Would it be nice to live in a perfect world? In Aldous Huxley's, Brave New World, they live in a seemingly perfect society. However, is that really what Huxlety intended? To make a perfect society? Or was Brave New World a comical slew against out way of living? The purpose of Brave New World was not to show us the "perfect eutopian society", but rather to reveal to us the rather dystopian society in which we live.
A satire is a form of writing in which the author uses irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to critisize the top he is writing about. This is a way for the author to speak out about his or her opinions without actually stating them. The author's beliefs are displayed in his or her writing in an ironic, comical way, allowing the writer to speak freely and creatively.
Mustapha Mond is the leader of the Brave New World; he keeps society "stabilized" and under control. Why is it then, that he plays "under the table," doing things like encouraging John to read Shakesphere, even though it is forbidden. It is the same in the way that the leaders of today and years before have not always been 100% truthful. Encouraging deals and forbidden and unacceptable acts, show that our leaders, too, don't always follow the rules. Which is a flaw in our society, the people who are in charge of our lives, can't be trusted.
In the World State, conditioning is a normal, everyday thing. They change people into exactly what they want them to be, taking away individuality or creativity. But, is that really much different than our society? In the society of the Brave New World, infants are conditioned to hate books and flowers, this 'condition' is acheaived by sending small, electric shocks to the child whenever it goes near either the books or the flowers, making the infant associate that object with something negative. It is a harsh form of conditioning, but we do something similar with our youth.Parents' condition thier children everyday, criticizing them for something done wrong, and praising them for something positive. The child is taught what's right and wrong in the eyes of their parent's and of society. Even this mild form of conditioning shows us how imperfect we all are.
Soma is a popular and ordinary substance in the Huxley's 'eutopian' society. It provides an escape from daily life, and gives you a feeling od carefree happiness, and euphoria. In this culture, the government provides Soma to the citizens. Soma is like a drug, the people of the World State dependant on it, just as people in reality were becoming dependant on drugs as the years progressed. The society of the World Estate is an extreme exaggeration of the world that had begun to surround Huxley. The government supporting and supplying the Soma is also an exaggeration of how the government in Huxley's time had begun and continues to go downhill.
On the other hand, we have the Savage Reservation, which is the exact opposite of the World Estate. It is filled with cuture, knowledge, literature, and emotion, whereas, the World Estate is structured and confined, and forbids the very things that make us human. For example, a world based solely on lust is hardly a way of life. Culture and learning are forbidden, as well as individuality, it's not a society of people anymore, it becomes a society of conformist robots. However, the Savage Reservation is considered chaotic and reckless. This is a mocking comparison to the world. Where people have freedom and act like "savages" because of that freedom. Huxley is showing us an exaggerated, over the top version of ourselves. Mocking us with the reckless and untamed nature of the people, and comparing society to the chaotic, out of control Savage Reservation.
Huxley makes and proves a point that a eutopia cannot be acheived, it is impossible. And while our society is not completely dyspepsia, it is far from a eutopia. Within this novel, is an inside look at one person's view of the world. We are anything but perfect, but perfection is impossible. Brave New World shows us a loveless, unsettling place, but are we really much better off?
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