Brave New World

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Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

Literature

Aug 7, 2018

What people can’t get in the technologically determined society of Aldous Huxley’s imagined future are family, religion, literature, art, individuality, love, or a genuinely human relationship of any sort. In this brave new world, poverty, conflict, and unhappiness have all been eliminated by way of controlled breeding and the antidepressant influence of the ubiquitous tranquilizer soma. Reminiscent of Gulliver’s Travels, Huxley’s fiercely funny portrait of a civilization gone mad with manufactured happiness is ingeniously satiric, hilariously imaginative, and eerily prescient. Its unbridled invention makes it a most entertaining cautionary tale.

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Jane Huttner

Jan 31, 2020

While it would be great to have no poverty, conflict or unhappiness, I think giving up our individuality, having real relationships and love would be too great a cost. It was only by keeping everyone drugged with soma, basically enslaving them, was the system able to keep going. I found it very interesting that while non of the population could have literature and old books, the Director not only had them; he read them and enjoyed them.

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