Struggle for individuality

Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, describes to his readers a futuristic society that is greatly corrupted. This effect occurs with the absense of family and faith, the obssesion with physical pleasure, and misuse of technology. This essay will compare three different mentalities in Brave New World and their harsh consequences. The first of these mentalities is the Utopian's way of thinking. The second will analyse Bernad Marx's struggles to be accepted in a society which despises him. The last will be Helmholtz Watson, a man of great intelligence and physique who wishes to write profound litterature to express himself in a society that rejects any form of analytical thinking. Huxley suggests to his readers the effects that technology has on human individuals. This book represents the struggle of certain characters for recognition in a society that devalues individualism.

In Utopia, each person is engineered in a test tube instead of a mother's womb, and the majority of them are succesfully conditionned to respond to the goverment's needs. Each new human is placed in a specific class such as Delta, Alpha and so on. By using hypnopaedia they condition everyone to accept their roles in Utopia and favor the government's ideas. A dislike of roses and books, for example, is enforced through electric shock while the children are still babies. "They'll grow up with what the psychologists used to call an ‘instinctive hatred of books and flowers".(Huxley, 21) They are conditioned to think and act only as a member of their class, rather as an individual. It is hard to imagine that in Utopia, there are certain people who are unhappy with their appearence, status or relationships. To please the society, the government inforces several things which comply to the needs of Utopians. Soma, as an example, is a wonder drug that is taken when people are feeling down and lonely. This drug can be compared to what we call today prozac. But, unlike prozac, soma has no side effects whatsoever and when taken, the Utopians are transported out of reality and into eternity. This drug boosts up their self confidence and enjoy their lives. It brings them closer together which in consequence leads to a lack of identity and individuality for the members of this society. They also use social gatherings to bring themselves close together. As an example, the Solidarity Service is a church ceremony that ends with an orgy. As the novel states: "waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their twelve separate identities in a larger being"(Huxley, 80) , the role of this event is the fusion of all their identities and be only one.In Brave New World, Huxley demonstrates to the readers the power of a totalitaian goverment and its effects on our identities.

Huxley portrays several characters who struggle with this society. Bernard Marx, an Alpha plus, is a member of the psychology Bureau of Central London Hatchery. He feels awkwardly about his physical appearence and, many people associate this anomilie to an accidental dossage of alcohol in his blood surogate while he was still in the tube. Despite his superior intelligence, he suffers of an inferiority complex towards members of the lower classes. He is the first character in the book to which the reader can easily relate to. He dislikes sports and enjoys to be alone, two very unusual traits among Utopians. He also seems to dislike casual sex, another abnormality for such a society.He is unhappy in a world where everyone else is happy. At the reader's first glance, Bernard has unorthodox viewpoints and is an outcast from Utopia. His solitude differs him from the other Utopians; this trait of character defines Bernard's personnality and gives him a disctintive identity. In the beggining of the novel, Bernard seems to like the fact that he's different, of being a non conformist and an outcast of Utopia. Thethe news that he'll be sent to Iceland frightens him quite a bit, Bernard is desperate to do anything. After meeting with Linda and her son John at the Savage Reservation, Bernard convinces them to come back to Utopia where they belong. This wasn't an act of generosity but an act of selvishness because he doesn't want to be exiled to Iceland. When he returns from the Savage Reservation with John.He is suddenly popular with important people and successful with women, and he loves it. A change takes place in Bernard as a celebrity - he enjoys the attention he now receives. Underneath, he has always wanted to be a happy member of the ruling class but never had the chance to prove himself. Bernard is finally accepted by Utopia and has no objections to this idea. After the riot at the hospital for the soma rations, Bernard, Helmoltz and John are sent to Mustapha Mond's office. During the interrogation, Bernard acts like a coward and blames his friends by saying:"You can't send me. I haven't done anything. It was the others. I swear it was the others."(Huxley, 232) On his knees, he begs when the controller brings up the idea of being sent to an island. He is scared of his destiny and wishes that he wasn't so arrogant and self-centered with John's popularity. After the meeting with Mustapha Mond, Bernard regrets what he said about his friends and apologizes to them. It is at this point of the novel where the reader can see a clear change in Bernard's mentality. He finds himself in the state he was before visiting the Savage Reservation; alone and happy.

Huxley also portrays a character which struggles with Utopia's propaganda and litterature. Helmholtz Watson is a brilliant and handsome man who is successful in sports and with women. He is an emotionnal engineer in the Department of writing. He is similar to Bernard, a nonconformist who knows that the world is capable of better and greater litterature than the propaganda he teaches and writes. He wants to challenge society in understanding the concept of true litterature. As an example, Helmholtz read a couple of rhymes concerning solitude to his students and his job was threatened if he didn't stop. This shows the great concern the government has with propaganda that is obscene and ridiculous. By stating to Bernard:"Did you ever feel as though you had something inside your that was only waiting for you to give it a chance to come out?"(Huxley, 70), Helmholtz is litterally crying for help for someone to guide him thorugh that light of great litterature. Indeed that light comes before he is even aware of it. When John the Savage introduces him to Shakespeare, Helmholtz only appreciates half of it despite his genius due to his conditionning. He doesn't understand why Shakespeare used words such as "mothers" and "father" and he even brokes out in an explosion of uncontrollable laughter. He wonders why Shakespeare was such a "marvellour propaganda technician". After Mustapha Mond's verdict, Helmholtz accepts exile to the bleak Falkland Islands in the hope that the company of other nonconformist will stimulate his writing. He is a man with a dream that he will never let go, under no circumstances.

Yet, Brave New World represents Aldous Huxley's views of the future from his times, 1932. Back then, the world was in war and the Nazis were invading, the earth looked doomed. This satirical novel provocked controversy upon the governments concerning the world's faith. By using different mentalities, Huxley showed to his readers that even in the hardest and difficult times, there is always someone fighting for.