secondp

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION.

2. HAPPINESS IN BNW.

3. INDIVIDUALITY OR COLLECTIVENESS: THE DICOTOMY.

3.1. SOCIETY VERSUS THE INDIVIDUAL.

3.1.1. ANCIENT VALUES.

3.1.2. CONSUMISM-CONFORMISM.

3.1.3. THE DEATH OF IMAGINATION.

4. BRAVE NEW WORLD?

5. CONCLUSION.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. INTRODUCTION

Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, before the advent of the Nazi totalitarian state, the more extreme development of the Soviet State during the 1930's, and the Second World War. His version of total control was based on conditioning and drugs, rather than military might and terror. The vision was implemented by principles of mass production and consumption. Thus, Henry Ford was adopted as the new god. Where once there was Christ and his Cross, in the brave new world they had Ford and his Flivver.

It would be interesting to compare Huwley’s new society with the one Geroge Orwell described in Nineteen Eighty-Four, perhaps because Orwell wrote in 1947 after the cataclysm of the war and in full knowledge of the new totalitarianism, his dystopian vision was grounded in terror and brainwashing. While in both societies people were simply clogs of the state, in Brave New World the state provided continual pleasure as a substitute for freedom.

But it would be even more interesting to compare that new society with the one we are living in nowadays, in order to see to which extent we can call new to Huxley’s BNW really new. In this paper, I will try to analyse Utopia’s in relation to Huxley’s book and how it reflects utopia itself, its advantages and its dangers. Therefore, I will concentrate mainly on aspects such as the means by which people are manipulated physically and mentally, the restriction of knowledge or the death of ancient values, including religion.

2. HAPPINESS IN BNW.

Sir Thomas More coined in the early 16th century the term utopia, derived from two Greek words: Eutopia (meaning «good place») and Outopia (meaning «no place»), which is a contradiction that suggests that the perfect world is an impossible ideal. He intended this irony when he wrote his genre-setting novel, Utopia (1516). This book gave a name to a much earlier series of efforts to picture ideal commonwhealths.

In Brave New World, Huxley focus on one utopian caracteristic: happiness; this novel was consequently translated into Spanish as Un mundo feliz. A place where everyone is happy seems perfect but looking carefully at it we find that perfection is not that desirable, because what is the price of that happiness? The artificial bliss which leads brave new worlders life turns out to be rather discouraging. They are unaware of lots of things: as it is said in the first chapter: «For of course some sort of general idea they must have, if they were to do their work intelligently -though as little of one, if they were to be good and happy members of society, as possible.» (p.2) (1)

Citizens are pre-programmed and «educated» through hypnopedic messages in their birth-place so that each social class love its type of work and its place in society, no matter how hard it is. Outside work, people spend their leisure time also in constant pleasure. But this is a chemically-driven happiness. They tend to believe that every moment not sad is happy, which is conformism; BNW does not let people think and appreciate that happy moments are those in which something special, extraordinary or not regular happens; that the rest is routine. Their instincts are repressed through several devices, such as the loss of ancient values, a subtle brainwashing or through consumism.

Rights are also censored, people do not chose their state of mind, they are obliged to be happy. They live in a world of obligations, and the fact that they are not aware of their own conditions doesn’t mean those conditions are good. That apparently perfect world does not differ that much from the world we live in: people adapt to the system and conform to their situation in order to lead a life as happy as possible, the difference is that we do it consciously. They are subliminally educated by the State, we are by propaganda, fashion ...

Brave New World has come to serve as the false symbol for any regime of universal happiness.

3. SOCIETY VERSUS THE INDIVIDUAL.

We are often faced in daily life with the choice between our sense of duty and our own personal inclinations. In Brave New World only Bernard Marx feels that contradiction. He is surrounded by two other kind of attitudes, the one embodied by Lenina Crowne, who is convinced of her duty to Society, and the one represented by John the Savage, who belongs to the ancient world and has faith in the importance of the individual over the common good.

Lenina, even when confronted with Bernard or with John remains faithful to society, but she has had several moments of doubt. Soma helped her a lot and the decision of John of killing himself was also useful because who knows if she would have ended convinced? Meanwhile, she tried to make Bernard safe with his duties and seducing him with the Feelies, group games such as Obstacle Golf and many other things. But always situations in which they are never alone, under no circumstance. And if they are so it will be having sexual intercourse, not, for example, thinking or enjoying each other’s company.

John the Savage comes from the reservation, he discovers literature and the attraction he feels for Lenina makes him sad because he needs another kind of relationship than the one she can offer him. He would like to find a true friend in Bernard, or to form a family with Lenina. But instead of changing their lives, John becomes so confused that he ends his life tragically.

Bernard, on his turn, has more doubts when he meets John. Freedom knocks on his door but he is unable to do something, not in the world he lives in. At the end, he is rejected by the society because he was a failure from the beginning and there is no room for him there. Lenina finds him strange, and not convincing him of the opinion she thinks is the correct one, she turns her attention to John. With John’s death and Bernard’s destination outside society, Lenina remains as the respresentor of Brave New World’s values.

3.1. THE STRUCTURE OF BNW’S SOCIETY

Brave New World recapitulates all Heaven’s hierarchies (God, angels, archangels, seraphimy...). They have another supreme master: Henry Ford. Right under him we find a world ruled by ten world controllers, the spokesman of whom is Mustapha Mond, the Resident Controller of Western Europe. All citizens all over the world are divided in the same pecking order we said before, but under a more neutral denomination; they are classified according to the Greek alphabet. Society divided into five classes or castes, hereditary social groups. In the lower three classes, people are cloned in order to produce up to 96 identical "twins." Thus, highest-class people are the Alphas and as we go further in the alphabet (until the Epsilons), we go lower in the social scale.

The motto of the world State is: «community», «identity», «stability». This, unevitably, reminds us of other motto with the same structure, which, though anterior, serves us of contrast: «liberté», «egalité», «fraternité» (French Revolution 1789):

A) Egalité refers to the right of people of having the same opportunities and the same rights; the «egalité» in Brave New World refers to pople having the same opinions, the same lives, the same lack of decision over their own existence... That reflects the idea that individuals have no importance, that the common good is the only target, which is included in Brave New World’s «community».

B) Liberté deals with freedom of speech, thought and religion; nothing to do with brave new worlders imposed happines, profession and even length of life. Moreover, since «everyone belongs to everyone else» they don’t have to worry about their relationships. Everyone is predisposed to accept any invitation, that avoids deceptions; and also avoids the will of forming a family on one’s own, which would be extremely dangerous for the State. The world controllers play God, in the name of Ford, creating people, deciding who and when lives and dies, and who fits in their society. That makes sure Brave New World’s «stability». As it is explained in the book: «“Stability”, said the Controller, “stability. No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability.» (p.33)

C) Fraternité means love to the neighbour, friendship, tolerance towards sombedoy else’s options in life. In contrast, Huxley’s shows citizens caring only about common good. In brave new world people don’t treat each other’s lives as special, society is all that matters and everything must be done in the name of general interest. So they have «identity», the one and only option allowed; no diversity, no free will, but routine.

3.1.1. ANCIENT VALUES

Utopian happines, we are led to believe, is built on sacrifice: the loss of love, science, art and religion. The religion as we know it has, in theory, disappeared: there is no God. At least there is no Christian one. Throughouth History, and all over the world, there has been a supreme master under several names: whether it be Christ, Buddha, or Alá. Brave New World does have one: Henry Ford. It is the reflection of the world he «rules», a consumist one.

Our notions of good and bad are always associated to certain things according to the precepts of our religion. In BNW since they have another kind of religion it seems logical that their values change too. In their society everything has to be done for the collective interest, so in order to make people react as they are expected to, the social values have to be coherent whit that way of living.

First of all, if people are always happy and no longer afraid by fear to death, they will live their lives on quite a different way. There are not fading opportunities which impell them to «carpe diem» or rebel to the system, but focus on production and consumption.

Secondly, Brave New World is a loveless society. Both romantic love and love of the family are taboo. The family itself has been abolished throughout the civilised world, as well as other institutions such as marriage. Society is the only family they have to be devoted to, and social classes the only internal divisions allowed. Good genes and good drugs allow them, potentially, to experience a deeper and more empathetic love towards everyone, so there’s no reason to act otherwise. Their philosophy of life includes promiscuous sex as not only good but even socially constructive, they live in a «hedonistic» way.

They are also therapeutically conditioned to hate books. This excludes History, consequently, past is no longer known. Their lives are exactly the same, they have no curiosity to find out if there is another possibility, something different. The same some dictatorships tried to do in our world: to equal opinions, to forbid self-thinking, plurality and richness of culture. Because this would dangerously led to egotism. So, History has been abolished, salvation has already occurred, and the utopians aren’t going anywhere.

3.1.2. CONSUMISM-CONFORMISM.

Thus, if we aren’t going anywhere we only have to care about our daily existence. And not even that: no questioning of who we are, where do we come from and, obviously, where are we going. But human beings are instinctive and sometimes certain feelings arise. Then is when Soma plays its role: «one cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments» (p. 50). They take it because their lives, like society itself, are empty of spirituality or higher meaning. Soma keeps the population comfortable with their lot.

BNW is a sterile productivist utopia geared to the consumption of mass-produced goods. Huxley’s utopians are purposely kept occupied and focused on working for yet more consumption: «no leisure from pleasure».

They, taking drugs, are even less capable to act for themselves. And they conform, though obviously is a much more benign conformism than Orwell’s terrifying 1984: there is no room 101, no torture, and no war. They live in a happily oppressed world, but opressed anyway. Because technology not only doesn’y set people free but enslaves them more. There is also racism: hypnopedically, social classes avoid contact with each other, and people «different» are seen as an error which sooner or later must be eliminated: Bernard Marx is highly intelligent but his physical difference and his attitudes make him be set appart from others.

3.1.3. THE DEATH OF IMAGINATION

If rational design is good enough for robots, then it’s good enough for us too. As we said, people are cloned and cloning phisical characteristics has nothing strange nowadays. But the wuestiona rises when dealing with mental capacities, is it possible to clone personality so that everyone agrees with the same things, shares the same tastes and defend the same opinions? In brave new world it is proved to be impossible.

In fact, there is no new ferment of ideas, no free will. But this is achieved also through repression. In their hypnopedic messages there is one dedicated to books; they must hate books. They have some of them: technical ones, manuals, genetic guides... but literature has died. Avoiding literature, some of the big issues nourishing it also dissapear: «love», «life», «death», «faith». If there is no poetry there will be no thinking about one’s feelings; the same happens with novels: who would find interesting a story when all lead the same lives? For them not to ever think about that, they created the «sensorama»: is like our cinema but instead of just seeing images and stories which makes us feel or think, there are also «real» sensations. It is like a virtual experience. People focus on the feeling and forget everything else, the mind remains passive. They don’t care about the content, for which it has none, but only in the form.

John the Savage reads literature. This makes stonger the contrast existing between his world and the society he has recently come into. This contrast makes repression more evident: if the feelings John has when reading literature were unnatural society won’t have the need of restricting them through subliminal messages, Soma or any other way. because citizens don’t even understand the messages they’ve heard, they just act consequently, which is coherent but never natural.

4. BRAVE NEW WORLD?

They don’t have created a brave new world, they have changed a world which they thought imperfect. And something based on imperfection can never be perfect. The ancient world has not disappeared, like the Indians, family, people ugly, ill, old and imperfect live in a reservation. Perfect people are like the old Americans: they usurped those people’s land, their world, and they are kept apart like a trophy. But what is the use of having them there? : to establish a contrast.

To consider something beautiful has no sense if there is nothing ugly to compare it with, we appreciate more our holidays when we have spent a lot of time working hard, and good needs bad to be so. The same happens with this perfect brave new world. They have achieved the capacity of cloning human beings, they have found the eternal youth secret; then, they don’t need tese old people. They are dangerous, if some citizen spends too much time in contact with them and without soma they can be convinced and converted. They could not avoid the call of nature. This is, then used as another mental strategy. They have little contact with them, they face their ugliness in order to appreciate more their own beauty. If they doubt so and soma doesen’t suffice, this is another mental strategy. Visiting this reservation the hypnopedic messages become reinforced.

As we said before, they also have taboos: religion, love, family; although they are changed: consumerist religion, uninhibited love through sex and collective family: society. There is also discrimination: Bernard Marx is the best case to exemplify this. He is extremely intelligent, but his physical difference and his attitudes make him be set apart from others.

5. CONCLUSION

As we have just explained, people in Huxley’s story have improved the old world and have called it new. We could firmly assure that, if we ever face the situation in which people would extinct (like dinosours did) and after some time things would be done again, we would end exactly the same. Why? because this is our in-born character.

In contrast with brave new worlders, we do know our past. But that has not avoided the fact that we have done the same errors again and again. History repeats itself. So, we cannot expect things in brave new world are going to be otherwise. They do have a world that repeats itself, and it daily does so.

John the savage is called savage according to BNW conceptions, but he thinks the same about them. And both are right. In fact they are very alike. John, at the end, decides he is unable to resist it and, instead of doing something to actually rebel, tohave Lenina’s love, to make things change or to unite poeple in the reservation to begin the world as they once knew again; he decides to kill himself. Thus, BNW wins. He had the power of self-thinking, he knew literature, he had something brave new worlders would never had: the capacity to use their brain. he is intelligent, but feels overwhelmed by this world.

The vision of this sterile and empty happines makes him feel the little faith he still had on human beings, and he quits. Brave New world gives happines a bad name, and Huxley warns us about something: be careful about what you ask for, it can come true.

6. WORKS CITED LIST

Huxley, Aldous. Introduction and study programmes. Brave New World. Essex: LongmanGroup Ltd, 1991.

Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography. Modern Writers 1914-1945. 1991. Volume 6: 186-208, 263.

Ruiz, Ricard. «Ni profetas ni adivinos. Los aciertos y errores de la ciencia ficción». Qué leer. Enero 2000: 34-37.

Seymur-Smith, Martin. Guide to Modern World Literature. Wolfe publishing limited, 1973.

NOTES

1 Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Essex: LongmanGroup Ltd, 1991. All further quotations from Brave New World will refer to this edition and will be identified by page numbers included in the text.

If you have any doubt, comment or suggestion, just e-mail me:

Created: 10-12-99 Updated: 27-12-99