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Essay / The hidden barbarism of a restricted society in the Brave New World
Two opposing societies, one of luxury with severe conditioning and conformism, and another of freedom with savagery and sacrifice, coexist in the age modern. In the dystopian novel Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley juxtaposes these two different worlds through his character John who travels from his home on the Wilderness Reserve to the World State, where he soon jeopardizes the supposed sanctity of the company. Although the World State appears to be the most civilized and desirable society, the Reserve instead protects the purest ideals of humanity through the virtue and passion of the savages who live there. In order to achieve true happiness and fulfillment in life, one must embrace these humanistic ideals encompassing the capacity for knowledge, authenticity and individuality, given that this capacity is enabled by the form of government and society in which they reside. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First of all, acquiring knowledge is one of the key factors needed to achieve true happiness in society. For example, John talks to Bernard about his life on the Reserve, explaining how “gaining skill and power” gave him “extraordinary pleasure” and “intense and absorbing happiness” (134). Clearly, the work and hard work put into mastering a certain skill and learning a certain trade is extremely important to John. He openly admits that acquiring various skills and knowledge as he learns more about certain aspects of life adds significantly to the true fulfillment and happiness he experiences in life. In another case, Mustapha Mond admits, when reviewing a scientific article, that "the purpose of life [is] not the maintenance of well-being" as is the case in the World State, but "the 'expanding knowledge' (Huxley 177). As one of the global controllers of the dystopia, Mond is expected to be one of the World State Corporation's strongest advocates. However, this is not entirely the case. Mond does not personally believe in the same ideals he supposedly promotes; instead, he believes in the same core ideals of the Reserve, which include the pursuit of knowledge. He himself declares that the true meaning and purpose of life is the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and not the mindless conformity of the mass of society. The search and thirst for knowledge and wisdom in life is clearly a crucial element in the quest for true happiness and fulfilled worth. Then, authenticity is also necessary for happiness, because without it, the same feeling of happiness is unreal and therefore false. As Mustapha Mond speaks to students at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center about past society, he metaphorically refers to past religion as "paradise", in which people "drank enormous quantities of alcohol" (53). . In this passage, Mond speaks of the previous civilization with disdain, because people were supposedly so dissatisfied with their lives and their faith that they turned to excessive drinking to cope. However, the World State is the exact same scenario as the previous society, if not worse. The passage actually serves as a metaphor not only for Mond to explain the past world to students in the novel itself, but also for Huxley to indicate to readers that the utopia, the "paradise", that he created through his writing. breeds the same dissatisfaction of the past, but instead of excessive drinking, it is excessive drug use with soma. Moreover,..