Totalitarian controls in Brave New World - Assignment Example

Totalitarian controls in Brave New World Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley written in the year 1931. In this novel, the writer predicts improvements in psychological manipulation, operant conditioning, reproductive technology, and sleep-learning. The novel starts in London where the director of the hatchery and his assistance Henry Foster gives a tour to a group of boys. Later Bernard goes to the reservation in the company of Lenina. While at the reservation, they meet John who accompanies them back to the world state after a nod from Mustapha Mond. While at the World sate, John becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the life style at his new environment. John finds himself in a dilemma because of his feelings for Lenina who is also in confusion due to John’s refusal to have sexual relations with her. John finally has disagreements with the world state officials because of their policies which he terms as dehumanizing. He then relocates to the country to garden. John eventually hangs himself because of the nature of life in the world states which he considers inhuman. This paper aims at discussing how totalitarian control is achieved through informal control in the world state society. This novel depicts a society that practices totalitarian controls. This is evident through informal social control portrayed throughout the story. The first incident of informal control is seen in the conversation between Fanny and Lenina in the bathroom. Fanny scolds Lenina for having a relationship with Henry for a period longer than four months (Reiff 121). Through this, readers get to see scolding as one of the ways used by the society in the world state to control the social behavior of the citizens. Scolding manages to completely reprimand certain social behaviors thus reducing their existence in a society. In this society, sex had no emotional attachments thus Fanny did not see the essence of seeing the same man for such a long period. The exclusion of sexual shame from the society is also another means used to control the society in the world state society. Readers get to know this through the incident involving Linda and the people that lived in the reservation. While it was socially acceptable for a woman to sleep with each and every man in the world state society, people at the reservation saw this as a highly shameful act. This is the reason as to why Linda was banished from the society (Bryfonski 157). This also explains John’s isolation from the society. Back in the world state, acts like these are not regarded as shameful due to the advancement in reproduction technology, which leads to sex being considered as a procreation activity. This is also attributed to by the successful emotions suppression. When Bernard, Lenina, Linda and John return to London, Bernard saves himself from being taken to exile by introducing Linda and John. The shame and ridicule that follows this introduction forces the director to resign (Levey 89). This shows how much informal control was strong in the society. This is because in typical societies, a person in the position of the director would only be forced to leave the office by the law. In this case, the shame of being a father forces the director to resign from his position. The shame is a result of the fact that sex was never considered a reproduction activity in this society. Informal control is also evident in the way Helmholtz reacts to the Romeo and Juliet passage. This reaction reveals that ideas about love, marriage, and families were not common in the world states society. These ideas were highly ridiculed by the citizens and are the reason as to why Helmholtz finds the passage about Romeo and Juliet amusing (Bloom 213). Though it a reaction by just one citizen, one can tell that this would have been the reaction of all the citizens in the world state society. When comparing this novel with Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, one realizes that both novels show the effects that technological advancement can have on the existence of human beings. While Brave New World puts most of it emphasis on reproduction technology, Fahrenheit 451 emphasizes most on the effect of television to the lives of human beings. The writer of Fahrenheit 451 argues that excessive watching of televisions erodes moral values. John is unable to fit into the world state society due to the fact that human qualities that he believes are mandatory completely lacking in the world state society. Mustapha Mond on the other side argues that the exclusion of these characteristics leads to social stability. Through the consideration of these facts one can conclude that technology might have negative impacts to the normal existence of human beings. In the novel Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell, the writer depicts an oligarchical society where the leaders highly manipulate their subjects. They achieve this by the use of incessant public mind control and continuous surveillance. This kind of manipulation is also evident in the world state where the masses are manipulated through suppression of their emotions. The manipulation is evident in the way the citizens in the world state are unable to make any emotional decisions. They are also kept in darkness with maters regarding human activities that normal human beings would find impossible to live without. They are also made to view these activities as ridiculous and useless. This can be the reason why the people find John’s way of living rather funny. In both novels, the protagonists John and Winston Smith find themselves at loggerheads with the authorities. As a result, both protagonists face disciplinary measures. Throughout this novel, one can see the extent to which human lives can be affected by technological advancements. The effects can be either positive or negative. For instance, the lack of strong emotions can lead to peaceful coexistence and economical advancement through maximum economical participation. On the other hand, human beings are denied the freedom of participation in activities that can only be useful to them if they had the emotions. Technology can also render human beings vulnerable to manipulation. This is evident in the way the citizens of the world state were unable to realize that they were being manipulated. The fact that the people at the reservation found the activities of those at from the world state intolerable shows that technology can make human beings uncomfortable at some point. Work Cited Bloom, Harold. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print. Bryfonski, Dedria. Bioethics in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Farmington Hills, Mich: Greenhaven Press/Gale Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Levey, Nick. Brave New World. St Kilda, Vic: Insight Publications, 2011. Print. Reiff, Raychel H. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. Print. Read More