utopian society takes this advancement a step further in that children are bred by the same conveyor belt tactics and thus, also a corner stone to the Utopian society. Huxley, in A Brave New World, makes a direct correlation to the development of the electroencyclograph, a machine that measures the deepness of sleep, and uses that development to serve as the basis of the Utopian world's sleep-teaching tactics (Clareson 1). Huxley also borrows from the works of psychologists such as Sigmund Freud to depict behavioral characteristics of his characters.

The Savage, a prime example of this influence, suffers from the Freudian Oedipus complex and masochism which is reinforced by the savage's direct quotations from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the story of a young man who discovering that his uncle killed his father, decides to seek revenge (Clareson 1). Many such literary influences can be seen throughout A Brave New World. He alludes many times to the stories of William Shakespeare including using Romeo and Juliet's relationship as the basis for The Savage and Lenina's affair (Frichow 4, 5). He also alludes to the works of Shaw, Wells, T.S. Elliot, D.H. Lawrence, Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Gray, and Dante, which proves the enormous literary influence on Huxley (Frichow 4). Although Huxley is greatly influenced by these great writers, with his thinking he forges a new path, a new style for his writing. Huxley's writing style in A Brave New World differs greatly from anything written prior to it.

Huxley spends the first half of the novel just laying out the world behind the story (Clareson 1). By the time the actual plot sets in the reader has a good descriptive basis of what the world is like. No loose ends about the morals, customs, or technologies of the world are left once the true story begins. This innovative style gives the reader a good basis to stand upon by the time the plot of the story set in. The reader already knows everything there is to know about the world and is able to juxtapose, the old world that the savage knows, with the new world that he is being introduced to (Clareson 1).

Huxley creates a link for the reader between our world and the Utopian world by distorting many of today's practices. Such things as nursery rhymes like George - Porgy he twists to fit the Utopian world and parodies the customs we hold today. "Orgy -Porgy, Ford and fun Kiss the girls and make them One Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release". (Huxley 78) These twists and contrasts with today's society increase the connection between the reader and the Utopian world. This new style, never before attempted, show Huxley's innovation in writing and proves why A Brave New World is labeled as one of the best Utopian novels of all time. A Brave New World, one of the greatest Utopian novels of all time, was created by a writer whose commitment to excellence has shown up many times throughout his work.

Aldous Huxley, even with his near blinding at the age of 16 persevered in this cruel world and transformed himself from scientist into a superb writer. Aldous Huxley, through his family influence, moral philosophy, and interest in science was able to create A Brave New World, one of the most masterful utopian novels of all time.