Thursday, December 15, 2011

Brave New Word Is Our Now World

Huxley's depiction of a dystopian society is more than relevant to the current world in which we live in. Traditionalist views are done away with, especially dealing with gender roles in society. Sex is used more for recreation than for procreation and people are considered freer than they have ever been in history. 
The term dystopia refers to a vision of an imaginary society or place where its current state is one of doom and despair. Brave New World reflects the ideals of such a state within its story and characters. Huxley points to the distant future where society is “civilized”, and there are no wars, no one suffers, and history is erased. Children are bred in a lab and then raised up to be whatever society expects them to be. A caste system is created where everyone knows his or her place in the world. They are required to fulfill their duty to the state and never question authority or their place in the world.
In the year 2011 A.D. those ideals are not only here, whether disguised with different assuming names, but have also ushered in other ideas that would make Huxley’s work pale in comparison. The role of the United Nations, for example, seeks to end all wars as well as eliminate world hunger and disease through the World Health Organization. But upon closer inspection this organization was created to strip sovereign nations of what little power or self rule they did have. It calls for total global peace and security similar to the society in Brave New World. According to an article in Foreign Affairs, published by The Council on Foreign Relations, written in 1991 by Bruce Russett and James Sutterlin it states; “The U.N. Charter gives the Security Council the authority to maintain or restore international peace and security, and to enforce the will of the council on a state that has broken the peace.” The article goes on to say that, “The use of military force by the United Nations for both of these purposes-enforcement and peacekeeping-is surely essential to a world order in which international security is heavily dependent on the Security Council.” War would be a means to end war as shown in Huxley’s reference to a factitious nine year war in his novel. The ideals of Eugenics, in essence the science of breeding the fittest and most desirable of a race, was originated in Europe, test run by the Nazis in World War 2, and fully implemented in America. Men like Winston Churchill supported the movement which was termed Social Darwinism. In America women like Margaret Sanger championed what is now known as planned parenthood as a way of eliminating the inferior from society and keep population growth to zero. With the advances of science a child can be designed with whatever color hair or eyes the parents desire similar to the decanting process of Brave New World. Genes can be manipulated to produce a superior specimen with above normal IQ, the Alphas of our time. It is also important to note that the State has complete power over people’s lives and families. The Department of Child Welfare Services can remove any child out of any home and place them in a state run foster home. (One may argue the admirable reasons of ‘protecting the child’ but the power is there and abused more than applied for good). Once in the system the child will be raised and educated however they see fit. In the book, page 51, the controller speaks of ‘a campaign against the past’ in which books are burned and what known as history is rewritten. The parallel to today’s political correctness atmosphere can be easily seen as Hollywood and the government is guilty of rewriting history in movies and textbooks to make it more accepting and tolerable for everyone.
In terms of traditionalist views on gender roles, today’s society is far from the norm. What was acceptable two generations ago is no longer the case; specifically in respect to parental roles. Reading the novel one will see that the titles of mother and father are considered profane. Children are decanted thus making the female nurturing motherly role obsolete as well as the masculinity of the father.  By today’s definition a family is no longer a man, woman and child. It can be applied to various combinations of members. The Women’s Liberation movement have succeeded in advancing the role of women to that of leaders and more proactive than the male counterpart. A woman’s right to choose abortion is encouraged in the story as the fictitious state provides and funds education, and support in the matter similar to our current society. Sexual promiscuity is practiced and repeated countless times within the plot. The mantra ‘everybody’ belongs to someone else’ serves as proof that traditional views of one man to one woman are abandoned just as it is today. Since humans are created within a test-tube then sex becomes a recreational activity and not used for procreation. Woman are objectified and shared in the story, in real life some women have adapted the same lifestyle particularly after what was known as the free love and sexual revolution of the 1960’s.
Another significant fact that parallels our society is the high drug use. Whether it is state sponsored soma in Huxley’s world or state approved Paxil, Zoloft, or Abilify, used to treat depression, the outcome is the same. America has become a nation of self medicating junkies. According to a quote from a web report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 which states ‘over the last 10 years, the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44% to 48%. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25% to 31%. The use of five or more drugs increased from 6% to 11%.’ The report also goes on to state ‘in the United States, spending for prescription drugs was $234.1 billion in 2008, which was more than double what was spent in 1999.’ The similarities are shocking; whenever we as a society cannot deal with life’s problems we turn to narcotics. (Not counting the psychologically and mentally challenged because they would have been done away with in the future).
In a discussion with the savage, page 231, the Controller told him “there used to be something called God – before the Nine Years War.” Society today with the separation of church and state seeks, and already has, taken God out of classrooms, school books, and any public places creating a Godless society. He goes on to tell the savage that youth and vices have replaced God and that the people are freer to indulge in whatever sordid activity they choose without any repercussions and accountability.  Huxley’s dystopian world equates God with self denial, as shown on page 236. In our consumer driven, instant gratification world it is considered the same as we want to feel good all the time, every time. Perhaps the best quote that describes both our world and the imaginary one is found on page 237, “But industrial civilization is only possible when there’s no self denial. Self-indulgence up to the very limits imposed by hygiene and economics, otherwise the wheels stop turning.”
Our society’s economy, just like Huxley’s, needs to consume to grow. The mantra of ‘it is better to end than to mend’ is a realistic way of life if America is to continue down the road that is before it. After reading Brave New World I became increasingly analytical of our society and how it is strikingly similar to Huxley’s. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that fact is stranger than fiction.


Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998. Pages 51, 231, 236-27.
            Print.
Burt, Vicki L, and Dillon, Charles F, and Gu, Qiuping. “Publications and Information Products,   
NCHS Data Brief 42”. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. United States Government, September 2010. Web. 12 December 2011.
Russett, Bruce and Sutterlin, James S. “The U.N in a New World Order.” Foreign Affairs. The
            Council on Foreign Relations, Spring 1991. Web. 12 December 2011.

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