Monday, September 22, 2014

What is Huxley satirizing in "Brave New World?"Work on a clear thesis statement and supporting evidence from the text.

Since satire has as its purpose ridicule with the hopes of reform, Aldous Huxley satirizes many of the contemporary trends and values of his time when he foresaw the dangers of the advancement of science as it related to the advancement of humanity. "Brave New World" is a world of mass-production, even of people; it is a world society where values are pleasure, order, and conformity. These values are held so that there will be no wars, no conflicts, no unhappiness. However, in this false utopia there are flaws, for science cannot totally eradicate humanity despite its great advancements. Afterall, in the human psyche and soul, one must know unhappiness to truly feel happy, one must know adversity in order to enjoy peace, and one must have interpersonal relationships that are difficult in order to appreciate and experience real feelings; one MUST be human.

Huxley satirizes the attempt of people to find happiness in the rising communism of the times which suggests that all should be "equal." The various castes of BNW are taught to associate only with their own so no one is different. When a character, Bernard, expresses feelings that are taboo, the others laugh and joke about him. Electric shock and hypnopaedia condition children. People take soma anytime they are unhappy. They value only material things; Nature is scorned. When the savage/natural man, John, comes to BNW, he is sickened and dies.

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