This is a final review on the book ″Brave New World.″ The rubric and instructions are linked below. Thank you!! Option 1: How does ideology aect the “Brave New World”? Do the beliefs of characters a

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Brave New World

Option 1

            Ideologies in a narrative can be described as ideas that reflect a group, culture or individual. Ideologies in Brave New World include those as consumerism or lovelessness, and shape characters and gives them qualities that are relatable to the society, affects morality, and character.  From the moment the book starts, people are brainwashed and babies in the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre are conditioned to do what the government wants or tells them to do – happiness, orgies, and consumption. With the addition of Soma, character beliefs and individuality are affected, and in doing so, transforms the whole narrative’s theme. We will look at the themes, giving an account of how they have manifested in reality and if they are becoming a fact.

            Brave New World by Aldous Huxley tries explaining which is better – being free or being happy. Happiness, as in this book, should be achieved through leisure, playing sports as ‘Obstacle Golf’ and other promiscuous activities. Soma is their utopian ‘wonder drug and has been put in place for people in the society to satisfy themselves with as they are human needs.

            In his use of consumerism as a varied ideology in the book, Aldous Huxley shows us how Bernard Marx takes Lenina on a ‘savage’ vacation. They met with John who comes back with them to London and afterward confesses his loves for Lenina. Though the young woman does not understand what that means, she instead strips, not knowing that John wants something more meaningful. This sees her thrown out, and the two men later face Mustapha Mond, who exiles Bernard but lets John stay to make the experiment go on (Benjamin, 2010).

            John lives his life in solitude in a lighthouse, and he is seen whipping himself hence becoming a media sensation. A big crowd forms with Lenina in tow and John also lashes her and calls her a skank. When others see this, they start popping Soma’s and start shouting ‘Orgy Porgy’ and start getting their freak on with John joining them. The ideas here show that since they were small, they were conditioned to happiness and carefree life of pills and promiscuity. Several hundred babies, as the narrative begins, are outside naked and involved in erotic play to make them adapted to the confidence and comfort of being sexually promiscuous. It was not easy for John to get out of this civilized world he was imprisoned in, and he committed suicide mostly from the guilt and shame of the events.

            The World State ‘crew’ had to adopt Fordism and drop all their beliefs. All their art, history, science and religion had to be forgotten and instead the introduction of Soma, the new religion had to be embraced.  It was also a means to offers hope, comfort, and acceptance. It was even better than religion as they had to pop a pill and wait for its effects. As Mond says, ‘Soma is Christianity without tears’. (Huxley, 210). It is evident from the book, how these people were trained to love their oppression and thrive on technology that completely changed their thinking. This state of contented domination foresaw the use of technologies for the final solutions, the rise of consumerism and their sexual liberation. What the World State fought for in short was consumerism, promiscuity, thinking as a group, rejection of solitude and castes discrimination amongst each other.

Option 2

            Destruction as an ideology in this utopian novel is crafted from the beginning and describes the future and its events unrealistically. This affects our reading as we shape the characters and relate to them as a defence mechanism. The ideological effect enables a reader to find narrative solutions to tensions within and outside the book, such as social, political or personal pressure. A reader, however, can engage with this frame in ways as engaging with the characters in the text, partially construct it or disregard the ideology completely. A reader, therefore, approaches the doctrine from either a social angle where there are stressors and other uneasy elements, a psychological perspective which ranges from psychoanalysis to recent study on cognition and finally from a traditional focus especially in language and the systems, paramount in an ideological proclamation.

            As a Marxist tradition, destruction as a narrative stance is a way to focus on social conventions and mechanisms and involves assumptions of the causes, as well as consequences. In its fantastic and unrealistic world, these things do not seem extravagant any more as some have become a reality with other soon emerging. There is the embrace of technology and the death of natural human formation and individualism. By embracing genetic engineering, there is a link to the modern world where there are processes as cloning and nanotechnology all use biotechnology to modify genetic structure. By reading through this lens, we get to see the link between this book and our world today where the institution of family is damaged and the use of promiscuity as a way to achieve happiness. It also leaves us wondering whether the book is to show us the happy side of the utopian world or the dystopia effect the destruction and the conditioning of humans.

            We can learn lessons as in as much as literature will make the reader conjure solutions and come up with probable scenarios or even maybe relating to a character. For these people, happiness was where they were living in, but they were not happy because of the oppression. On the other hand, those who were not oppressed and stood for individuality faced criticism and harsh punishment but got to stand their ground all the while.

            Though the book talks on future events, today most of these things are happening. This affects humans and subsequent generations. Let us use genetic modification as an example. By manipulating gene RNA and DNA there will be chances of determining the characteristics of the life. The book shows how people are bred in test tubes, similar to the mass production of goods. This is to control the population and prevent social instabilities. Creating and standardization of these human lives is detached from any form of emotion and there are no families as the government has total control and can add or make less the number of people. In the novel, we see the savage ask the Controller why they don’t make Alpha Plus humans to which Mond replied that there needs to be an equilibrium in the society which includes both stupid and intelligent people (Aldous, p. 103). Mond further elaborates how it is like an iceberg with one-ninth being the smart people and the more significant part made up of conditioned people who do their work without question (Aldous, p. 113). In another scenario, he uses the ‘Cyprus Experiment’ which was an Alpha Pluses-only island. As nobody wanted to do the boring dull work, war broke out, and many died as a result. Mond openly uses the powerful tool of standardization to control and maintain a stable society.

            In today’s world, cloning is becoming a ‘thing’ and is rapidly advancing. Fertility has women choosing what characteristics they want in an offspring, and they go for artificial insemination (Althuser, p. 303). Animals have successfully been cloned, an example being Dolly, the sheep who died in 2003 after having lived for seven years. Though it was initially a science experiment based on research, controversial debates and topics started emerging on how cloning could be useful in fighting diseases and finding new effective cures. Critics, however, warn that should cloning be allowed, it will not take long before people started misusing this, just like in Brave New World. As there are no more controversial topics now than cloning, it is hard to tell where the discussions will lead to. Cloning lobbying will increase as there are huge companies and industries tied to cloning. But there are many areas in genetic modification and recent useful research on stem cell could cure disease and play an essential role in medical research. Though they may find the idea of cloning terrible, it is important to note that unless these processes and events are managed, there will be uncontrolled use and misuse of such advancement bringing with it unmatched consequences.

            Though others say it is against their religious and moral beliefs, some refuse to allow cloning while others have sought and supported stem cell research to help cure and better manage genetic diseases. It might be difficult to find the fine line between these two contradicting points of view, but it is even harder to justify a topic with so many grey areas, yet its benefits outdo the boundaries.

References

Aldous H. (1932). Brave New world. United Kingdom, Chatto & Windus.

Althusser, L. (2016). For Marx. 14(2), p. 203

Benjamin, W.  (2010). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 22(3), p. 25