But still, under this “equal” rule, women are still in an oppressed position. Sounds amazing, yeah? (I am sure some “utopian” communities in our world have this). Sadly, this is prohibited in Brave New World, where “every one belongs to every one else,” which means that everyone can fuck everyone (46). What Bernad wishes to feel is the individuality of happiness. “But wouldn’t you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina?” In your own way, for example not in everybody else’s way.” (107) And if you behaved differently from others, you will be punished: they will send you to a harsh place like Iceland where you will join all the “unique” individuals (whom we should consider “normal” in the real world).īernad, the main character in the novel, is considered a “unique” individual as he wants to know “what passion is” and wants “to feel something strongly” (107). Personal attachment is seen as a risk to society’s stability and unity. But in Brave New World, “when the individual feels, the community reels” (110). So, there is still a chance that you might fall in love with someone. Christianity without tears–that’s what soma is.” (285) You can carry at least half of your morality about in a bottle. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there’s always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. And what you ought to do is on the whole so pleasant, so many of the natural impulses are allowed free play, that there really aren’t any temptations to resist. There’s no such thing as divided allegiance you’re so conditioned that you can’t help doing what you ought to do. The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving any one too much. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic…Where there are wars, where there are divided allegiances, where there are temptations to be resisted, objects of love to be fought for or defended–there, obviously, aren’t any wars nowadays. It’s what everyone takes in order to be “human” in this Brave New World. It’s blended into the system of morality and human rights as well. But “soma” here represents more than just pleasure. Pop a few and you are good for everything. The magical “soma” is the universal happy pill. Instead, medical science provides all the happiness one needs. Happiness has lost its relation to family and romantic relationships. God isn’t compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness…Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness. All the books related to philosophy, religion, art, are locked up in the safe and everyone here does not read anymore and instead, they are programmed into following the ideologies of Ford: Under this administration, individuals are not allowed to read poetry and books, to like flowers and landscapes, to believe in the old God, to be in a monogamous relationship, to show individuality or critical thoughts, and so on. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) depicts a utopian/dystopian (depending on where you stand) world where the society is based on the technological enhancement, Henry Ford-driven “civilization” that imposes the mass production of test-tube babies, genetic modification of human bodies, drug distribution, polyamory, hypnopaedia educational program, to name a few.
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