Brave New World - Literary Critique
Uploaded by Matt653962 on Mar 13, 2007
The Brave New World of Technology
When thinking of progress, most people think of advances in the scientific fields, believing that most discoveries and technologies are beneficial to society. Are these advances as beneficial as most people think? Brave New World presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. Yet humor was not the intention of Aldous Huxley when he wrote the book in the early 1930's. Indeed Huxley’s real message is very dark. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people’s freedom, is not new. In fact there are many books dedicated to this topic. What makes Huxley’s interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in this oppressive government, but embraces it like mindless robots. Although the book was written long ago, its subject has become more popular since most of the technologies described in the book have, at least, partially, become a reality.
The novel takes us to a place called the World State, where using technology, the government eliminates unhappiness to produce contented and effective workers. "Men will come to be valued more and more, not as individuals, but as personified social functions" (85). From birth, people are split into six social classes that determine their futures. The government then conditions them to conform to its needs. Using hypnotism, electric shock treatment and other methods of behavior modification, babies are conditioned to fit the state's ideals. Literature is banned because it may make people think and detract from their work. People are encouraged to be promiscuous and impersonal and families and close relationships are frowned upon because they can cause pain. When individuals are unhappy they take a drug called 'soma' to remove their unhappiness.
In Brave New World, Huxley describes to us a world as a futuristic society designed by genetic engineering, and controlled by neural conditioning with mind-altering drugs and a manipulative media system. In Mario Varricchio’s article about Brave New World his main argument is that the visual element is a main factor in the process of social control. In my opinion, the theme of Brave New World has much more to do than the power of images, but rather more to do with the advancement of technology and its influence among societies.
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