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Themes[edit]
Two prevalent themes of The Brave New World dystopian novel is the technological progression along with the narrative of happiness and truth. The following are overarching themes that help build upon the plot.
The Use of Technology to Control a Society[edit]
The use of technology to control a society is prevalent throughout the novel when examining the inelastic control of reproduction, biologically and technologically.[1] This is demonstrated through the use of the Bokanovksy’s Process, the fictional process of human cloning. The state can also exert control over the classes’ thoughts by using a form of hypnopaedia conditioning.[2] The process consists of repetition in order to make a person believe that it is his or her own thoughts.
In this dystopia, the use of science is to create a happy, superficial utopia. The irony is that the state censors the use of science because it sees the use of science as a fundamental search for the truth. The peer group consisted of rituals such as worshipping the World State creator, Ford, and chanting verses together.[3] In actuality, books are used as an educational tool to spread knowledge but in the World State, traditions and old books were not allowed. These tools were replaced by technical knowledge and factual information.
The narrative of technology is prevalent in certain scenarios of the novel. Genetic engineering was the creation of a human caste system of the Alphas, the most intelligent caste, followed by Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons.[3] To control the genetically engineered population, the ultimate control mechanism was the use of soma, a drug with no negative side effects which seems like a perfect utopian technique to exert political control but the only difference is, the control drug is preferred by the citizens.[3]
In a preface after writing the novel, Huxley made clear that the theme of the text was not scientific advancement but emphasized the notion of progress.[4] Huxley has addressed the Brave New World in a present day context. He drew a comparison of the text to a present day Western man’s actions and thinking in a symbolic perspective of progress and nationalism. Huxley had noted that the progress he refers to throughout the text is essentially internal and personal progress in order to create a genuinely human society.[4] Huxley’s central belief around the novel was that the man is modifiable and can be psychologically conditioned, which follows the Bokanovsky Process.[5]
Blurring Distinction Between Happiness and Truth[edit]
“Knowledge was the highest good, truth the supreme value; all the rest was secondary and subordinate. True, ideas were beginning to change even then. Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t."[6]
Every character faces the battle of avoiding the truth in order to stay happy. This blurring distinction is evident in the use of soma, “the symbol of the use of instant gratification to control the World State’s populace."[6] The drug is also a symbol of the powerful influence of technology to control a society. Mustapha Mond argues that happiness refers to the immediate gratification, while truth is ambiguous as it refers to objective and human truth.[7] “These two types of truth are quite different from each other: objective truth involves coming to a definitive conclusion of fact, while a “human” truth can only be explored, not defined.”[1]
The abolishment of cultural texts and rituals in order to conform to the World State is a prime example of the blurring distinction between happiness and truth. The printed factual information was all the citizens had at their disposal. This eliminated a complex culture where one would turn to question higher authority, suffering, the meaning of existence and death.[3] In its place was a culture of happiness, where everyone took soma and conditioned to be happy. Huxley’s engineered utopia forces people to be happy through scientific techniques of manipulation and pleasurable control. Stivers noted, “This technological totalitarianism has a happy face."[3]
The use of drugs is a dominant technique of achieving a permanent state of happiness. Dworkin’s piece on Artificial Happiness illustrates this ecstasy, where he noted that psychotropic drugs, exercise, dieting, alternative medicines and spirituality are often used to achieve a temporary state of happiness.[8] In actuality, real happiness resulted from achievements, moral commitments and responsibility to others.[3] His vision was the loss of freedom and individuality redefined the Brave New World’s definition of happiness.
Critical Reception[edit]
H.G Wells was considered the father of science fiction and was offended at the betrayal of the future Huxley discussed in the Brave New World. As his own writing, particularly the 1923 novel Men Like Gods, as an inspiration to Huxley who told a friend in 1931 that he was “writing a novel about the future – on the horror of the Wellsian Utopia and a revolt against it.”[9] ''Men Like Gods'' had annoyed Huxley to the point of planning a parody, which he found a negative utopia to write about and launched into the Brave New World. “[9]
Some critics suggested that Huxley had borrowed or had been heavily influenced by parts from Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin novel We. Although there had been similarities present, Zamyatin later discovered that Huxley had not read We before publishing the Brave New World, and asserts that “these ideas are in the air we breathe."[9]
Although several authors had critiqued his dystopian novel, Joseph Needham, a Cambridge biochemist and embryologist stated, “Only biologists and philosophers will really appreciate the full force of Mr. Huxley’s remarkable book."[9]He moved on to that affirming that “there will be many who do not approve of his utopia, will say, we cant believe all this, the biology is all wrong, it couldn’t happen. Unfortunately, what gives the biologist a sardonic smile as he reads it, is the fact that the biology is perfectly right." [9] His famously scientific family inspired the overarching background of Huxley’s piece.
Keipier, editor of The New Atlantis, suggested that democratically, we will always be striving for a better society and the frequent conflicts between these goods should remind us that we would never reach an ideal utopian society.[9] He states “The Brave New World is more then just a bleak inhuman spectre of our future; it is an invitation to consider how to balance and preserve the things that matters most for ourselves and our posterity."[9]”
References:
- ^ a b "Themes, Motifs & Symbols". Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ Miller, Derek. "Brave New World and the Threat of Technological Growth". International Student Journal. 3 (4). Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Stivers, Richard. "Our Brave New World Today". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 30 (4): 247–251. doi:10.1177/027046761373820.
- ^ a b Firchow, Peter. "The Satire of Huxley's "Brave New World"". Modern Fiction Studies. 12 (4): 451–461. doi:10.2307/1207404.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Firchow, Peter. "Science and Conscience in Huxley's "Brave New World"". Contemporary Literature. 16 (3): 301–316. doi:10.2307/1207404.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b Huxley, Aldous (1998). Brave new world (1st Perennial Classics ed. ed.). New York: Perennial Classics. p. 156. ISBN 0060929871.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ Astrachan, Anthony. "Brave New World Barron's Notes". Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ Dworkin, Ronald (2007). Artificial happiness : the dark side of the new happy class (1st Carroll & Graf trade pbk. ed. ed.). New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786719338.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Keiper, Caitrin Nicol. "Brave New World at 75". Journal of Technology and Society. 16: 41–54.