Literary Analysis Essay on Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Introduction

Brave New World as brought about by Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel brings about a reflection of the modern society which is dominated by the human-centered vision coupled with selfish, and a consumer society led by technology. Written in the times when the society was filled with disparities ranging from the first world war, the flu virus and the wall street crash which resulted in massive deaths. However, science promised a better life and a ray of hope in changing the world by eliminating diseases and guaranteeing a drudgery and poverty free society. The modern society is full of the ideas brought about by in Huxley's work which include the emergence of the elite groups controlling the low-income majorities. The dystopian society tends to paint an image of a community with crushed human emotions and dissent. A modest evaluation of the dystopian society presented in the modern as a futuristic prophecy of the work of Aldous Huxley will be presented in this paper. Additionally, arguments towards the impact of technology and another significant impact of science on the establishment of a dystopian society in the modern age as predicted in the novel. This paper brings out a modest and detailed comparison of the Brave New World to the futuristic prophesied modern world.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Impact of Technology and Science on Control and Social Roles

The novel Brave-New World points out the need for crushing the human emotions and dissent in eliminating the suffering and painful events in the society, however, this is unlike the modern society. Science and technology have been used in improving the quality of life as well as impacting on the social roles of different individuals. The dystopian society prophesied by Huxley remains in shadow. The big question is, Why should there be no pain and bad emotions? Sometimes human beings need to feel the pain and bad feelings. This does not entirely rule out the viability of society. The society needs to be in a balance of the emotional feelings with the technology applied in streamlining the medical outcomes.

Relevance of Huxley's Work to the 21st-Century Society

Underscoring the relevance of Huxley's work to the 21st-century society is challenging based on the problems that afflict society. Huxley predicted how technology would impact on control of the elites can result in controlled decision making with the social media, pornography, sex commercialization, reality TV and advertisement (Dacre). Additionally, Huxley presented the case of ubiquitous drug prevalence encompassing both legal and illegal drugs. Sedation of children due to the increase in growth of children is another case scenario outlined along with genetic engineering, euthanasia, corruption in top sports as well as national lottery were part of the futuristic nightmares described by Huxley. "Pilkington, at Mombasa, had produced individuals who were sexually mature at four and full-grown at six and a half." Based on this argument, genetic engineering was poised to bring about species with no equivalent value to their natural counterparts. The case is very evident in the modern world with the dominance of genetically modified species. Human being modification is yet to be achieved even though genetic engineering has proved a success in some other areas such as agriculture (Dacre). Cloning has been a success with animal breeding and showing to come up with better breeds. The issue of designer babies and the production of genetically modified food is common in the modern world which significantly equates the Brave New World to the 21st-century society.

Comparison of Consumption in Brave New World and the Modern World

A comparison of the consumption aspect in the Brave New World and the 21st-century world describes consumption as a significant aspect that runs the economic system. The Brave New World's citizens conditioning was through hypnopaedic teaching which advocates for behavior that supports consumption. The citizens are encouraged to throw things away rather than repairing them. The supply and demand are manipulated since throwing away of the old or worn out items calls for new products which should be met by the manufacturers. "The more stitches, the less the riches..." (Huxley 130). This is the phrase used in teaching the young members of the society which implies that more repairs limit the buying scale and therefore reduces the economic circulation of the products. As per the Brave New World's consumerism impacts on the routine of the employee in charge of production and drives them away from disruptive behavior. However, the citizens are manipulated to buy goods as there lacks a real market as their demands are not their particular intentions. Sporting activities with minimal application of sports items are eliminated in the society since they do not advocate for consumerism and consumption of goods manufactured.

"We condition the masses to hate the country," concluded the Director in the Brave New World. "But simultaneously we condition them to love all country sports. At the same time, we see to it that all country sports shall entail the use of elaborate apparatus. So that they consume manufactured articles as well as transport. Hence those electric shocks." (Huxley 24).

Similar to the Brave New World, the modern world with the technological innovation along with industrial revolution has impacted on advertisement and high production level which calls for constant consumption. As opposed to the Brave New World' the modern world is not manipulated into consumption as citizens are allowed time to make their own decisions with regards to consumption (Manning).

Sex has been depicted as an independent entity away from love and childbearing. Sex is entirely for fun, and therefore children are encouraged to start exploring the sexual activities as early as six or seven years.

"For a very long period before the time of Our Ford, and even for some generations afterwards, erotic play between children had been regarded as abnormal (there was a roar of laughter); and not only abnormal, actually immoral (no!): and had therefore been rigorously suppressed... Poor little kids not allowed to amuse themselves? They could not believe it" (Huxley 34).

Sex and Relationships in Brave New World and the 21st-Century Society

Sex is purely for physical pleasure and not emotional intimacy of falling in love which people are opposed. Childbirth entails baby's decantation in hatcheries where life is genetically improvised. In avoiding pregnancies, women use abortion and birth control. Similarly, in the 21st century, sex is seen across the society with young children recording loss of virginity at tender ages and higher cases of teenage pregnancies reported across society. Sex in older people is purely for fun and entertainment as it is limited to pleasure rather than procreation. Similar to the dystopian society, the 21st-century also promotes the sexual scenes depicted in the Brave New World. The colleges and campuses have a wide variety of sexual acts with the hook-up culture dominant in the modern school system. Additionally, young children record experiences of sex, pregnancies, and abortions from resulting sexual acts. Furthermore, sex is considered a normal thing with people reporting "one-night stands" and "friends with benefits" which are phrases used to refer to one-time interaction and friends with sexual benefits only without attachment and affection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the futuristic prophesy presented in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World highlight some of the common things in the modern society ranging from the consumption, sexual desire and the presentation of the genetically modified organisms. The dystopian society painted by Huxley cites technological advancements as well as the impact of science on the society as the major turning points in the society. The perception of sexual activities, designer babies decanted in labs and consumerism pattern highlights the beliefs and attributes of the society on various prevailing conditions. The dystopian society pointed out is however very close to the 21st century. Huxley's dystopian society is perceived as a prophecy of the modern world.

Works Cited

Dacre, James. "James Dacre: Are We Living Brave New World's Nightmare Future?". The Guardian, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/sep/18/james-dacre-brave-new-world-theatre-dramatisation-aldous-huxley-nightmare-future.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave new world. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2008.

Manning, Jennifer. "Sex On Campus: It's A Brave New World | Newbostonpost". Newbostonpost.Com, 2016, https://newbostonpost.com/2016/02/11/sex-on-campus-its-a-brave-new-world/.