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Essay / Analysis of Mustapha Mond in Brave New World
In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, world controller Mustapha Mond must reconcile the imposition of the repressive values of the World State with his powerful knowledge of a world pass. It is precisely this knowledge that allows him to control the world of AF 632. Community, identity and stability are the values he preaches to his millions of citizens. However, he embodies a different point of view, which leads him to value the world; With this in mind, Mond made an extra effort to study physics and appreciated the craft of Shakespeare. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When John confronts Mustapha about how he is breaking societal rules against reading, Mond responds, "but as I make the laws here, I can also break them" (Huxley 234). The novel aims to “ironically reveal the inadequacies of the present” (Firchow) through its satire of society and capitalism in the modern world. However, in this novel, literature and knowledge place Mond ahead of all men in the world, instead of the immense wealth which often ensures power today. Mond is apparently a hypocritical character, who imposes a code on his subjects that he does not follow. He is treated like a god when he is called "Your Fordship" (Huxley 150) and it is a satire of the immense respect and reverence that people in today's world too often show to a an individual with immense wealth. Being in charge of someone's happiness is a lot like being a literal caregiver. Mond states that “happiness is a difficult master, especially the happiness of others” (Huxley 244). This statement reveals how Mustapha views his position as controller of the world, as if the whole world were his children, as if he were God himself. His image of himself as a caregiver, and of the people as their children, places him well above the people and therefore above the law. This arrangement relates to the novel's intentional satire. Mond is like a rich man who is put on a pedestal and. believes that the rules do not apply to him (reinforcing the novel's connection to capitalism, some characters have the names Rothschild and JP Morgan.) Mond says that stability and peace come at a price and "that is the price we must pay.” pay for stability...you must choose between happiness and what people called high art” (Huxley 236). His decision to form this new world by choosing a safe and stable world rather than one of creativity, expression and disorder. is a great sacrifice for the human experience. Mond is an “exception [to] the Freudian concepts [which] dominate the motivation of all the characters in the novel” (Clareson). Although almost the entire world is subject to social conditioning and restructuring, Mond is a third party in society and remains unmoved by the new world order he helped create: “The deep voice vibrated thrillingly; the gesticulating hand implied all space and the rush of space. the irresistible machine. Mustapha Mond's speech was almost up to synthetic standards” (Huxley 238). His deep voice helps reaffirm his powerful image as a “Fordship” and global controller. Mond states "that he, along with the other world controllers, took upon his own shoulders the pain of life's ambiguities and indecisions in order to spare those less capable from having to endure such emotional and psychological pressures" (McDonald) This mentality aligns world leaders with nothing less than Christ himself, who has assumed this responsibility. his burdens of pain during crucifixion in order to blot out sin.