Essay Concerning Brave New World :: essays research papers

The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, presents the portrait of a superficial utopian society. Huxley presents his utopia as a perfectly functioning society, but makes the reader question many aspects of the new civilization. While engaged in the book, a reader is often appalled by the lifestyles of the residents of "brave new world." When a reader does this he or she is comparing the society to his or her own. The only way a person can justifiably criticize the society in Brave New World is from their own subjective vantage point. It was the anthropologist Geertz who said that a culture cannot be examined completely objectively. So when a person critiques a society it is based on the values and mores of their own culture, and this is what I will do when considering what is objectionable and what is acceptable in the "brave new world" society. Huxley wrote the book primarily as a satire that would lead to change. In 1932, changes in science were becoming prevalent and Huxley noticed these changes. With the invention of the assembly line, the Ford Model Twas produced allowing people to afford cars. Huxley could see where these advances in science were leading, and this lead him to develop his startling story. When a person thinks of a utopia he or she thinks of a place where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger and sadness are unheard of. Huxley created a society where all of these are true, and still one questions whether or not it is truly a utopia. As people in our society look upon "brave new world" they see it as a place of immoral behavior and obscenity. Could this possibly be because they are conditioned themselves, and cannot realize it? They could just as easily be conditioned into thinking that only their thoughts are correct. Everyone's goal in every culture is to reach a state of ultimate happiness. The society of "brave new world" is the same, but they go about it in a much different way. People argue that the society of "brave new world" is immoral, and evil, but once again they are enforcing mores of their own society while examining other culture. Because the only way to critique the society of "brave new world" is subjectively from our own point of view, almost every aspect of the society is objectionable.