...The Life and Death of Aldous Huxley Through examining Brave New World, one can infer that Aldous Huxley’s fears of the demise of today’s consumer society, rise in use of technology, and reliance on religion entitled him to express his concerns. From his experiences in Italy under an authoritarian government headed by Mussolini to his late life in California, Mr. Huxley always, “played the role of a critical observer of accepted tradition, customs, social norms, and ideals.”(www.egs.com) Aldous Huxley was born July 26, 1894 in Godalming in southern England into a very successful and scientific family. His father was a school teacher/writer, two of his three brothers were scientist, and his grandfather had been nicknamed “Darwin’s Bulldog”...
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...Brave new world Brave New World is an example of a perfect world. The people of this Utopic society live in a world that is free social-economic challenges. In totalitarianism society most spheres of life are controlled. For instance, population, social class, and even intellectual capability. History is directed and controlled to suit the aspiration of the state. However, a critical analysis of totalitarianism nothing of the sort. The application of specific social orientation and the use anti-depressant drugs have significantly solved the challenges faced by people in modern societies. It is prudent to note that poverty, class rivalry and overpopulation is perfected at the costs of individuality and with that their humanity. The people depicted by "brave new world" are oriented towards the needs of the state. Individual expression is squashed since everybody is conditioned to think alike. Brave New World is a book presenting a future society that looks more realistic and less brave at people’s social values turn more materialistic and as the faith in God diminishes slowly as is it replaced by technology. This book is meant to enhance human awareness of the terrifying future. The diversity of social operation within a society is controlled by the creation of social class. In order to maintain social stability, totalitarianism system uses various techniques of social control. After birth each person is taken through a process of conditioning...
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...described by Huxley in “Brave New World,” and not the world described in Orwell’s “1984.” He does an excellent job proving facts and disturbing anecdotes, but he lacks showing the audience an opposing viewpoint. Despite this he is able to clearly show is agreement, by proving emotion supported by fact. Postman is able to connect with his audience through his credentials. The student feels that Postman shows a dangerous path that American Culture may be on, and is able to provide a warning to those who listen to his speech. Analysis of Neal Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” “What is dangerous about television is not it’s junk. Every culture can absorb a fair amount of junk, and, in any case, we do not judge a culture by its junk but by how it conducts its serious public business. What is happening in America is that television is transforming all serious public business into junk.” (Postman, 1984, p. 2) In his speech, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," Neil Postman, Columbia University graduate, and one time chair of the Department of Culture and Communication, made the point that American culture is headed for a culture like that described in Adlus Huxley's "Brave New World," and not the culture described in George Orwell's, "1984." He described the world imagined in 1984 as a place where there were no books, and where the people are prisoners to the government that controls them. In contrast, Mr. Postman describes the culture in "Brave New World," by saying that there...
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...Analysing Dystopia in a “Brave New World” The concept of Dystopia in literature is a form of exploring various interpretations of a different world. Specifically, a dystopian text explores a domain in which a society and way of life may seem ideal (Utopia), yet within the text it is later revealed that the society remain mentally unprepared and incapable of sustaining order in their world. Most dystopian texts illustrate a world which has been resulted in the consequence of humanity and this is one of the main reasons it is regularly visited. It is a genre in which the dystopian texts frequently challenge the views and values of their current audiences. This is because they are judged and critiqued on their depiction of scenes and events that breach sensitive moral and ethical issues. What makes the genre so fascinating both to read and write is to remind ourselves of the capabilities of humanity and just how much we can impact a hypothetical world. It is also a way in which we can ponder the extremes we as a society can reach and reflect the possibilities of the very future of the human race. Another reason why the concept intrigues us is because dystopian texts are subconsciously thought to be renditions of hell. With Utopia being the impression of heaven or an ideal world, Dystopia corresponds as the opposite. These ideas are explored in Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian piece “Brave New World” [1932]. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is considered a dystopian text due...
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...If Brave New World was Aldous Huxley's technocratic purgatory, Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four describes a hell beyond Huxley's worst fears. Compare and contrast the two novels as visions of a future that has gone dramatically wrong. Brave New World and 1984 were both written by men who had experienced war on the grand scale of the twentieth century. Disillusioned and alarmed by what they saw in society, each author produced a powerful satire and an alarming vision of future possibilities. Although the two books are very different, they address many of the same issues in their contrasting ways. Huxley's novel sets out a world in which society is kept carefully balanced, with the means of reproduction just as closely controlled as the means of production. Human beings and the goods they make are tailored to one another: people are created in order to fulfil particular purposes, and are encouraged to consume so as to maintain the cycle. The society presented in 1984 is less comfortably balanced. The population is kept content with a rather meagre lot because of the constant war, which, as is explicitly stated in the Book, is a convenient means of maintaining the status quo, and the Party keeps a very close watch on those members of society who are deemed capable of disrupting it. Although set in Orwell's future, 1984 does not put great emphasis on technological advance—indeed, within the society of Oceania, there is effectively none any more, because the methods required for...
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...Communism. This word is seen as an evil in American society, a plague that must be eradicated. Throughout history, it has struck fear into the American people. Such anxiety can be seen in the film Brave New World (1980), directed by Burt Brinckerhoff. The movie was not only an adoption of the text, but also a social commentary of what was occurring at the time. During this period, the Vietnam War was being fought and the United States thought that if Vietnam were to become a communist country, all of Asia would soon follow. The movie was a manifestation of the terror that was sweeping across the nation as people were uncertain whether or not they would wake up tomorrow and see that they are under the control of the Soviet Union. The film illustrates what was happening at the time, and what would happen if the USSR had won the war and the world had fallen under the rule of communism. In Brave New World, everyone had a function from the Epsilons to the Alphas. This is similar to how in a communist system, everyone has a role and serves a purpose, and if this service were not to be met, then those in power would take...
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...Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain but death and taxes. However, this humorous statement is incorrect. In addition to the aforementioned ideas of death and taxes, there is also another absolute: crisis. No human can live, or even has to option to live, a life void of problems and difficulties. Misfortune is inevitable at one point or another. Even in the realm of fiction, a seemingly perfect world is often anything but. Every utopia has its flaws and cracks, and few novels make this point more clearly than Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The futuristic setting of the story exposes the reader to a world dominated by technology and complacency. People are no longer born; they are made in laboratories all around the world, and have their destinies chosen for them before they even leave their test tube. Sexuality is treated in a very flippant manner, and self-gratification is the primary driving force for the actions of nearly every single person. History is no longer relevant, and people never question what they are told. The key question regarding the nature of this kind of world is a question to which the answer is yet unknown. The question is something any reader of this novel should ask himself or herself, and that is simply this: Is it worth it? There is no crime rate, and peoples’ desires are rarely left unfulfilled, but is it worth the giving up of free will and of choice? There is no clear answer to this question, and there will likely never be one. ...
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...“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity…The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Like that void in the “Brave new world”, history die away, and future never came. What’s left is nothing but few pieces of meat. What’s left is nothing but “vanity”. Yes, that “Brave new world” don’t have any past; they have been destroy in those “necessary” violence. They won’t have any future; they strangle it right in the swaddling clothes with “stability”. They don’t even have “now”, because what’s happening is just an endless void. But our world don’t. We still have something “meaningful’. We have our past, now and future....
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...Savannah Morris Faris Honors English IV 09 January 2015 A Maggot-Less World A Utopia is an imaginative place that is beautiful in every aspect and is the author’s perspective of a “perfect society”. Aldous Huxley creates this Utopia in his novel, “Island”. He creates a perfect society with limited technology and a union of all people to work together. Huxley creates this Utopia during a time period of corruption and new discoveries. As the nation enters the literary time period of “the beat period”, Huxley's unconscious idea of a Utopian society is displayed uncensored in “Island” as opposed to “Brave New World” and he provides his personal solution to the world’s problems. In “Island” by Aldous Huxley the main character, Will Farnaby,...
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...Without the structure civilization provides, mankind naturally drifts toward disorder. When the rules of everyday society go away, people can give in to their deepest and darkest desires without thought of consequences. In the 20th century novels Brave New World and Lord of the Flies, Aldous Huxley and William Golding use the martyr archetype to show how civilization controls human evil. Without civilization, humans gravitate towards violence and chaos. The presence of a structural society limits the brutality of humans. In Brave New World, Huxley utilizes the martyr archetype John Savage to show the controlling nature of civilization. When John questions how humans can show heroism in such a deeply regulated world, Mustapha Mond tells him...
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...In this human society we are being controlled by our pleasures and our fears. In fact there are three aspects that are created in our minds, which are desire, fear, and ignorance. Yet, what ignorance? Therefore, were so involved with our desires and fears, we become distracted and therefore we ignore the powerful and natural qualities. According to the article, “Amusing Ourselves To Death” the author Neil Postman’s view states that Aldous Huxley’s stark vision of the future depicted in “Brave New World” is more accurate than the novel 1984 by George Orwell. As technology invests, there is more and more of a tendency towards distractions and fascination with self. I stand in strong agreement with Postman’s statement. It is intriguing how two...
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...At the time of Linda’s death, Huxley satirizes the loss of any knowledge of God. When the Bokanovsky group is observing John mourning over his mother, John says, “Oh, God, God, God…” (Huxley, 207). One of the children said, “Whatever is he saying?” (Huxley, 207) One possible interpretation is that the child may be confused by ‘God’ because society has no tragedy. John is saying ‘God’ because his mother had passed and God is the only thing that came to mind. Huxley is satirizing the fact that the child has no idea what God is, society had never taught anybody about God because it is not needed. Whereas in past years or in different parts of the world, many people and religions worship a ‘God’,to turn to for guidance or other needs. When John...
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...After the year 1984 passed the world breathed a sigh of relief that Orwell’s prophecy of oppression by government or a “big brother” did not come true. In 1985 Neil Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death in which he describes a takeover of a passive society using Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World as the prophecy. Postman describes imminent death by comparing Orwellian fears to those of Huxley’s: “We had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing…What Orwell feared were those who ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy…In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World they are controlled by inflicting pleasure” (vii). With entertainment and technology surrounding the population everyday...
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...things.” He persists that happiness only comes when one is free from materialistic desire.. The monk also suggests suffering is crucial to perceive true happiness. Brave New World embodies the same concept, does true happiness exist without suffering? Aldous Huxley purposed soma to be the object that eliminates suffering and, consequently, the characters think they are happy due to soma and conditioning. In the consumer utopia of Brave New World, citizens are conditioned to be happy, but do not experience true happiness because they are not willing defy the utopia, are not suffering, and are not liberated from soma. Defying the utopia is not in the best interest of the citizen considering genetically breeding requires little to replace them, but they are conditioned to believe they are in the best situation. “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” (Huxley 234). In chapter two, the Director used a mild-electric shock to condition the children to not like books. If the children would have not been shocked, they would...
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...The novel A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was a story written about society that was thought to be a utopia, but in actuality this twisted world was anything from perfect. The society Huxley portrayed in his novel was in some ways a Marxists dream and in other ways a Marxists worst nightmare. Aldous Huxley did a brilliant job connecting with the Marxist point of view while also embodying numerous fears of Marxists in his critically acclaimed book A Brave New World. Marxists believed in a totalitarian government somewhat like a dictatorship. The government in Huxley’s novel used tactics such as adolescent brainwashing, drug administration, and the use of technology to keep total control of the public population. Much like Marxist societies the society in Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World chose to alienate their young instead of nurture them like a normal world. Children in this novel were alienated at an early age, they were also trained to hate nature and music or anything that promoted any type of free will. Children were not raised by a mother and father because in the World State there was no such thing as marriage or even love. In Marxist cultures children were separated from their parents and taught to formulate their view of the world based on only Marxist teachings rather than “outdated” views. In a Marxist society the upbringing of children was not handled by parents but rather by the entire community so there were such things as family bonds in Marxism. Marxist...
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