Cowardly Current Dystopia In Aldous Huxley’s Novel “Brave New World”

Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, published in 1932 proposes a moderate, abstemious dystopia of a futuristic society propositioned in AF 632, eons ahead of modern day civilization in the aspect of decade. Mass production is utilized for machinery or merchandize but is not excluded from for the reproduction of people. They are separated in a caste system of Epsilons, Deltas, Gammas, Betas, and Alphas. These categories are predetermined by intellectual capability as well as physical manifestation. Reliant on narcotics, this community doses itself in a sedative called “soma” in the form of “gammes” or tablets to distance themselves from pessimistic emotions. In a constant state of euphoria, desires and impulses are not restrained but rather encouraged and acted upon thusly.

Polygamy is unsanctioned, and individualism is discouraged. Unity is represented in mantras that are mentally conditioned into children to create a society predisposed to peace. Those that do not conform to this lifestyle or outwardly reject it are either outcasted to places called “savage reservations” or islands that include New Mexico, Falkland, Iceland, and various places monitored closely by the government’s prying eyes. The development of modern society is inclined towards the dystopia presented in Huxley’s novel and is rapidly progressing en route to. Divorce and infidelity, legalization and usage of pharmaceuticals, and accessibility to the voyeurism industry are just few grounds for the argument of the development of modern day society into the paradigm described in Brave New World.

Huxley’s depiction of his version of a futuristic society mirrors the dystopia currently in modern day. The novel portrays marriage as an unwelcome taboo, as visible with the distaste towards the commitment on the “savage reservations.” John the “Savage” shouts “impudent strumpet” (Huxley, 196) and “damned whore” (Huxley, 194) at Lenina, a woman coming on to him and soon punished physically by his hand for her unabashed behavior towards sexual relations; however, it is this unashamed promiscuous behavior that Huxley promotes, which has overcome today’s world. This is evident in The New York Times when confessed that, “ 5% of married women and 25% of married men have had extramarital affairs” (Brody).

Infidelity is the current contingency plan of marriage, so modern day is moving towards stripping away the restraint of matrimony through abstaining from long commitments. The common phrase everyone has associated with wedding proposals is: 50% of marriages end in divorce. Half of the American population has appeared to have migrated towards Huxley’s ideals of accepted polygamy and denial of monogamy. The New York Times depicts these monumentally progressive trailblazers not as “doormats” (Brody) but as “warriors” (Brody). It is quite common to leap from spouse to spouse. Current society is snowballing into the novel’s dystopia by the brazen acts of impotent conduct upon assorted sexual partners through infidelity and divorce.

Furthermore, Brave New World mimics current day through the utilization of sedatives. The National Institute on Drug Abuse addresses that, “Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States” (NIDA). The recent legalization of marijuana, a mind-altering drug, in various states can be synthesized to the opioid in Huxley’s dystopia. A widespread addiction in his society, marijuana is having a similar effect on citizens in modern day communities; it is a near epidemic overrunning the people with sluggish hazes that leave them on autopilot; just as, gammes do. The novel desensitizes anguish and affliction through the exploitation of narcotics in “getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it.” (Huxley, 238). A currently numbed out society, today’s world escapes conundrums by losing themselves in a pipe dream, metaphorically and literally.

Substance abuse has pillaged its way through millions of Americans presently, impacting perspective drastically. A pendulum of conservative beliefs has swung exceedingly towards liberal ideals paralleled in Brave New World. The pharmaceutical industry, though not used as a method of payment as the novel depicts, is still blossoming into a prevailing mainstreamed mechanism applied to dull the senses. The Center of Addiction informs that, “More than 15 million abuse prescription drugs” (Califano). Resembling euphoria chasing subservients, both the novel and current day communities emulate the dystopia that has developed in Brave New World and is still in recent times fabricating itself into becoming a replica of Huxley’s vision.

Moreover, promiscuity is conventional in the novel and nowaday civilization is accustomed to such obscenities. The definition of voyeurism is, “ the practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others” (Voyeurism). This is demonstrated through what Huxley refers to as “feelies” (167) which are films that mimic the sensations of scenes onto the body of its audience. Modern day is progressing towards this smuttiness by viewing pornography electronically and manually. Magazines, DVDS, Literotica, and websites are adapting to approving what were once considered to be unholy sinful acts.

Statistics present that such indecencies are unapologetically recognized; “Forty-three percent of Americans now believe pornography is morally acceptable” (Dugan). A crucial concept defended in the author’s scripture is the removal of restraint around lewd tasks, so today exemplifies this by the screening and participation of intercourse. The pornography industry has stabilized and developed into a full blown market; the novel uses an increasingly more advanced way to luxuriate in it, but it is a universal application to manipulate pleasure. Brave New World and the development of current society collide to relish in gratification and are evidence of a budding dystopia.

Though genetically juxtaposed in the makeup, Aldous Huxley’s publication of Brave New World was a neared all encompassing prediction of modern society. Today is counterfeited to the dystopia envisioned in the future, despite limitations such as prejudice distilled into communities. Marriage, narcotics, and smut are premises both worlds’ substructure their undertakings upon within reason no other than nirvana. The final chapter, the final lesson, remarks that after the exposure of civilization, the protagonist asserts, “It poisoned me, I was defiled. And then…I ate my own wickedness” (Huxley, 241). It is this near apocalyptic existence that has ravaged modern America and the mentalities of its people.