Brave New World

1. Huxley’s vision of the future world does contain elements present in our society today. In Brave New World, technology controls society. This begins with the surgical removal of ovaries when the time comes to produce new humans and continues with the Bokanovsky Process and hypnopaedic conditioning. Everything in the World State is regulated by some form of technology. While these are extreme examples that do not hold true to our society, technology has become a ruling force in the twenty-first century. Our school is a perfect example of reliance on technology; this assignment as well as the majority of other assignments, is done on a computer. As technology advances, meaningful human contact decreases. Advances in the cell phone brought the text message, which has distinct advantages and disadvantages. Texting is now often preferred to a legitimate conversation. Where is the human contact? It’s interesting and frightening to imagine what will happen next on this front.
Huxley satirizes the consumer society that exists when he wrote the book, and continues to exist today. Happiness is quantified by the ability to satisfy one’s needs, and a successful society is one that contains economic growth and prosperity. The ‘American Dream’ also fits this definition. This dream, in my opinion, is one that is nearly impossible to achieve. Belief in it risks destroying true happiness.
Huxley’s soma is similar to certain prescription drugs of this day and age. While they are obviously not as widespread as soma, the concept remains the same. In the World State, if anything goes awry, a citizen takes a dose of soma and it simply goes away. This instant gratification is a major control factor for the World State.