Morality, Meet Brave New World

Essay by mar*High School, 11th gradeA+, June 2009

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Aliya � PAGE �1� Aliya � PAGE �7�

Morality, Meet Brave New World

"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."1 Concerning Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World, readers find themselves thinking the theme of the novel is not of proper conduct and it would not take place in their current world. Brave New World follows a futuristic society, the World State, where citizens are mass-produced and conditioned to suit the ways of the government and the society as a whole. Everyone is born to fit in certain classes and they crave pleasure, order and conformity. John the Savage, the protagonist, is of strict Christian moral codes and is shocked by the government's control over citizens and their behavior. He rejects their mentality and tries to go against it, with no avail. The citizens' sexual freedom, conditioning, risky use of drugs, dissolution of families and manipulation of religion to accommodate the society irritates many a moral critic.

"Moral education, which ought never, in any circumstances, to be rational," is said by a director (Huxley 32). It implies that the leaders do believe in moral education. However, without God or sense, it is they who make the morals. Huxley warns readers of how technology and power in the hands of the government can cause the downfall of man. With the concept of socialist morality in mind, the World State's power is absolute and citizens follow societal codes and morals whether they like it or not, without a fight.

Babies are born and nurtured in the community for the purpose of becoming productive members of the society. Citizens are conditioned to think that everyone is equal and they are made useful for the good of the society and the government. They satisfy...