A Brave New World–Aldous Huxley
Authors' Names
I have always found it difficult to
remember author’s names even famous ones like Aldous Huxley, the author of many
books including A Brave New World. But
once I learned that as he was dying of laryngeal cancer, he requested LSD so
that he would die tripping, he stood out in my mind. His book A Brave New World deals with drugs,
technology, and questions what the human soul actually needs.
Where Does Happiness Come From?
The government in A
Brave New World buys into Roman Empire the belief that all humans need is
“bread and circus” and so they flood their citizens with drugs, mindless
activities. While there a are a couple of outliers in the book, like Bernard
and Hemholz, they are easily banished to islands with other non-conformists.
The government keeps their power and the intellectually driven are placated.
But then there is John. John didn’t grow up with the brain washing most people
receive and so is considered a savage. John would like to go with Bernard and
Hemholz, but isn’t allowed. Therefore a third option is explored. Maybe human
souls need more than “bread and circus” and intellectual stimulation. Maybe
death, aging, pain, and suffering are part of what the human soul needs.
Origins
Huxley bore A Brave
New World during Britian’s Great Depression, which led Huxley to write that
humans’ "primal and ultimate need" was stability (2). This later
evolved to become the driving force behind the totalitarian government’s
reforms in A Brave New World. In
order to keep stability, all residents must be brainwashed from a young age. In
order to keep stability, all residents should take part in mindless
entertainment. This negative future, this dystopia, stood in stark contrast to
the popular utopia novels at the time, including H.G. Wells’ A Modern Utopia and Men Like Gods, which inspired Huxley to write his own vision of the
future (2).
A Switch
During the first half of the book, readers
follow Lenina and Bernard as they attempt to navigate life in A Brave New World’s dystopian landscape.
About halfway into the book, they visit the savages in North America, who have
deliberately decided to swear off society, potentially the remnants of a
resistance to the current government. Her they find John who takes over the
second half of the novel, eventually his non-brain-washed existence causes
several disturbances, which bring him, Bernard, and Hemholz into clash with the
government. The book could have ended here with John, Bernard and Hemholz
banished to an island, but Huxley drags out the novel.
Weird Motivation
Don’t get me wrong the resulting themes are interesting, but
the government’s motivation for allowing John to continue existing in the
public eye is confusing. Mustapha Mond, the government official who revelas the
sentencing, rejects John’s proposal that he go live with Bernard or Hemholz. “He
said he wanted to go on with the experiment. But I’m damned,” the Savage added,
with sudden fury, “I’m damned if I’ll go on being experimented with,” (p.
166). He is. He can’t live in this
“experiment” of what would happen if the intellectually driven weren’t sent off
to islands. Naturally, if John could have had Bernard and Hemholz, it probably
would have turned out better, but then they could have gained a following and
the government couldn’t allow that.
What a Soul Needs
So what does a human soul need? Apparently, Aldous Huxley is
of the mind that if heaven were perfect people would get bored. He has John claim “the right to be unhappy” as well as the
right to sickness, aging, death, starvation, fear, and “unspeakable pains of
every kind.” (p. 163). For what people really need is the unhappiness to make
life worth living. The highs seem higher if the lows are lower. People should
read this book if they want to learn Huxley’s vision of what people are if all
the problems are taken away from them. If they’re sat in boxes and shipped on
assembly lines through life without a hiccup. No pain, but no excitement
either. People should read this book if they want to find out how someone in
love with fierce emotions is put into this world. Readers can watch as John
declines, as the boxes are engrossed with his decline as well. How far would
John go to “claim them all” to claim pain and suffering in a world where it has
been eliminated along with beauty, art, science, and god?
What about you?
Have you ever read A Brave New World? What did you think of
it? What fate would you prefer mindlessness at the feelies, banishment on
islands, or perish with John?
Notes:
Sources:
Image Credit: A Brave New World Book Cover
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