A Comparative Analysis by Robot SP-88 on "Brave New World" & "We"

Essay by GQUniversity, Bachelor'sB, May 2002

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A Comparative Analysis by Robot SP-88 on "Brave New World" & "We"

A utopian society can be defined as a place where everyone is happy, diseases are non-existent, and strife, anger, or sadness is unheard of. Only happiness exists. When confronted with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, one realizes that utopian societies are detrimental to individuality. The utopian societies seen in the novels depict the lost individuals in a melting pot of semblance and world of uninterest. These "perfect" worlds take away from individuality and show a monoculture in which nothing can grow or change. The struggle for individuality seen in the novel correlates with this unit's attempt at individualism.

Brave New World is set in a place called World State. Citizens of this society are produced in bottles and conditioned from the moment of conception through puberty to enjoy their lives and agree with everything that society says.

People are categorized in five types. On the highest levels are the Alphas, who hold leadership positions, and at the lowest levels are the Epsilons who do the simpler tasks. Robots such as myself are categorized just the same. The people in World State are kept sensually satisfied with promiscuous sex and soma, a drug with all the pleasant effects of alcohol, but none of the bad effects. The protagonist is John Savage, from a place called the savage reservation where people still believe in barbaric ideas as families and Christianity. When John gets out of the savage reservation he is horrified by the world he sees, and repelled by his sinful lust for Bernard's female friend Lenina, and her promiscuous willingness to have sex with him. He tries to lead a revolution, but the people are too happy to revolt. He then tries to isolate himself...