Brave New World Essay

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a revolutionary novel written in the 1930s, portrays a futuristic world presenting the idea of human cloning. Based in Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (HCC), a Director of the company conducts a tour for a group of students within the factory explaining how they genetically engineer, predestined unborn humans. Students frantically and enthusiastically scribble down short understandings of each procedure in their notepads as the (un-named) Director explains a social system, split into five castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons. Humans are categorized according to their caste and grown preordained to their status; higher the caste, the smarter and creative the individual is developed to be. We see human’s identity being born genetically, through science and technology getting lost by the government’s imprisonment or ‘conditioned’ humans using techniques like the Bokanovsky’s Process, oxygen deprivation, alcohol dosed and hypnopaedia. This alienation, futuristic world gives a sense of fascination and horror as Huxley paints a society that controls thoughts, emotions and what this world would come to if technology took over, even if it has the power to increase our life span.

Brave New World’s unsettling and sinister setting is achieved through the totalitarianism society represents today’s social equality being transformed into a rigid caste system. Reproducing humans uses the supply and demand rule where humans are used to efficiently maximise profit. The building is ‘squat grey’ and ‘cold’ representing an uncomfortable atmosphere filled with suspicion and mystery. There are two distinct classes; Alphas and Betas being the intelligent upper class do not associate with the lower class Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons as they are anonymous in identical colour coded clothes and only subsists to attend to the upper classes. For example, the lower class Epsilons and Deltas are conditioned to work happily at their jobs. Their infantile behaviours and compliance to hard labour is forced upon by the company making the individuals without individuality. This means their lives already predestined is inescapable because of the conditioning and psychological genetic engineering effects, creating them to love wholeheartedly their servility. HCC Company uses hypnopaedia and induced alcohol into an embryonic to decreasing the lower class’s intelligence before they were even born. So when they grow up they can only function and is incapable for functioning for, any other tasks than the task assigned to them. As readers, we sympathise the predestined human clones as they have no power or control and we implant negative thoughts of the company’s theories. This leads to a doubtful question for readers to query what humans are really made for.

The Director within the novel briefly explains the company’s theories and purpose for cloning through the character’s dialogue. Their purpose is to have: “Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!” Here, between an individual and society conflict is constructed. An individual’s identity is copied 96 times resulting in loss of identity, morals, emotions, dignity, uniqueness and overall, a loss of humanity within the individuals. The Director continues describing heat conditioning, a process where individuals develop above average rate for efficient mass reproduction. Their aim, or has already been achieved is making people, ‘Like their inescapable social destiny.’ And is apparently their secret of happiness and virtue, it’s like their moral’s value things we as readers definitely do not value. Instead, we reject the procedure because humanity is what we value and this is also what Huxley tries to illustrate for us, a world where technology and medical intervention control leads to, like the novel’s genre; a dystopian world; a society where individual importance is diminished and anything that would not contribute towards the company is eradicated.

                                                  

The novel uses plot to warn us the overuse of technology. However, you may be asking where the ‘science’ section went. When we study science, we study for knowledge, whilst technology is what you can do with that knowledge. Therefore proves why science is not needed within the novel, ‘We don’t need human intelligence.’ The company’s experiments and theories are already sorted to apparent perfection, but just needs to advance in the bettering of the technology. The Director touring a group of students are ‘young, callow’ and innocent whilst explaining dehumanization like it was the greatest invention ever, ‘Scientific triumph’ and ‘Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!’, referring to the technology’s modernisms.  They ‘triumph’ over the technology, because it ‘stabilizes’ the society that is already ‘socially useless’. Social stability is one of the mottos the company values, ‘Community, Identity, and Stability’ and is known as ‘Grand words.’ But really, their mottos actually focus around the technological growth and improvement, economy and industry.  Huxley published this novel back in the 1930s, warning the overuse of technology for the future generations to come and is currently and gladly illegal in Australia. 

Crusty owt x0x0