...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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...told you that no one would mourn your death? Throughout Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, the reader is shown scientific processes that are used to create the objectively “happy” individuals that the book follows, Lenina and Fanny. One such process of this nature is “death conditioning,” where the children are discouraged to care about or even remember the deceased. We see such a distinct sense of apathy in the New World of the novel, so much so that when John The Savage sees his mother die, he is labeled as a freak and a monster. This constant apathy is used to show Huxley’s concern for the present day world and comment on the nonsensical way society handles death. Because of this, Brave New World is written...
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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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...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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...An ideal world is usually characterised as a place of perfection, a place where there is limited conflict and violence, less control from governments and higher organisational and corporate powers and where the environment reflects the residents carefree and untroubled nature. Utopias represent the ideal life, where individuals can escape from their real life, and envisage what it would be like to live in this perfect world. Aldous Huxley, although representing an ideal world in Brave New World (1932), displays the adverse connotations of creating ideal worlds, with relation to problems of post World War I period. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change within himself and society, which also...
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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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...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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...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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...Both Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell's 1984 predict similar totalitarian government styles for the near future of mankind. These novels portray excessive control and oppression from the government to their people. The protagonists from these novels, John the Savage (John) and Winston Smith, are outcasts from the totalitarian society. Their contributions to these books offer incredible insight to the horrors and seemingly helpless rebellion against an oppressive world state. John is Huxley’s protagonist who enters the story a little later than in normal stories in Brave New World. John was born in a exiled reserve outside of the mainstream world state. He grew up fully acknowledging that he is an outcast and shows that he wants to embrace...
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...Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts. Aldous Huxley was a humanist and pacifist, and he was latterly interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism. He is also well known for advocating and taking psychedelics. By the end of his life Huxley was considered, in some academic circles, a leader of modern thought and an intellectual of the highest rank, and highly regarded as one of the most prominent explorers of Visual communication and sight-related theories as well Biography Early years Family tree Aldous Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, UK in 1894. He was the third son of the writer and school-master Leonard Huxley and first wife, Julia Arnold who founded Prior's Field School. Julia was the niece of Matthew Arnold and the sister of Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Aldous was the grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley, the zoologist, agnostic and controversialist ("Darwin's Bulldog"). His brother Julian Huxley and half-brother Andrew Huxley also became outstanding biologists. Huxley had another brother Noel Trevenen (1891–1914) who committed suicide after a...
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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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...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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...Amusing Ourselves to Death - Paper November 11, 2012 Amusing Ourselves to Death – Paper “At different times in our history, different cities have been the focal point of radiating American Spirit.” This is how Neil Postman begins his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. He opens the book by discussing how different cities have represented the core values and focus of our nation at that time. The first example he used was Boston. At the beginning of America’s split from England, the spirit of our country was rooted in the patriotism of Boston. Acts that motivated the nation, such as the Boston Tea Party, are examples of the truth of this statement. Today, however, Postman says that we are represented by the nature of the city of Las Vegas. Pictures of huge slot machines and promiscuous women fill our mind at the thought of Las Vegas. These pictures represent how our main focus and goal in life has shifted toward entertainment. We must be entertained at all times. This attitude has effected many areas of society such as; religion, politics, news, and education. Postman, however, looks simply at how television has played a vital role in this cultural transformation in these areas. He discusses how, through television, our society has propelled itself into, “the age of show business.” I agree with Postman’s view on how television has turned our culture into one that is centered on entertainment. Postman’s main thesis is...
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...eventually deteriorate, they had contrasting views on how we would construct our own demise. Orwell feared “what we hate will ruin us;” meanwhile, Huxley “feared what we love will ruin us.” Both authors truly believed that “it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” Postman’s view accurately details why Huxley’s prediction of the future is a much more plausible projection in relation to our modern day society in the United States. Orwell’s main character in 1984, Winston Smith, is living within a society reliant and controlled by a totalitarian government. This government controls the past, present, and the future of each and every citizen through the various...
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...Amusing Ourselves to Death, was published. At the time, the television was all the rage. Being a relatively new form of media, not many people stopped to think of the negative side effects of television, until Postman released his findings. His novel repeats the words “the medium is the message”, which means that the way that we receive messages is going to change the overall meaning of the message. This applied directly to television, as entertainment was the way we received our information. Eventually, we began to prefer receiving our messages through entertainment, nearly cutting off many other mediums. His findings still apply to the more advanced technology we have today, such as the...
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