Essay No Control of Happiness in Brave New World

Mahatma Gandhi one defined happiness as “when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Barring any better definition of happiness from either positive psychologists, self-help gurus, or any other academic source, I tend to think this is a great summation of the definition of happiness. Gandhi doesn’t say anything about how these things make you feel, rather looks at it from a point of view of harmony between thoughts, expressions, and actions. Since one single accepted definition of happiness doesn’t seem to exist, and happiness is different for everyone, this begs the question; how can you increase your own personal level of happiness?

Happiness can be experienced if there is no love, hate or passion, sadness, relationships, or family. One of the central themes of Huxley’s “Brave New World” is to erase emotions and feelings from its citizens to achieve happiness. This society is based on logical thinking, and all evidence of history and religions have been destroyed. The closest thing to a religion or God that the citizens have is Ford Company founder, Henry Ford. Ford is motivated, and an innovator that has a vision for the future and has a way of getting things done. Huxley’s choice of Ford as a god-like figure depicts that the most significant value of this new world is production and consumerism. Consumerism is of the

All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny” (Huxley 16). In Brave New World, the quality of stability is predicated on the community’s suppression of individualism. This suppression lies buried behind a conditioned, synthetic happiness. Similar to Brave New World, Ayn Rand, author of Anthem, illustrates society’s introduction to artificial happiness early in life. In the novel, the Council of Vocations assigns the protagonist and prophet Equality 7-2521 a profession. He must carry this duty with him through the remainder of his life to maintain personal order, in other worlds, social stability. Equality 7-2521 wishes to become part of the House of Scholars, the most prestigious of positions, but discovers disappointment when declared a street sweeper. Equality 7-2521 elucidates, “We would accept our Life Mandate, and we would work for our brothers, gladly and willingly, and we would erase our sins against them, which they did not known, but we knew” (Rand 26). Equality 7-2521 has only known to accept what life has presented to him. He floats on with his tasks with a positive attitude, though he hides his true feelings behind the artificial happiness instituted to suppress his capability of becoming an individual. Social stability, society’s goal in both Brave New World and Anthem, eliminates the possibility of individuality by masking it with a superficial happiness, implanted in individuals from birth.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As you know these words come from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest documents ever written. However, I do have a little problem with the last four words sentence, “the pursuit of Happiness” because I believe it actually sends an easily misinterpreted message.

As man has progressed through the ages, there has been, essentially, one purpose. That purpose is to arrive at a utopian society, where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger, or sadness is unheard of. Only happiness exists. But when confronted with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, we come to realize that this is not, in fact, what the human soul really craves. In fact, Utopian societies are much worse than those of today. In a utopian society, the individual, who among others composes the society, is lost in the melting pot of semblance and world of uninterest. The theme of Huxley's Brave New World is community, identity, and stability. Each of these three themes represents what a Brave New World society needs

happy life. The individuals in Huxley’s Brave New World are “conditioned” to do the same

Imagine being the only person in the world to know an imperfect society. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and, Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy are two novels about a a corrupt government trying to create an ideal society. Both novels address the different social classes that exists in the new societies. Literary critic Elke Brown wrote an article about how Brave New World is in fact a new world. In these two novels the societies are broken up into different social classes and, how the government controls the citizens to make the world perfect.

From the moment of birth, to the moment of death, humans are flooded with emotions both good and bad. Individuals are continuously seeking fulfillment, some failing to find it while others succeed. Many seek adoration; love, accomplishment and greatness. In literature, authors take the readers on journeys that allow imagination, granting the possibility for the reader to grasp inner desires and decide what is truly important in life. Literature allows readers to dive into a different world where happiness and fulfillment is plentiful and eternal, also described as a utopia, while other pieces of literature direct the reader into a world of dissatisfaction which is a dystopia. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is in 26th century England. With

When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary uses three definitions for happiness: good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can redefine happiness through the government’s manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, keeping a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it: the ability to pursue and enjoy individual desires.

"A library of wisdom, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it." -- Plato

For our Economics subject, we watched The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie based on Chris Gardner, a salesman who was not making that much money and eventually experiences homelessness with his five-year old son. He faces problems when his wife is unwilling to accept his goal to become a stockbroker and leaves him. However, he perseveres even under all this stress.

In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, a new society is created to secure happiness for all the people living in it. By doing this, they sacrifice truth, choice, family, science, and art. The government provides them with everything they need to be happy in life because they agreed to give up complete control of their lives. If I were given the choice, I would live in the world we live in now rather than the Brave New World. Like John, a “Savage” born outside the world and then brought into it, I think, “Well, I’d rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here” (Huxley 179). Even though there would be times when I am uncomfortable, unhappy, in pain, even though I would have to experience loss and disappointment, at least I would be living a full life full of emotion and some purpose.

When it comes to predicting how something will make you feel in the future, you will most likely be wrong. In the book Discovering Pop Culture, edited by Anna Romasino, is the article “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness”. In the article, author Jon Gertner talks about how people think certain things bring them happiness but aren’t as fulfilling as they may think. Gertner gives examples by writing about four men that have been questioning how people predict what will make them happy and how they feel after it happens. Among these men are a psychology professor Daniel Gilbert, psychologist Tim Wilson, economist George Loewenstein, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Gertner uses facts from scores of

What is being happy actually like? With the money, school, work, friends, family, etc. issues, how is it possible to become fully happy if there is always something that could be interfering with it? We live in America that promises us to to be all equal and can experience the “life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But every news show that’s turned on, we hear about a 13 year old “entertaining” child who’s trending on every social media network about her disrespecting her mother more often than the issue on two American adults making terrorist threats and waving a confederate flag at a black child’s birthday party. We Americans get the free education until we graduate to find out that we actually don’t know what

The story of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness directed by Gabriele Muccino portrays a family who struggles with finding enough money to pay taxes and afford living expenses. The movie takes a place in San Francisco during the 80s. The two main characters are the father Chris Gardner and his son Christopher, Will Smith and Jaden Smith respectively. Gardner tries to support his family. But every time he attempts to make things better, they always end up worse. Gardner in the story wonders on "how to be happy?" He earns his money by selling the bone density