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How Is Brave New World Relevant Today

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley demonstrates a dystopian society where humans are created in laboratories by the government. They are able to keep all citizens artificially happy so that they don’t realize the totalitarian regime that they live under. This novel was written in the 1930s when multiple global powers were fascist or communist. Citizens were terrified of their countries falling to totalitarian rulers. Huxley’s novel demonstrated a different type of totalitarianism where the citizens don’t conform out of fear but out of the inability to recognize that their situation is oppressive. Using the tool of immediate gratification to keep citizens in line, Brave New World was revolutionary and continues to be extremely relevant today. …show more content…

It was gained by making the population so artificially happy that they couldn’t recognize that they are oppressed. The World State is a softer form of a totalitarian regime as the people are controlled via manufacturing infants and by hypnotizing society into thinking that they are happy. If everyone has everything, nothing matters (Atwood). It could be said that society is built upon maximum happiness, using “soma,” a hallucinogenic drug, to eliminate negative emotions. Society refuses to dwell on anything that isn’t positive and avoids thinking about anything deeply (Keisman). In addition to drugs, there are several other ways that the Controllers attain maximum happiness. By choosing the caste and job that one will do, it eliminates the stress of deciding one’s life. In reality, it takes away any opportunity for oneself to decide what they want to do with their lives. Love and relationships have no meaning within this dystopian world (Gittos). Their happiness is entirely falsified by drugs and meaningless …show more content…

Instant gratification to keep the population distracted and drugs to keep everyone happy all of the time (Atwood). The use of these tools within the novel are a warning from Huxley. When these are used frequently it takes away a person’s ability to detect corruption. Huxley predicted the future better than any other dystopian author. He predicted that society would be controlled by instant gratification. The World State is a nightmare society where everyone is distracted all of the time (Hendricks). We as a society are controlled by our phones, constantly checking, texting, and posting. We are anxious when we don’t have our phones and use them excessively, some use upwards of 10 hours a day. In recent years mental illness has been on the rise and it’s been treated by the use of several drugs: antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleeping pills, minor tranquilizers, lithium, and other mood stabilizers. If someone has negative thoughts/emotions they see a psychiatrist and receive medication for it. This is reflected in the novel by “Soma.” Soma is a drug that makes an individual feel good. In large doses this drug can produce hallucinations and a feeling of timelessness. This drug is taken when one feels any kind of unhappiness or discontentedness

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