Brave New World: Utopia?

Phase 2 Prompt 3

                The society in Huxley’s Brave New World is a utopia in the sense that it was a perfect and ideal civilization, because everybody was content with the role they contributed to the benefit of the community.   Many examples throughout the text highlight this content or satisfaction that each member of this society had, whether they were an Alpha Plus or an Epsilon.  It can be seen as a utopia because everybody had a job and got what they wanted, making them happy.  It was a stable world where nothing was questioned and nothing was out of the ordinary.

                The conversation the world controller, Mustapha Mond, had with Savage really displays how this world could be viewed as a utopia.  Mustapha explains to the Savage, otherwise known as John, how society is in a better place than before due to the fact that everybody is happy now. Mustapha tells John, “The world’s stable now.  People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get” (Huxley 220).  This stability helped the people feel safe.  They didn’t have any desires they could not fulfill. Most of the troubles that real life society has today are due to humans desiring things they cannot have; things such as other’s possessions or wealth.  Some of the lower-class people may envy the upper-class as they feel they have better lives going for them.  Such feelings did not exist in Huxley’s Brave New World because each class of the society was conditioned to enjoy the work of that class and nothing else.  For example, the Epsilons although they were the lower caste of society, they were perfectly happy with their menial work.  Mustapha Mond describes to John, “Only an Epsilon can be expected to make Epsilon sacrifices, for the good reason that for him they aren’t sacrifices…His conditioning has laid down rails along which he’s got to run” (Huxley 222).  Epsilons were conditioned to do Epsilon work, while Alphas were conditioned to do Alpha work.  When everyone is content with their position there is no fighting or chaos.  On the contrary, if an Alpha was given an Epsilon job then some problems would occur. Their society had an “optimum population… is modeled on the iceberg-eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above” (Huxley 223).

                Another reason why this society could be conveyed as utopian is there were no strong feelings such as passion for a loved one or extreme hatred for another person.  There were no such things as parents, children, husband, and wives. Thus, there were no such things as a love triangle or war.  In terms of sexuality, kids and adults alike were allowed to do what they wanted without any restraints. “Many of the natural impulses are allowed free play, that there really aren’t any temptations to resist” (Huxley 237).  Without any temptations, humans did not have to go through that self-struggle of controlling their bodies from doing things against their conscience.  If anything did go wrong, there was soma which seems to make the characters in the novel get away from reality.  It also had a calming effect and because of this there was no tension.  These reasons could make any person believe that Huxley’s world was actually a utopia instead of a dystopia.

               

Works Cited

 



Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998. Print.