Table of ContentsIntroductionStabilityTraditional ReligionHigh ArtDeathConclusionReferencesIntroductionIntroduction: Although written over eighty years ago in 1932, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World still preserves still relevant to today's society. Huxley's vision of a static dystopia that has altered what it means to be human is as terrifying as it was when this novel was first published. The subversion of religion, the trivialization of art and the modification of attitudes towards death to guarantee this requirement for stability fundamentally affect humanity. Through various biological and behavioral conditioning techniques, we manage to degrade the human condition. Huxley himself described the novel's theme as "the progress of science as it affects human individuals." This is hardly the hopeful brave new world expressed by Miranda in The Tempest. Instead, we have a world in which scientific methods aimed at ensuring stability have the effect of dehumanizing: a reflection of the changes that were transforming Huxley's world, such as increasing consumerism, promiscuity, and changes in culture. popular at the time the novel was written, and a warning to his generation of what might happen if this path continued. Thesis Statement: Thus, in my essay I will explore the extent to which, in its determination to achieve a stable society, the World State subverts religion, trivializes art, and alters attitudes toward death, thereby degrading the human condition? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayBackground: As I read, I was struck by how the characters in the novel are so different from me and by what we consider normal in society. . They looked like mannequins, caricatures of what it means to be human, like programmed robots in our modern world. So, in choosing a question, the focus was first on why the characters were so lacking in humanity. The answer was the falsification of ideas about family and love, art, religion and even death. Second, the reason and justification for this deterioration of the human condition. After analysis, it was the determination of stability, regardless of the price. Only by creating a monstrous version of contemporary man can we guarantee that dystopia will not be threatened. Stability In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, stability is the central goal and reason for being. War, poverty, social and class conflicts have been eradicated. But to achieve stability, leaders believe in a process of dehumanization, because the natural man is volatile, passionate and inherently individual. It is for this reason that the maxim of the World State is “Community, Identity, Stability”. Evidence and Citation: One such effort at dehumanization is the Bokanovsky process. Thanks to this, many clones are created to contribute to mass production. The World State wants all citizens to be the same so that there will be no conflicts. The director says: “Standard men and women; in uniform batches. An entire small factory made up of the products of a single bokanovskified egg. Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines.” There would be no more babies born to mothers, there would be no more babies. Because it was once “the time when humans were viviparous”, quotes the director, “and when babies were decanted. Born". The destruction of the family unit is a major step towards astable society and that is why they despise the idea that there once were parents, a father and a mother. "Mother 'These facts,' he said gravely, 'are unpleasant facts'" declared by the director shows how detrimental they consider this to their society, calling it "dirty." Comment: Huxley uses irony here to emphasize the difference in attitude between the New World and our society. What our world considers normal is taboo in dystopia. The World State has divided people into castes determined by biochemical technology, producing identical, status-satisfied human beings. "Has it not occurred to you that an Epsilon embryo must have an Epsilon environment as well as Epsilon heredity?" said the director. Not only do leaders create identical clones, but also individuals who think and act the same way. This is accomplished through hypnopaedia, a form of sleep teaching used to condition individuals. Indoctrination through hypnopaedia and the whole Bokanovsky process of engineering people to fit particular roles in society means that people no longer suffer. As John points out, it is humanity's destiny to feel pain and suffer – it is a central part of the human condition. By conditioning their citizens, they deny the natural man. Diversity has been replaced by conformity and free choice has been lost to imposed and strictly controlled conformity. The government firmly believes that to maintain a stable society, individuality must be eradicated. Therefore, they make everyone look, think, and act the same. For this reason, strong emotions like love or attachment are not necessary. “We are conditioned to thrive on heat,” Foster concluded. "And that," said the director, "that's the secret of happiness and virtue: to love what one has to do." All conditioning aims at this: to make people love their inevitable social destiny. » Comment: Stability is thus achieved. Individuals who accept their social position will not complain or cause problems: the end of class conflict. The consequence of this fate is the well-described image of swarming "worms" that invaded the bodies of the savage's dead mothers, also called "khaki mob". Evidence and Quotes: At this point, the irony of John the Savage's cry of "Brave New World" is more than just irony at the horror the world has become, but also despair at the fate of the world. 'humanity. The inhabitants of the New World are also conditioned to accept promiscuity, “everyone belongs to everyone”. It is unusual for one to be faithful to the other, monogamy is non-existent. When Fanny discovers that her friend Lenina was only seeing Henry Foster, she says, "It's not as if there was anything painful or unpleasant about having one or two men besides Henry." And given that, you should be a little more promiscuous…”. Comment: This is ironically opposite of the morality of our world and illustrates that this is the norm in the World State. While this eliminates conflicts people may have because of love, it also ends passion, an emotion that humans feel naturally. In times when they face discomfort or confusion, they find escape through soma, which makes people relaxed and happy, thereby negating their sadness. This is clearly seen when Lenina treats herself to soma after her experience in the Reserve: "after that day of strangeness and horror, she swallowed six half-gram tablets of soma and set off for the 'lunar eternity'. The soma and sexual promiscuityprovide the escape needed to ensure happiness and social stability. Eradication of love and jealousy also ensures stability. Without passion for anyone in particular, everyone can have everyone and continue to be with new people, without ever learning concepts like love and loyalty. These emotions lead to instability, but they are two of the most human experiences of all. As a result, the reader feels that many of the characters in this society “are just automatisms – they simply live and breathe, nothing more.” By sacrificing family, individuality, choice, passion, love and loyalty over the bonfire for the quest for a stable and unchanging society, the New World created a monstrous version of what it means to be human. John proves to be the antithesis of this New Man and is antagonistic to these core beliefs of the people of the New World with his belief in family, his idealization of romantic love, and his distaste for conformity. Traditional ReligionHuxley paints a picture of a society devoid of religion and true spirituality. Evidence and Citation: In doing so, he issues a warning about a society that awaits us with a "soulless utilitarian existence, incompatible with our nature and purpose." In place of a deity, there is now Ford, in place of churches and prayer, there are communal chants and soma-induced orgies. The Christian cross was replaced by the T symbol, representing Henry Ford's Model T and its assembly line for mass production. Likewise, the Bokanovsky process on which the inhabitants of the New World are built is also an assembly line. The stability of collective society requires the sacrifice of these practices and icons. The reason for this subversion is that if different paths to spirituality are allowed, this activity will make individuals different, causing dissension and breaking the control of the social collective. Evidence and Quote: World Controller Mustafa Mond puts it clearly when he says: "It would upset the entire social order if men started doing things for themselves." Comment: That the path to spirituality is personal and that any individual activity will destabilize society. In this discussion with John, Mond asserts that the need for religion has disappeared: "God is not compatible with machinery, scientific medicine, and universal happiness." He argues that religion is no longer necessary because they have ended suffering. In response, John states: “But is it not natural to feel that there is a God? » and that it is part of our very humanity to have spirituality. For Mond, spirituality is a conditioning, to which Jean responds: “it is natural to believe in God when you are alone, all alone, at night.” John is actually talking about the human condition, our ability to rise above the everyday, the mundane and consider the transcendent. But the inhabitants of the New World, as Professor Birnbaum states, "never learn religion and are conditioned in such a way that they will never be alone and never think of the possibility of God." Evidence and Quote: John's eventual response to the lack of spirituality in the world. The state is an extreme measure to purge not only one's own sin but also the emptiness of society. His cries of “Oh flesh” and “Fry, lewd, fry” as he flagellates himself. In dying, he becomes a martyr to the soullessness of Huxley's Brave New World. The argument is about the importance of human desire for the transcendent, something above the material. This is demonstrated when Huxley portrays the idiot elevator operator, euphoric at the prospect of reaching the roof of hisbuilding and encounter “the warm glory of the afternoon sun “Oh, the roof! he repeated in a delighted voice. It was as if he were suddenly and joyfully awakened from a dark, annihilating stupor. " Roof ! » Commentary: This symbolic ascension to heaven reveals a spirituality that has survived the conditioning process and is indicative of humanity's desperate need for something beyond the physical. A need for a spirituality that is part of the human condition: a vestige of our humanity that cannot be conditioned. Our sense of the spiritual emptiness of the New World is heightened by the author's juxtaposition of the life and values ​​of the wilderness. Evidence and Citation: Their religion is a combination of Christianity and Native American beliefs and is concerned with the soul and a spiritual unity with the natural world. This makes John a different person from the citizens of the New World. Kicked out of the coming-of-age ceremony at the Antelope Kivawith, he experiences a vision and "discovers Time, Death and God." John obtains these revelations because he inhabits a world in harmony with nature and spirit; one where he can achieve solitude for such a thought. Comment: Such a world allows man to question the reason for his existence and to retain his humanity. In John's words, "something about loneliness, about night, about the pale mesa under the moon, about the precipice, about the plunge into darkness, about death" is indicative of the freedom to question. In contrast to this earth with the world of Bernard and Lenina reinforces our feeling of debasement of humanity. Evidence and Quote: John's eventual suicide represents his rejection of the spiritual void that exists in this new world. It is the manifestation of a superficial existence dedicated to the stability of society. He becomes a Christ figure and in seeking death he reveals his humanity, the description of his body “turned to the right; north, northeast, east, southeast, south” is the symbol of a society that has lost morality and concern for what it means to be human. Commentary: It is only in suffering and death that John can maintain his humanity. Like Jesus on the cross, he dies for the sins of the Brave New World: a world without a moral compass or spirituality: a world without religion. High ArtTopic Sentence: Rather than cultivating a voice of creativity and imagination, the World State focuses on the superficial and mundane. Evidence and Citation: According to Professor Zhamurashvil, there has been an effective negation of high art, citing as evidence the cabaret scene where saxophones become "sexophones" and numbered couples dance to synthetic music devoid of art and of culture. Likewise, they invented "Feelies" and films like "Three Weeks in a Helicopter", a juxtaposition to Othello, so people could experience real feelings during the films. In this film, a black man kidnaps a white woman and she is saved by Alpha males: a parody of Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy. Art is then degraded and replaced by superficial incarnations. Instead of classical music, there is cabaret, instead of Shakespeare, there is soft pornography. Such transformations of great art into crude products of consumerism can only degrade the human condition. In Huxley's nightmarish vision, music, literature, and art are considered very dangerous because they evoke emotions. When people have individuality, they tend to express themselves through art like painting and poetry. They communicate their feelings through words and images that allow people to feel emotions. Evidence and Quotes: Mond says, “You can’t have tragedies without instabilitysocial. The world is stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.” Comment: They have conditioned individuals to want what they can have. By not being aware of other emotions, they will never have an unobtainable desire. Because art has the ability to enlighten people, allowing them to become aware of their oppression, individuals will feel dissatisfied. This feeling can lead to instability and the breakdown of social order. Evidence and Quote: Mond says: “Universal happiness turns the wheels steadily; truth and beauty cannot.” Instead of allowing people to have art and feelings that can make them unhappy, they suppressed them. Instead of allowing people to have art and feelings that can make them unhappy, they suppressed them. Evidence and Citation: He further explains: “Our civilization has chosen machinery, medicine and happiness. That's why I have to keep these books locked in the safe. They are pigs. People will be shocked.” Comment: Mustapha Mond believes that something will be sacrificed no matter what, that's why they chose happiness, the rest must either be changed or replaced. Evidence and Quotes: Although removing these experiences and feelings will make their society stable, Huxley argues that if man loses art and culture, he becomes something less than human. Commentary: John having lived on the reservation serves as a contrast and believes that art can provide comfort to these inevitable difficulties of the human experience. Before being taught to read by Linda, John experiences innate emotions such as grief and loneliness. Contrary to Mond's argument that art is dangerous and makes people dissatisfied, Huxley argues that Shakespeare alleviates John's suffering. Another example made by What John contradicts Mond is that he believes that suffering is worth the recognition of truth and beauty which can be seen in Shakespeare's dramas when he says: "something of new like Othello and that they can understand. Mond states that it is best to get rid of the "disadvantages" of experiencing passionate emotions by reading Othello's play and that it is best to simulate a "violent and passionate substitute." That it is better to imitate human beings – a denial of the human condition. To read Othello is to feel passion, a destabilizing force for society. In contrast to this dehumanization, John argues that these "inconveniences" are worth it and Helmholtz Watson recognizes that words can impact people and make them feel. He says, “you read and you are transfixed.” Watson begins writing his own poetry describing the process, "this extra latent power that I have within me." He feels more alive through art. Although Helmholtz is conditioned, there is a part of him that seeks the power to express his feelings and experiences. When the controller asks what climate he would like to be sent to, Helmholtz gets up "from his air chair" and replies that he would write better in a "bad climate" with lots of "wind and storms." This “uprising” is symbolic of its independence and its rejection of the New World. According to John, the meaning of life is that art is the transformation of suffering into meaning. Huxley attempts to convey the idea that a society in which people exist in their own humanity, although unstable, can bring meaning and beauty to life. Although John and Mond have different views on art in society, both believe that citizens need catharsis, which is an emotional release to become happy. However, thetwo disagree on how this liberation can be ensured: John who gives credit to art; and Mond who thinks drugs, like soma, are the key. In World State, Mond explains that people still experience pain, but in a different way, because they "prefer to do things comfortably." John of course chooses the less comfortable alternative at the end of the novel. Huxley's argument through his surrogate John encapsulates the human condition that needs art as an outlet for our emotions and comfort for our pain. In Brave New World, art and creativity are seen as essential to humanity, if we are to remain human, not only to express and satisfy our emotional needs, but also as an integral part of the human condition. , people no longer fear death and lose their connection to the natural world. Dr. Gaffney tells John, “Deadly conditioning begins at eighteen months. Each child spends two mornings a week in a hospital for the dying. All the best toys are kept there and they receive chocolate cream on the days they die. They learn to consider death as obvious. » Commentary: This conditioning continues throughout childhood until death loses its traditional impact and meaning. The end of life is depicted as antiseptic, positive and meaningless, emphasizing the belief in community, that the demise of an individual is a minor inconvenience. The painful emotions of grief and loss are eliminated, and the spiritual meaning of death disappears. the human body begins to deteriorate. When they die, they turn into phosphorus. Lenina asks Henry Foster about the chimneys around them and he replies, "Phosphorus recovery", informing her that the dead can help make plants grow. finds it reassuring that once dead, they will be recycled and become chemicals that will benefit collective society. When John's mother, Linda, succumbs to high doses of soma, she is sent to the hospital. The appearance of the hospital for the dying as "a sixty-story tower of primrose tiles" with "gay-colored hearts" represents conditioning for death. When patients are dying, they lose their identity and people at the hospital start calling them numbers due to their conditioning to not fear death: "Number 3 "could explode at any minute » ». no family, no burials or cemeteries. After a death, they are cremated. In the World State, instead of remembering the past, people forget it and look forward to what will happen in the future. On the other hand, John viewed the death as tragic because he comes from a world where women give birth to children, start families, and love each other. John wanted to find ways to keep his mother alive and see her one last time. Unlike the people of Brave New World who forget, he held his mother's hand and called her name, remembering what she had done and how she had taken care of him. The nurse, after seeing John's unconditionally nervous and anxious reactions to Linda's impending death, asks him, "You don't feel sick, do you?" ". Evidence and Quote: Meanwhile, a group of children come running and casually stare at the dying Linda. while they were snacking and John yells at them. The nurse then responds: “Canceling all their healthy death conditioning with this disgusting scream, as if death were something terrible, as if anyone mattered that much!” ". Comment: This shows once again how in Brave New World,..