Brave New World
A ‘Brave New World’ is a 20th century novel written by Aldous Huxley. It is his fifth novel and the first dystopian work to be written. After the book was released, it was an immediate success and was widely criticized. Huxley later released ‘Brave New World Revisited’ and ‘Island’ to reply to critics. The book covers sleep learning, classical conditioning, psychological manipulation and reproductive technology. He anticipates development in the aforementioned features and how they will lead to a tremendous change in the society. The title of the book is ironical considering that Huxley called the new world brave while he criticizes its new regimes and notes how they will not lead to positive change in the society but rather be detrimental to humanity. For example, he refers to babies that are reproduced through artificial fertilization as decanted and not born. The book further explores the above-mentioned topics while making emphasis on the negative impact of the new world that is considered brave. The actions of bravery are not brave to the author. This paper aims to critic the book on the need to make a human commitment or renounce a course of action. Human beings need to renounce a course of action that has detrimental effects on the society (Huxley, 2006).
In an attempt to create a utopian society, the characters in the novel go overboard and the things they eliminate may be necessary in future. Reproductive technologies are used to create people with different levels of intelligence and varied positions in the world. In this new world, children are born in test tubes and they are conditioned using various reproductive technologies to create a desired society. Bokanovsky Process and Hypnopaedic conditioning are used to control the newborns. The focus is on happiness and stability. Emotions such as pain and sorrow are eliminated from the new world. This is impossible to achieve. Men are acting as demi-gods and aim to create people that are programmed and well cultured yet they cannot control their thoughts and actions. For instance, Lenina and Henry Forster who are both participate in creating the reproductive embryos yet they cannot control their feelings towards each other. It makes no sense for a human being to try to create something they do not have control over (Huxley, 2006). To add on this, Bernard’s senior director wants to exile him in the Iceland due to his anti-social behavior; the director is one of the spear headers of the project that aims to create humans who do not have feelings, cannot relate to their fellow humans and who do not have strong emotions. The characters want to do things within their power to seek happiness yet the truth is they do not have control over their own situations.
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The word brave infers to a person who is bold and ready to face any challenges that are presented to them. Inasmuch as the new world promises serenity and happiness, the people in it seem not to have it. They are not brave enough to face their challenges this makes them scared of their emotions. Take an example of the people who are too scared to face their challenges and any negativity they face. They have regular doses of soma; known as ‘soma ration’ to eliminate negativity and forget about the troubles they have. If the people created are indeed fearless and brave, they would not use stimulants to intoxicate themselves. To add on this, Linda takes too much of the substance that causes her death; the soma that is supposed to create serenity is the one that is used to bring harm. Lenina has strong sexual feelings towards John and she uses soma to boost her courage to face him. John is not interested in her and this makes her more frustrated. The fact that she desires a human being that she has not created is ironical. She takes part in creating test tube babies and assists to make them adaptable to their environment. She has no control of her emotions and they seem to be taking a toll on her. Soma is used to mask the realities of the present and replace them with happy hallucinations; it is a tool for social sustainability. This makes people happy and ignorant; the World State believes that people are much happier when they live ignoring the truth. On the other hand, John eventually gets tired of the World States and stays in a lighthouse in the countryside; out of the World State to self-flagellate. He feels polluted by the ideologies of the new world and does not understand how people can allow the state to control their lives. Curious citizens of the World State follow John to the countryside and force him to participate in an orgy, which he regrets the next day. Overwhelmed by his anger and sadness, he ends his life since he cannot live with the fact that he submitted to the ways of the World State (Huxley, 2006).
Looking at the events that have transpired in the story, one can see that man’s attempt to create utopia in the world have been met with challenges beyond what they can handle. One can comfortably dismiss the fact that utopia can be achieved in the world and live by the truths and the realities that make us human. The author’s title is contrary to what is depicted in the story. The characters in the novel are scared to face the realities they have and they try to hide them by running away from the truth. Furthermore, the characters are struggling to overcome the same things they desire to change. According to the World State, the harmonious world created is supposed to have people who are brave and not scared to face the realities in life. In real sense, the changes have not been achieved. This can be seen by the fact that the citizens of the World State pried into the life of John when he ran away to seek peace in the countryside. Had they been happy with their world, they would have not bothered to disturb John. They would have embraced the happiness in their ideal world and sort for ways to improve their lives.
In conclusion, it can be clearly seen that the attempts of man to create a balanced and harmonious world cannot be achieved. Despite the technologies that are existent and the wonders they can achieve; man has to live with the realities in life and face the fact that they do not have the power to change the world and make it fit their terms. All attempts to make the World State a better place were faced with challenges and in any case, the world made is more unbalanced. With this in mind, human beings need to renounce a course of action that has detrimental effects on the society. A man uses his or her brain to see things from their view; it takes a supernatural force to make things run smoothly in the world. To add on this, man only has control over a few things and cannot control huge events such as the rotation of the earth and control the seasons and timings in the world. All one needs to do is to appreciate what they have and use technology to make their lives better and not necessarily trying to change the course of nature.
Reference
Huxley, A. (2006). Brave New World . New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
