The censorship of ideas by the all-pervasive state forms a barrier in the citizen’s minds, which halts the progression of human quest for knowledge and suppresses the freedom of thought and imagination. This is, and has been an everlasting advancement that our society in fact tries to promote in order to stimulate discovery and personal enlightenment. The citizens are content with their simple meaningless lives as it is shown in the novel when Mustafa Mond says to John the Savage during a conversation regarding progression, “We don’t want to change. Every change is a menace to stability” (Huxley, p. 153). This “non- revolution” is mainly achieved through the processes of conditioning and technological advances, for any subtle change even slightly conveyed into their society, might very well trigger a thought.
Conditioning individuals genetically, physically, and psychologically for their indisputable future stabilizes the caste system by creating servants who “love” and fully accept their servility. Conditioning makes them virtually incapable of performing any other function than that to which they are assigned. The citizens oblige, for they cannot choose otherwise. The Director, upon explaining to Mr. Foster the routine of his Hatchery, stated “sententiously, that it is the secret of happiness and virtue-liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destinies” (Huxley, p.16). In contrast, modern-day society encourages the utilization of free thought, in which we are able to regret our own mistakes and relish in our success and accomplishments.
The use of technology in the Brave New World also maintains stability by their method of “human production.” Standardization is the key of mass production. The society in the Utopian World is so dehumanized that even mass production is applied in creating babies. Mustafa Mond says to John the Savage after his outburst against Soma, “Every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive” (Huxley, p.225). Science in this case is a potentially dehumanizing force, robbing the human race of that which makes them distinctive, their creativity, their ability to reason, and their individuality. They are designer humans created in laboratories to fit the needs of a society whose highest goals are utilitarianism and happiness, which is the ultimate objective of humanity. “World Controllers” suppress individual initiative in favor of uniformity. Science is a truth, and brings newer realties with every discovery. This does not interest stability, and therefore was banned to go on with unconventional science. Throughout a debate with Mr. Watson, the Controller admitted,
Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can't (Huxley, p. 234).
Many sacrifices had to transpire in order to achieve the artificial contentment of the Brave New World citizens and its concept of stability. They had to renounce their individuality and truth. Our society, on the contrary, embraces the truth, and recognizes science as a means of expanding our intellect.
As Our society strives to enhance our thirst for knowledge and individuality, the Other World desperately tries to overcome any sense of emotional delight and either effortless or profound contemplation. This costly passion and fundamental mind power is essential for the endurance of humanity. The use of Soma in A Brave New World is symbolic of the detachment of the citizens from their humanity. The instant gratification, which they attain from the drug, allows them to escape the “natural” discrepancies in every-day life. Lenina, while arguing about the expense of freedom with Bernard,
Why you don't take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you'd be jolly. So jolly. (Huxley, p. 92).
It is nothing more then artificial bliss, yet the consumer of the drug is not aware of this, for the drug puts the being into a state of emotional numbness, and is especially used when the citizens are alone and in an ideal condition for personal contemplation. It is at this time, when the human is somewhat conscience of being an individual, that this “remedy” is used. It lets the being succumbed to synthetic stimuli that is able to distract his or her attention away from his or her battle for self-assertion. Aldous Huxley once stated that, “an ideal society is founded upon the ability of individuals to assert themselves freely”. Aldous Huxley used the concept of Soma in his novel to make it clear that the happiness incorporated into an ideal society must not be based on an illusion, a mere image of harmony, but on the actual feeling of bliss and freedom itself. After all, “image is nothing, thirst is everything”.
In contrast to Soma, a bogus substitute for pure happiness, religion is a product of an individual’s untainted thinking, and in this case, belief. Religion requires an enormous amount of individual emotion and practical thought. With an idea of a higher, unexplainable power, and consequently an idea of a more important aspect of life other than stability, the principle of faith and God would be detrimental to a Utopian society. Instead of pursuing spiritual goals, the citizens of the other society encourage physical ones. Pleasure is sought out strictly for the purpose of the human body rather for the purpose of its soul. Mustafa Mond, speaking to Bernard on the matter of the validity of God stated intensely,
Yes, we inevitably turn to God; for this religious sentiment is of its nature so pure, so delightful to the soul that experiences it, that it makes up to us for all our other losses (Huxley, p.239).
God is the only entity, which has the power to alleviate the soul, therefore a conviction in God, through any means of a belief system, can relieve man of all loses, but in a Utopia, there are supposedly no losses. In Our Society, God is an escape. Pure faith really can make up for losses. God, in the Brave New World is ignored, while a simulated God, namely, Henry Ford, is worshiped. Their entire belief system revolves around the principles of a previous human, whose innovations set the stage for the procedures practiced in the Brave New World society, including its stability. Mustafa Mond shares a petty “Fordian inspiration” with the Savage, to educate him on the matters of Fordian faith when he states,
And as for doing things–Ford forbid that he should get the idea into his head. It would upset the whole social order if men started doing things on their own (Huxley p.243).
This notion of personal dependence, conveyed by Ford, also known as Freud, is a small piece of the foundation holding the Other Society’s concept of social stability together. Henry Ford, once stated, “You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is accomplishment.” It is apparent and simultaneously ironic, that not only is their very own “divine idol” emphasizing the importance of independence and personal ambition, but he openly is acknowledging the significance of emotion and free thought, attributes that Our Society cherishes and rarely undervalues.
The dangers that homogeneity and detachment pose to the quality of life are present in the framework of the Brave New World society. The citizens, unknowingly, must forfeit natural, individual sentiment and interpretations on life for the purpose of the state and at the expense of a meaningful life. The key focus in the Other Society is on the ends of human existence. Their fear of progression, the control of an all-pervasive state, the intake of mere fantasy in the form of Soma, their Freudian religion founded upon “fraud”, and their process of inhumane conditioning, all prove that they are unable to grasp the simple notion that “life is not about what happens to a man, but what happens within him.” Thus, as the lifeless society of the Brave New World will forever burn in the inferno of meager monotonous existence, while our modern-day society of pure essence, though imperfect, will constantly strive to rekindle that small gleaming flame that lies deep within every individual- the human spirit.
