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I think it is interesting how these people who maintain morals are thought of as outcasts. We see this in our society today throughout our everyday lives. Those who stick with their fundamental beliefs are often ridiculed because they do not conform to the standards that society sets for what is right and wrong.

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I agree with you here Haydn, I think it is sad how the citizens of the new world are not allowed to experience religion in the traditional sense because it is determined by the state. Typically, in today's society, individuals determine their own religion and take solace in it; however, in Brave New World this is not the case.

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A theme I believe is very prominent in Brave New World is sterility. All throughout the hatchery, conditioning rooms, and even the everyday lives of the citizens a standard of sterility is maintained. Huxley paints the picture of environments that are strictly utilitarian such as a "squat grey building" (3), "large blank room" (19), and "Half a dozen nurses, trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscose-linen uniform, their hair aseptically hidden under white caps..." (19). Not only is superficial sterility a goal, but emotional sterility as well. This is necessary throughout the new world because it allows consistency and equilibrium to take place within the society. Without emotional "sterility", which is instilled in the population through conditioning, the social echelons cannot be upheld.

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I love the comparison of the society to a well-oiled machine and I agree completely with you. All problems have been solved and the people live with no worry due to the careful and tedious control over everyone.

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I think it is tragic that the citizens in the society don't and possibly won't ever realize this. They are forced to believe in the writings of Ford and furthermore rely on the desensitization of death and soma to feel at ease when and if they ever feel upset. It's something to find solace in without ever believing in something or worshipping the unknown.

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Aldous Huxley expresses a constant theme of control all throughout Brave New World. The government is set into classes and from the very beginning, no one gets to decide what they do with their life. They are who those above them say they are, and they are perfectly happy with all of it also due to hypnopaedic phrases learnt as children. Multiple times through out the book these phrases are said by many of the conditions characters as reminders are self-comforts. Furthermore, many of the higher-class individuals who work in the hatcheries around these growing fetuses and children can tell you exactly how many times a phrase is said a night and between what ages a specified Bokanovsky Group would hear them. Between these repetitive phrases and the meddling of growing embryos, control is already asserted to who this next batch of identical twin children will become. Free will is an illusion in this society with many distractions and years of conditioning that prevents many of the citizens from ever realizing.

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I found your response to be spot on. Although I had not fully looked at the idea of the World State's deception in order to achieve happiness, after reading your post, it is apparent. I like you comment on the state of our society using drugs to escape. And yes, even the actual drug, Soma!!

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I also found this to be an interesting theme in the book. Both freedom and independence have positive an negative experiences to be found in the exploration of each.

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I like your observation because it is bizarre to me how these are "equal" in a sense. Huxley saw all of this in a completely different light, he made our worst fears and turned them into happiness for their society.

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I love your incite on this idea. The "corruption" in our society today are their happiness, which I found rather unusual, but intriguing throughout the book. He took our society and completely flipped it. An alternate universe.

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I enjoy the false spirituality the members of the society are conditioned to 'worship' (although I do not agree with it). One can gain great comfort from relying on a power greater than oneself, learning from mistakes, becoming interested in being a better person. The 'religion' of the World State consists of using the processes of drugging, sleep conditioning, noncommittal sexual experiences and pre- ordained positions in society which leaves members unable to search for something greater than themselves, "There was a thing I've said before called Christianity..." to find fulfillment and joy and assist with comfort in the difficult times. Personal spiritual development is created by the World State and not allowed to be an option for one to discover on his/her own.

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Throughout Brave New World, Huxley portrays dominance with the government over citizens. The governments controls everything about society, especially the people in it and how they think. The government brainwashes the people in the society into believing who the government wants them to be, not who they truly are. From before people are born, the government conditions them into different type of workers and conditions their happiness into believing that working is their happiness. “And that," put in the Director sententiously, "that 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 destiny.” When the people find something that actually makes them feel something, besides the false sense of happiness from soma, or something takes away from their work, the government disposes of it. For example, the government conditions delta to hate flowers and nature so they do not stray from their jobs, “A love of nature keeps no factories busy”. Throughout their lives, everyone believes they are happy with the government and their way of life. They believe all is well, all the time. “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.”

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That's an interesting parallel between our world and Huxley's. I think it's a strong testament to how malleable humans and human values can be. At the root of the novel, Brave New World  is a satire of the civilization Huxley was born into. American society has been preserved since then in many ways, lending to the longevity of the lessons taught by the novel.

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Good observation. It's a shame that someone like Mustapha Mond has such a significant say in what is deemed "equal."

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In Huxley's novel, society is dependent upon deceiving itself in order to achieve happiness. This is mainly seen in the existence of the drug soma. Only after one obscures their true feelings behind a cloud of artificial euphoria can one be truly "happy." Soma is obviously a stand-in for the drugs we know and love in our society. People get high in order to temporarily forget what they don't want to remember about their lives. Fully aware of this, Huxley chose to reflect this same response in the people in his fictional society, albeit with a drug that is officially produced and distributed among the populous.

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I agree that absolute control is the single most important factor in maintaining order and stability within the society. Every possible issue is taken care of through extensive conditioning and no detail is left to chance because if there is even the slightest kink in the system, control is lost. An example of how easily control can be lost is when Lenina "suddenly [remembers] when, as a little girl at school, she had woken up in the middle of the night and become aware, for the first time, of the whispering that had haunted all her sleeps..." and "remembered her first shock of fear and surprise; her speculations through half a wakeful hour..." Although this did not affect Lenina long-term, it was a temporary loss of control because she uncovered a small bit of the truth, which could have been dangerous had she told anyone about what happened.

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It astonishes me how cultural norms aren't truly defined by what is right or wrong, but by how prevalent the customs themsleves are in society. Many of us can agree that children engaging in erotic behavior is explotative and wrong, yet in the novel, the concept was approached with a sense of normalcy. I suppose the concept of societal taboos develops the broader concept of cultural relativity- the idea that customs come from normalcy in a specific culture, not from universal moral standards.

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Your perspective is quite insightful, as it brings up the eternally-debatable notion of what true happiness is. Does true happiness come from freedom, and the ability to express oneself fully, even though it could lead to despair? Or is happiness derived from the absence of misery, even if the absence of sadness also creates an absense of opportunity? The answers of such questions are different for everyone, yet I completely agree that freedom vs. happiness is one of the key concepts explored in the novel. "The right to be unhappy" is a right many crave, while many others despise it.

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I think the conceptual philosophy of the social contract is prevalent throughout the novel (specifically John Locke's social contract theory). The social contract theory states that certain individual freedoms must be relinquished in order for the government to adequately protect citizens. In "Brave New World," those who reside in the postmodern society are not allowed sovereignty over their own lives and expression. In turn, this creates a foundation for the government to promote their own fractured ideal of happiness, whilst promising to eliminate misery for everyone.  Sacrifice is a theme present throughout the novel, though it isn't as mutually beneficial as Mustapha Mond wants the characters to believe. Even though the government creates "stability," they also trample fundamental human rights, such as liberty, opportunity, (true) equality, and the ability to express oneself culturally. Mustapha Mond even goes so far to ridicule concepts of libery by stating that "liberty (is) ineffecient and miserable" and "freedom (is) a round peg in a square hole." Sacrifice is also explored through John's experiences after leaving the reservation. He relinquished his freedom of choice on the reservation in order to live a "superior" lifestyle which was dictated by others in every aspect. Giving up freedom, although some may try to justify it, is a pursuit that will always be in vain for those that make the sacrifice.

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I agree that this theme overlays across the majority of the book. Without the perfect control of factors around each person such a society could never possibly exist. The control exercised is so fine-tuned the people do even know they are manipulated at every level, yet do not choose to resist.

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In Huxley's novel I feel that equivalent exchange is a major idea presented throughout the story. By that I mean sacrifice in exchange for something of equal value. For instance, the most obvious exchange would be the old arts for the current happiness and stability of the society. Another instance of exchange is the loss of having strong emotional ties to one other person such as in marriage in exchange for a vast amount of much weaker emotional ties to many people. Both of these exchanges are voiced by Mustapha Mond when he says " They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afaid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age" yet "they're plagued with no mothers or fathers; they've got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about" (Huxley 220). The system exists because of people like Mond who feel that one side of the exchange is better than the other which may or may not be true.

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I also picked up on the happiness vs freedom theme. What caught my attention about it was how differently our world views both ideas. I feel like I have been raised in a world where the most popular belief is that the only way to become truly happy is to be free. The difference is that people in our society are aware of their suppression for whatever reason it may be, whether it's race, sexuality, religion, etc. However, in Brave New World, the citizens have no idea that they are without freedom. Most of them are probably unaware of what freedom is. They are all forced into a specific role, but they are conditioned to be content with that role. They are not allowed to enjoy old art or literature, but they do not care because they cannot understand it and have no desire to. The contrast that American society was literally built on the idea of freedom while the society in Brave New World has practically eliminated the idea of freedom altogether struck me as unusual and interesting.

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I found your comment about how the corruption of the old world was introduced as normalcy to the new world in hopes to improve their way of life interesting. In some ways the society achieved its goals in making sex and drugs into an everyday part of life. Eliminating the shame that these things once caused allowed for the people to stay content. Their contentedness was an ultimate goal because it was the biggest factor in maintaining stability.

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Huxley presents a steady theme of control to maintain stability throughout the novel. This society runs like a well-oiled machine because of the careful planning of every person's role and the devices needed to keep them content. From birth, it is decided what class and career a person will hold. As Mond puts it the citizens of the new world are "so conditioned that they practically can't help behaving as they ought to behave". They are content with their jobs. They are not afraid to die. They have no worries about physical deterioration keeping them from being active due to technological advances. Soma allows for the numbing of any extreme emotion. All of the factors that could possibly cause the new world to have issues has been taken care of. The flaws that do exist, such as Bernard's abstract behavior, have no effect because the rest of the citizens simply ignore it. Control by the higher powers that exist is the only thing that keeps the utopia as a whole in such a secure state as it is. Their careful plotting has won over the people's compliance.

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I like your idea because it isn't really something I picked up on in the book. It is ironic that drugs and indiscriminate sex are viewed as socially acceptable and typical while things we value as a society such as relationships, families, and morality are seen as unfavorable and taboo in an alternate society. I like how you pointed out how eliminating the flaws of the previous society only made for new and different flaws within the new society. It is impossible to achieve a perfect utopia created by humans because humankind is innately susceptible to flaws and mistakes, no matter how precise and detail-oriented the creation is.

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I like your idea that the community in the new world are being suppressed of their freedom. I feel like this was indeed an important theme that Huxley added into to book, as the fake happiness that they feel isn't actually freedom for them to find what true happiness is. Since people like Mond are restricting what the public is allowed to see, they are unaware of happiness that they could experience rather than constantly distracting themselves with sex and soma. The Controller believes that this is "stability," but in reality it's a limit on the people's freedom, similar to the likes of communism, which repress the people's voice and restrict them from what the government feels is "bad."

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Throughout the book I always notice that what would be considered bad in our society was relatively well accepted in the new world. Things such as soma were used as a parallel to drugs in our world. Another example being the overwhelming message of sex. While in our society it is something to ideally be done rarely only with a significant other, people freely do it almost everyday with anyone they please. A main motto In this world is that "every one belongs to every one else," meaning that there are no long term relationships like we have but rather everyone indulges in each other without a second thought. This corruption is taught at an early age, as many children partake in "erotic play" and are taught these things by "hypnopaedia." The corruption of society has gone so far that it is no longer viewed as corruption but rather just a common way of life. In turn, people who still have some morals are thought of as outcasts or pitied upon because they believe something is wrong with them, such as how everyone believes the rumor that "somebody made a mistake while [Bernard] was still in the bottle." Overall, I found that the message was that no matter how perfect a society may be, it still has its flaws and corruption, and this book was just an alternate reality where these corruptions took control, hoping to solve the flaws of the last society by "getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it," and in the end only creating more flaws.

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Throughout the novel, Huxley discusses the price we pay for freedom and the struggle between happiness and independence. The average person living in the New World will always be relatively happy, but they will never be free, while those living in the outside world will have freedom but are not guaranteed happiness. Huxley points out how a person can not have unadulterated happiness as well as freedom. They must choose one or the other, and both options have drawbacks. By claiming freedom a person is also "claiming the right to be unhappy." Freedom is defined as "the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint." This comes with a lot of responsibility as well as conflict. When people are able to speak and think as they please, it leaves room for opposition and opposition can have serious consequences. This is why freedom is suppressed in Brave New World and why characters such as Mustapha Mond and Bernard Marx willingly give up freedom in favor of stability and artificial happiness for the well-being of the society as a whole.

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Read & follow the directions you see on the G.C. page for this assignment.