Brave New World: Huxley Predicted Many Events Of The Future Essay, Research Paper

Brave New World: Huxley Predicted Many Events of the Future

Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World out of fear of society’s apparent lack

of morals and corrupt behaviour during the roaring twenties. Huxley believed

that the future was doomed to a non-individualistic, conformist society, a

society void of the family unit, religion and human emotions. Throughout the

novel, Huxley predicts many events for the future, most of which concentrate on

a morally corrupt society. The most important of these predictions include:

greater sexual freedom, over-population, brain-washing/sleep-teaching, and the

use of mind altering drugs. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World warns of a

possible future dystopia, based on social attitudes and medical advancements of

his time.

Huxley’s future dystopia is created largely by perverted sexual

freedoms, which in turn cause corrupt individuals, entirely lacking ethics and

morals. Sexual promiscuity appears to be a much more frequent activity now

then it was in the Thirties. Critics blame “…the advent of the pill for

declining morality and indiscriminate sexual activity.” Many believe that each

time medicine reduces the risk of unwanted diseases and pregnancies, society,

on the whole, will increase its sexual activity. Huxley’s prediction of

promiscuity is based on his iron law of sexuality:

“As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends

compensatingly to increase.” A current example of Huxley’s belief is China.

China is the last remaining communist regime, it also suffers from having one

fifth of the world’s population within its borders. Needless to say, China’s

large population is a direct result of a very sexually active society. Aldous

Huxley’s fears of the future caused him to write about sexual freedom and the

resulting over-population in Brave New World.

Over-population is another problem which is addressed by Huxley, and

is the direct result of sexual freedom. The fear which Huxley addresses

concerning population control is: “Food supplies cannot grow as fast as people

can, and population growth in underdeveloped countries will jeopardize the

world order.” Simply stated the growing population of earth will consume more

than it will be able to produce, unless some form of regulating births can be

created. This is an obvious truth today, as millions of people are starving

each day. The brave new world that Huxley speaks of, is a warning to mankind

concerning its destruction of the laws of nature. For example, marriage is

forbidden, as well as, pregnancies, and mothers are non-existent because

possible children result in abortion.

In Brave New World over-population is solved by society’s ability to

produce as many or as few humans as are necessary to keep the population at

equilibrium. The solution is test-tube babies or “bottled babies” as they are

referred to in the book. Effective birth control of such a large population is

difficult to achieve, especially in a society where people are encouraged to be

sexually active with numerous partners. Today, the world is facing over-

population head on, with mixed results. Abortions are not readily accepted by

most, and birth control in third world countries is virtually impossible.

Huxley realizes the problem with mass birth control, and solves it by making

seventy percent of the female population sterile, while only thirty percent of

the women remain fertile. By leaving thirty percent of the women fertile,

Huxley is able to show that even though birth control on a large scale is

difficult, it is possible to achieve. Through the religious use of

contraceptives, pregnancies rarely occur, however, when a pregnancy does occur

it results in an immediate abortion. Huxley’s fear of over-population and the

control of so many people is an obvious concern which comes to light in Brave

New World.

Brain-washing is suggested by Aldous Huxley in the form of manipulating

individuals, rather than the masses. While brain-washing and sleep-teaching are

different (the former being done while the subject is awake, and the latter

being done while the subject is asleep), both methods employed by Huxley, act

upon the subconscious to obtain the same final results. Prior to Brave New

World, Huxley researched the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov and his

experiments on dogs. The Pavlovian dog was subjected to highly stressful

conditions, this was done to teach the dog how to react to certain stimuli.

The end results of these tests were dogs who had been broken, became mentally

insane. Prime human examples are the veterans of the world wars, where victims

became incapacitated from intense stress and fear (known as “shell shock”).

Huxley suggests that teaching under such stressful conditions can also be

considered torture (in its most refined state). Huxley once wrote, “The

effectiveness of political and religious propaganda depends upon the methods

employed, not upon the doctrines taught.” Huxley believed that when mentally

programming a subject, it is not the principles that matter, but the techniques

used to instil these principles. Our modern society has come realistically

close to Huxley’s predictions. After all, for many years already, communists

have been renowned as being experts on brain-washing (in the form of mass

propaganda). This type of distortion of the human psyche lends itself

perfectly to the corruption and backward morals of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New

World.

Aldous Huxley’s dystopia is structured around the use of a pleasure

inducing drug called “soma”. Soma is a means of drowning one’s sorrows to make

them feel better and to create a positive feeling towards those who supply such

happiness (i.e. the ruling power). Such a drug, therefore, becomes the perfect

tool of the dictator, as it creates a more submissive and conformist society, a

society that is easier to control. Soma becomes the perfect escape from

reality, because its use is public, not private, thus, allowing for the

happiness to be shared among friends for an all around greater high. Soma can

be considered a wonder drug, a wonder drug that has always been searched for by

medicine. After all, soma has only positive effects (i.e. no side effects),

and can be used whenever necessary. Positive effects that may just reach beyond

the person’s body and onto their productivity at work. A current example is

Japan’s car industry, they believe that the dose of ginseng that each worker

receives daily, accounts for their output being so much higher then their

American counterparts. “…a little white tablet that keeps production workers

happy. The Japanese motor industry believes it is an important aid to its

productivity.” With all the different types of drugs now available the wonder

drug-soma, will most certainly soon arrive. Soma is used in Brave New World

the way alcohol, smoking and drugs are used in today’s society.

In conclusion, the future events of which Aldous Huxley predicted, are

quickly becoming a reality in today’s society. It cannot be denied that events

such as greater sexual freedom and over-population have already occurred and

are becoming even worse. As well, the use of sleep-teaching/ brain-washing and

mind altering drugs continue to be experimented with on a regular basis. All

of these factors combined make for a backward, morally corrupt and ethically

depraved modern society. It is this modern society which Aldous Huxley warns

against in Brave New World.