The Philosophies Brave New World and Anthem
The books Brave New World by Aldus Huxley and Anthem by Ayn Rand are both valuable twentieth-century contributions to literature. Both books explore the presence of natural law in man and propose a warning for what could happen when man's sense of right and wrong is taken from him. In this essay, I hope to show how these seemingly unrelated novels both expound upon a single, very profound, idea.
Before launching into the implications of these two novels, I believe a summary of the general human experience in each of the two societies is necessary. Brave New World illustrates a society in which science has been elevated to a god-like position. In this novel, human
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Soma is the drug of choice and is readily available. Solidarity services are required for each citizen to help keep conditioning in tact. With all the scientific preservation of the body, it reaches sixty in near perfect condition, but then rapidly deteriorates.
In contrast, Anthem is a society that has almost completely rejected science. It too is set in a futuristic time, but one that has regressed significantly. Believing science was evil, the controllers banished it and when the novel begins the candle is still a new invention. In this nation, breeding takes place once a year and children conceived are raised in group homes with codes instead of names. Students enter school and are discouraged from learning too much or being too inquisitive. Citizens in Anthem are forbidden to speak personal pronouns and to do so is a crime punishable by death. At fifteen, all students are assigned randomly to a job where they will work until they turn forty. At forty years old, the controllers send them to live in the Home of the Useless. After a full day of work, citizens all attend a social council meeting and then social recreation. Citizens are forbidden to be alone and communication with the opposite sex is strictly forbidden. Citizens have no drug to numb themselves, though they do not revolt or even express dissatisfaction, their despair is evident in the hopeless lives they lead.
Although, these books on the surface seem
Anthem is a story about how mankind enters a dark age where individuality is now eliminated by ‘The Council’ in an unspecified future date and unspecified location. The narrator of the novel, Equality 7-2521 is a rebellious young protagonist that conducts illegal secretive scientific research alone and writes in a journal in an underground abandoned railroad tunnel. This dystopian novella deals with authoritarianism as the government has taken control and assigns jobs and duties for every being based on the Council's decision. In the novels Anthem by Ayn Rand and V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, the totalitarian government takes advantage of their higher power to enforce strict obedience on citizens, without concerning for their opinions or wishes and removing their personal freedom, which causes a rebellious protagonist to take charge and struggle to find their freedom.
In Brave New World Aldous Huxley, creates a dystopian society which is scientifically advance in order to make life orderly, easy, and free of trouble. This society is controlled by a World State who is not question. In this world life is manufactured and everyone is created with a purpose, never having the choice of free will. Huxley use of irony and tone bewilders readers by creating a world with puritanical social norms, which lacks love, privacy and were a false sense of happiness is instituted, making life meaningless and controlled.
In the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huxley includes allusion, ethos, and pathos to mock the wrongdoings of the people which causes physical and mental destruction in the society as a whole. The things that happened in the 1930’s plays a big contribution to the things that go on in the novel. The real world can never be looked at as a perfect place because that isn't possible. In this novel, Huxley informs us on how real life situations look in his eyes in a nonfictional world filled with immoral humans with infantile minds and a sexual based religion.
Having been a somewhat of an outsider in his life, physically and mentally, Aldous Huxley used what others thought as his oddities to create complex works. His large stature and creative individuality is expressed in the characters of his novel, Brave New World. In crafting such characters as Lenina, John, Linda, Bernard, and Helmholtz, not to mention the entire world he created in the text itself, Huxley incorporated some of his humanities into those of his characters. Contrastly, he removed the same humanities from the society as a whole to seem perfect. This, the essence and value of being human, is the great meaning of Brave New World. The presence and lack of human nature in the novel exemplifies the words of literary theorist Edward Said: “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Huxley’s characters reflect the “rift” in their jarred reaction to new environments and lifestyles, as well as the remnant of individuality various characters maintain in a brave new world.
In this paper, I will be talking about the book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. I will be talking about characters such as protagonists and antagonists and how some characters impacted the story. I will talk about the setting, conflicts, and the plot of the story. I will also talk about literary devices such as point of view, symbolism, mood, tone, and theme.
Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced
Close your eyes and imagine a world free of war, suffering and pain; an environment that provides all the necessary luxuries to maintain eternal happiness; one that is stable, friendly, peaceful and enjoyable. In this world, every inconvenience known to man is rid of. We are no longer affected by disease, aging, heartbreak, depression or loneliness; conformity is at hand and stability is achieved. Now envision a world where there is no love, families do not exist, humans are no longer conceived yet created in test tubes, and sexual promiscuity is not only acceptable but enforced. Picture an environment where there is no religion, art or history. The human mind and body is assembled accordingly and we lack the freedom of
"'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orewell’s 1984 were both composed surrounding times of war in the twentieth century. The authors were alarmed by what they saw in society and began to write novels depicting the severe outcomes and possiblities of civilizaton if it continued down its path. Although the two books are very different, they both address many of the same issues and principles.
Our present world is both good and bad. Were separated by man-made borders. As the Brave New World is based off of unity, and being strict straight forward. Brave New World is written by Aldous Huxley. Although in our present world the people have to deal with sickness, death, and disease, but in the Brave New world you don’t have to worry about those things as much.
In conclusion, it is safe to say that Huxley 's utopia went about achieving its status in the wrong way. Mankind has lost its free will to the controlling powers of a system. This system cannot be called government, as it is more akin in characteristics to slavery. Man no longer has freewill and order is kept not through respect and intellect, but via degeneration and conduct. The former sections of this essay present strategies and techniques used to maintain order in a society of individuals. Finally, it may be argued that the Brave New World protects society by locking them in a cage of ignorance; however, this is at the cost of freedom, and this is unacceptable. Mankind needs be free in order to progress as has been explained. Protection is all well and good but not at the cost of
In the Sci-fi futuristic novel “Brave New World”, published in 1932, Aldous Huxley introduces the idea of the utopian society, achieved through technological advancement in biology and chemistry, such as cloning and the use of controlled substances. In his novel, the government succeeds in attaining stability using extreme forms of control, such as sleep teaching, known as conditioning, antidepressant drugs – soma and a strict social caste system. This paper will analyze the relevance of control of society versus individual freedom and happiness to our society through examining how Huxley uses character development and conflict. In the “Brave New World”, Control of society is used to enforce
Aldous Huxley wisely inserts many instances of distortion to the elements in Brave New World to successfully caution the world about its growing interest in technology.
In many cases when you read a novel you may find comparisons between the "fictional" society and your realistic one. The author may consciously or unconsciously create similarities between these two worlds. The novelist can foresee the future and write according to this vision. In Brave New World, Adlous Huxley envisions the future of our society and the dangerous direction it is headed in.
This novel displays exactly what Ayn Rand’s theory of Objectivism does not support in order to expose the weaknesses of her opponents ways and express the importance of self improvement. She puts forth for the reader the faults of a collective minded society as the leaders and society within Anthem attempt to control mans body and mind. Towards the close of the novel, as Equality 7-2521 discovers the sacred word he also comes to understand the perks of self improvement and striving to advance as an individual. The leaders and society attempt to accomplish the tyrannical end to their dictatorship through their control of mans body and mind by hiding the past and maintaining a collective