Our "Brave New World"

In 1932 Aldous Huxley published a novel called Brave New World that spoke of a dystopian future based on control through over-stimulation. Huxley wrote almost 20 years later about how his novel was self-fulfilling prophecy. He stated his fears that his dystopian future was approaching far more quickly than he had at first speculated. This fear was well grounded. “He outlined the issues that seemed urgent at the time: overpopulation; the excessive organization of society; propaganda, the chemistry of brainwashing; and so forth” (Clute 91) The world in the novel is a frightening place lacking any emotion beyond those of lust and selfish desire. If we look around us now we see that his world is almost completely around us now. Huxley's novel is steadily becoming our present and not so much our future anymore.

There is a caste system in Brave New World kept in check by conditioning and growth tampering of the unborn children. People in this world are decanted on assembly lines and grown in hatcheries. Huxley vividly tells the methods of “decanting” humans or “mass-producing” (62) them as William Matter so aptly states it. In one such description Huxley purposefully creates an image of an industrial assembly line, “The bulging flanks of row on receding row and tier above tier of bottles” (Huxley 10) each bottle containing an embryo. The highest caste is allowed to mature fully and unhindered while the descending castes are chemically altered to be shorter with inhibited brain function. The castes are than conditioned through various methods to believe they are superior to the other castes. Beyond the differences of the castes there is very little individuality even in appearance. “Individuality must be repressed because it invites a malleable social structure” (Matter 62)

A rift in the castes can easily be seen in today’s society. Our station in society, in most cases, is based on our mental finesse and our physical appearance. There are two persons applying for a certain position in life. One is strong and clean looking, while the other is small and disheveled in appearance this one though is slightly more qualified than the other. In a logical situation the one more qualified would of course be chosen, but in our world this is not always the case. The one that is better looking and more attractive, nine out of ten times will get the position over the less good looking one. The way that we will treat another person is based a lot on how they appear to us. We will be far more likely to be friendly to someone that is clean than someone that is filthy even though the more filthy person in some cases may be a better person. It seems an unspoken caste system exists in our society. Not only are we being conditioned to look down on others less fortunate, but we are being conditioned to want “things.”

People in A Brave New World are conditioned to think that to have a good time it must be purchased. Phrases such as "ending is better than mending" (Huxley) incessantly bombard the people throughout there lives. Any activity in the novel requires many parts and many things to be purchased. Constant consumption is the norm. It is readily apparent that this concept of constant consumption is not limited only to the fantasy world. Constant consumption is the norm of our world also. We always need more “stuff”. Stuff fits perfectly here because that's really all it, is stuff. Stuff, that after most people buy they will use once, if at all, until it goes out of style and they think it needs to replace it. This desire to consume mindlessly did not come about on it's own. It has stemmed from the constant bombardment of advertising that we receive every minute of every day

When we do anything from walk down the street to browse the internet we are under constant assault to buy something. This constant bombardment seems menial and a mere nuisance to us, but little do we know that this constancy is influencing the way we think. The ads present the idea that our lives will somehow be improved by purchasing the product they are representing. They present the illusion that they can provide us with the things that matter in life. We have been conditioned to believe that we need to consume in order to find happiness and to fit in. The ads themselves do not control our thoughts, but they greatly influence the way that we think.

The platitude of “ ending is better than mending” seems to have become the norm these days. At the slightest sign of wear most people will go and buy a completely new product never considering to patch or fix. At the slightest defect they may simply toss out the product or return it even if the defect had no affect on the performance of the product. This idea that “ending is better than mending” has led to extreme wastefulness and disregard for possessions. With constant consumption being a norm most hold little or no value for their possessions thinking that they can just replace them later or get a newer, better version. This mental stigma has developed mostly from the conditioning we receive through the media machine. Could this loss of value for material possessions lead to a loss of value in relationships with other humans?

In A Brave New World recreational sex is encouraged, but dating exclusively is considered bad and carries such a stigma that the citizens avoid it in casual conversation. The characters in the book speak about how many people they have been with sexually and compare the numbers as if it were a competition. They reduce what should be an intimate relationship with the opposite sex to a simple recreational activity on the same level as things such as golf or reading a book. Vaginal birth is seen as disgusting as are “the appalling dangers of family life,” (Huxley) so those who are not born infertile are conditioned to go through a regular routine of contraceptives. All children, as aforementioned, are “decanted.” Sex becomes an activity based solely on pleasure and not procreation. This is the norm of our world now. People will engage in intercourse with any willing person. They can be complete strangers with no common ground beyond the animistic desire to have sex. These individuals engaging in this activity, as it's debasingly called now, do not want any children so as a routine the women takes a contraceptive in the morning. People have been conditioned to follow this routine. The cycle then continues with each person trying to sleep with as many people as they can.

In the nineties it was considered debase and wrong to sleep with strangers. It has only recently happened that casual sex has become appropriate and the social norm. A major factor leading to casual sex being appropriate has stemmed from the media. Most anything these days of pop culture will have some sexual reference, and it will almost always be casual sex. It's not only mentioning, but condoning and encouraging casual sex. In the world of the novel “everyone belongs to everyone” (Huxley) it seems that this has become the mindset of the world now as well. This idea of casual sex is destroying the strength of relationships that we can have with members of the opposite sex. Sex in a relationship is meant to build and strengthen the relationship. When sex has been reduced to a simple activity it loses any sort of strengthening value it may have had on the relationship, because neither holds intercourse in high regard. At one point in Brave New World a set of workers “discuss the need to become more promiscuous in order to be seen as conventional” (Nance 98) Couples used to have sex out of love for one another and this engagement of coitus strengthened their love for one another. Now that sex has lost this bond strengthening attribute it seems have began to reduce our relationships with others. Many people now simply try to engage in a weak temporary relationship to engage in intercourse. We, in a way, have industrialized sex and made it in to a product to be consumed and tossed carelessly aside when we have had our fill.

The main theme of A Brave New World is to show what separates humans from animals. The people in the novels have become mindless consumers. They consume everything without any thought behind it. If it is presented to them they will take it with no thought. When they want or desire something they will obtain it without a thought. This trend is common in another aspect of mother nature and that is animals. Animals do everything without thought they mindless consume the things around them. When they have a desire they will act upon it without any awareness to how it may affect them or their environment, they simply know it is what they want. The line that divides humans from animals is that of consciousness and awareness, commonly called sentience. Sentience is described by the Merriam-Websters Dictionary as being “aware.” Animals are not aware, but arguably neither are the people of Huxley's world. Each person will do whatever it takes to gain the most pleasure, with complete disregard to their environment. It is not that the people are mean or cruel it is simply that they have become unaware of their actions and their consequences. The people in Huxley's world have been reduced to animals. They exhibit all the characteristics of animals, engaging in sexual activity on any desire, consuming the things around them with disregard to their environment, no understanding of relationship, no real logical thought process or decision-making skills. They all simply act on desire. William Matter in an essay on Brave New World refers to the peoples over stimulation as “mindless diversions [that] garishly mask the loss of the individual's right to feel.” (61) Our ability and “right” to feel is another thing that separates us from animals. It can be debated that animals do feel some amount of emotions, but not near the same level of complexity that we feel them. In forfeiting our emotions we are forfeiting our humanity. The people of the world now may not be as an extreme case as those in Huxley's but they come frighteningly close.

The world today has become focused on instant gratification. Now sure this may sound nice that we can get most everything instantly, but this can be a bad thing because it removes the amount of time that would previously be used to think logically and make a decision based on appropriate pros and cons. When we have a desire now, we will act instantly on it knowing that we will receive the gratification sought almost instantly. We have begun to think less of the consequences of our decisions. We have become less aware, less sentient. We have been conditioned by the media to expect instant gratification at all times. A character in Brave New World giving a speech to some young men of the society commented perfectly saying “Have any of you been compelled to live through a long time-interval between the consciousness of a desire and it's fulfillment?” (Huxley 52) Sadly if asked that now many if not all could answer no. There is almost no delay time from the desire to the fulfillment, the gratification. It used to be that if we wanted something we would have to work for it and go through certain hoops to get it but now if we want something all we have to do is swipe our credit cards and screen our calls. When we want something we want it now not tomorrow and definitely not a week later.

When we receive things instantly with little or no work it will almost always hold far less value than something that we worked rigorously to obtain. It is just human nature that when someone works hard and obtains something through the sweat of his labor he will appreciate and put a much higher value on that object than something that was obtained for free. Since we receive almost everything instantly it has begun to lower our appreciation for the items. They were obtained with little or no work therefore they hold little or no value to the owner.

When by some chance a person in Huxley's novel becomes any bit less than overstimulated, for it can not be called happiness, “They could always escape from reality very easily by the use” (Brander 72) of a readily distributed drug called Soma which takes the user away into bliss. These drugs are readily available to anyone and prescribed by everyone for any dilemma. The people are dependent on their soma because they are inexperienced with any emotions beyond that of pleasure and can not deal with others. They use soma as a coping mechanism. This a idea of a drug for everything is common in our society as well, antidepressants and alcohol. If anyone has any such sadness they are instantly prescribed an antidepressant. Antidepressants seem to be the cure-all, an answer to everything these days. It has merely become an easy way out. “The people were always in a state of euphoria because the human spirit had been prisoned and confined in a perfectly conditioned cadaver” (Brander 73) Now albeit their may be those that require such drugs to function with any semblance of normal, but this is not the case for most prescribed on antidepressants.

For those who cannot obtain antidepressants there is alcohol. Alcohol is the most readily available and encouraged drug out there. It can be obtained almost anywhere at anytime. It has become the norm for anyone who is down in spirits to drink away their pain. It has been conditioned in our brains that this is the right and appropriate thing to do. It is smattered all over the media that drinking is the thing to do, that it is the way to escape and have a good time. This is the same concept as soma in A Brave New World. It has become our coping mechanism. We have begun to loose the desire and ability to deal with any trials that are placed before us because we have decided why waste the time and energy when we can just run away from it with consuming more.

In a speech given soon after the publication of Brave New World he stated “The contemporary lifestyle is frankly disgusting”. (Huxely) Huxley had a knack for being blunt and speaking it how he felt it. He saw this “disgusting” way of life as an infirmary and step back for society. If Huxley felt strongly about what was happening then it seems safe to say that he would be completely astounded at the state of the human condition today, but not surprised because this is exactly what he prophesied, almost word for word. We as humans need to regain our awareness and regain our humanity. Without our humanity all our progress and success will count for naught.

Works Cited

Brander, Laurence. “Aldous Huxley: A Critical Study.” Readings on Brave New World. Ed. Koster, Katie de. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc 1999. 70-76. Print.

Clute, John. “When the Wheel Stops” Readings on Brave New World. Ed. Koster, Katie de. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc 1999. 91-95. Print.

Huxley,Aldous. A Brave New World. Chatto and Windus. 1932. Print

Huxley, Aldous. “A Defence of the Intellect.” International Inst. of Intellectual Co-operation. Paris, France. 16-18 Oct. 1933. Lecture.

Matter, William. “On a Brave New World” Readings on Brave New World. Ed. Koster, Katie de. Sandiego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc 1999. 61-69. Print.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. November 29, 2010.

Nance,Guinevera A. “Aldous Huxley” Readings on Brave New World. Ed. Koster, Katie de. Sandiego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc 1999. 97-105. Print.