How will scientific advances change our society? In his novel “A Brave New World” Aldous Huxley tries to present his vision of technological advances ruling humanity. The novel takes us to a place called the World State, where using technology, the government eliminates unhappiness to produce contented and effective workers. “Men will come to be valued more and more, not as individuals, but as personified social functions.” From birth, people are split into six social classes that determine their futures. The government then conditions them to conform to its needs. Using hypnotism, electric shock treatment and other methods of behavior modification, babies are conditioned to fit the state’s ideals. Literature is banned because it may make people think and detract from their work. People are encouraged to be promiscuous and impersonal and families and close relationships are frowned upon because they can cause pain. When individuals are unhappy they take a drug called ‘soma’ to remove their unhappiness. Happy workers are productive workers.
The government’s philosophy is brought to near the end of the novel, during a conversation between the Savage and the controller, Mustapha Mond. The Savage is showing the controller his point of view and the controller is defending his society. He does so by explaining that the people’s total bliss makes up for their lack of freedom. “The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get. They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they’re plagued with no mothers or fathers; they’ve got no wives or children, or loves to feel strongly about; they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong there’s soma.” What the government does not understand is that by eliminating pain you are, in effect, eliminating happiness. How can people be truly happy, if they do not understand pain? This paradox is brought to light with the use of two characters, who do not fit in, Bernard Marx and the Savage.
The Term Paper on Some People Say That The World Has Many Opportunities Some
Some People say that the world has many opportunities; some say that you cant get anywhere unless you are born to some certain class of people. Some even say that it is pure fate that brings you where you are going to be and what you get is what you get and you cant do anything about it. I think that people decide their own fates and it doesnt matter who was your parents or how much money you ...
Although Bernard Marx is a member of the highest social class, he is unable to conform to society’s social expectations. The root of this problem is his physical appearance. He is short and many associate this with lack of power “Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons had been to some extent conditioned to associate corporeal mass with social superiority.” Also Marx is unattractive and he considers this a great defect, “Hence the laughter of the women to whom he made proposals.” Because of all this, Marx feels like an outsider. Feeling like one makes him behave as one. He is, therefore, a loner and breaks society’s rules.
Marx has an ongoing inner conflict. He doesn’t agree with society’s ideals, but desperately wishes he could fit in. On the one hand, he objects to the promiscuity that all the others are involved in. He hardly ever takes women out and when he does take Lenina, he prefers to talk for a while instead of going straight to bed “I meant, alone for talking.” On the other hand he is jealous of his friend, Hemlholtz Watson, who can get women whenever he wants “wishing, as he spoke the words, that he could have as many girls as Helmholtz did, and with as little trouble.” He ends up giving in and sleeping with Lenina, only to feel disgusted by himself after.
Marx is a very weak character. He wants to have things on his own terms, but wants even more to fit in. When the director threatened to exile him to Iceland, he imagines he does not care, “in the director’s office, he had imagined himself courageously resisting, stoically accepting suffering without a word.” However, when he realizes the threats may be a reality he panics, “of that imagined stoicism, that theoretical courage, not a trace was left.”
The Essay on Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?
In general men have several physical advantages over women in stamina, height, strength, and speed. But these attributes don’t mean much when it comes to longevity. It has been said that throughout history, females have outlived males and that the trend extends across a wide variety of species. The average life expectancy of women exceeds that of men. In the United States, life expectancy at ...
The Savage is Huxley’s objective observer of the New State. He has lived on a savage reservation his entire life had access to books and literature. He can, therefore, see the state’s problems with the clarity of an outsider. He has had access to literature and books and has not been conditioned to think in a specific way. He has many ideals and thoughts that the New State doesn’t agree with because it goes against their way of thinking. Having lived his whole life freely, the Savage cannot understand why or how the people in the World State can live with such restrictions. He admits that there are some positive aspects “of course… there are some very nice things. All that music in the air, for instance,” but would still rather live his life freely. “I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” The controller points out that all the Savage is really doing is claiming the right to be unhappy. To which the Savage replies “All right then…I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”
The Savage is in love with Lenina, but not in the same way that she loves him. He views monogamy as something positive and even suggests marriage to her. She, however, is not conditioned to think that way and she dismisses his suggestion as “a horrible idea.” He doesn’t understand the promiscuity that is encouraged in the New State, and every time Lenina makes advances, he refuses to sleep with her even though he would like to. He has read a great deal of literature telling him the proper way to court a woman and he feels that to do any less would be dishonoring her. When he tries to explain this to Lenina she does not understand him or what he is trying to say. He says, “I mean I’d sweep the floor if you wanted.” To which Lenina answers “but we’ve got vacuum cleaners here.” When he gives in to his desires and he sleeps with her, he is so ashamed that he kills himself.
The Essay on Reincarnation Lived An Honest Life
Reincarnation written by: Sivan Kaplan grade: 10 th score: 90%date: 16/2/97 Reincarnation is the belief that after death, one's soul keeps existing and is reborn another person or animal. It keeps reborn ing until it redeems itself. Then it returns to the temple of god, which the Buddhists call 'Nirvana' -eternal tranquillity. Two of the many ancient tribes who believed in reincarnation are the ...
Although all the pains and sorrows of this world may seem useless, they accentuate the good things. All the freedoms and rights that we take for granted, such as thinking for ourselves, are non-existent in the New State. Huxley has sends a warning to us all. At all times we must be watchful to ensure that technology does not cause totalitarianism. These days with the new digital technology his warning may be more pertinent that ever.
