The Dystopian Society of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1176 WordsJun 25, 20185 Pages
A dystopia is an imaginary, imperfect place where those who dwell are faced with terrible circumstances. The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley illustrates the concept of a dystopia. A utopia is an ideal place where everything is perfect, but in the novel, it becomes apparent that the author is trying to demonstrate the negative effects on a society when it attempts to become an unreachable utopian society. Brave New World is seen as a dystopia for many reasons, as citizens are deprived of freedom, programmed to be emotionless and under the control of a corrupt dictatorship. These points illustrate the irony of a society’s attempt to reach utopia by opposing ethics and morality; citizens are tragically distanced from paradise,…show more content…
Only a drink of mescal every now and then, when Popé used to bring it... But it makes you feel so bad afterwards`` (Huxley 103). This excerpt indicts how people who have used soma, like John’s mother, get an addiction to it and are not able go on without it. This demonstrates how after becoming used to soma, withdrawal from it impossible. Furthermore, the population has gone through conditioning to see relationships as shameful and meaningless. Early on in the novel it is seen that sexual relationship are not consider anything special and only a way to satisfy themselves as they are taught to do it from a young age. Any relationship such as parents and marriage were made a mockery of. John’s mother shows her dissatisfaction from those who gave birth stating, “So they’re having children all the time-like dogs. It’s too revolting. And to think that I. Oh, Ford, Ford, Ford! And yet John was a great comfort to me. I don’t know what I should have done without him” (Huxley 105). Ironically, John’s mother goes on to realize the emotional attachment she developed for John, creating conflict with what knowledge she had been conditioned with. She gets a glimpse into true utopia in this midst of her social dystopia. Throughout the novel, the world state plays a big role, as it does what it can with its power to provide a perception of maximum happiness to the society. Notably, the government is afraid of those who oppose or
Open Document