“Brave New World” is ironically utopian, or only dystopian from the outside looking in. The controlling powers go to great lengths to ensure that everyone is happy and content. The Alphas are happy to be Alphas, the Betas are happy to be Betas, and the Gammas are pleased as all get-out to be Gammas (the Alphas and Betas must be under so much stress!). Even when Bernard Marx’s discontent proves incurable, he’s not neutralized or erased; he’s sent to a colony (apparently quite nice) of other malcontents, where he’ll be free to be himself without disrupting the system (John the Savage could not be helped, but then he was “looking in from the outside”).
If you were born into “Nineteen Eighty Four,” most likely you’d be wretched and miserable. If you were born into “Brave New World,” most likely you’d be lovin’ life.
(If you want to see how close we are to Huxley’s world, read Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”)
“Brave New World” is ironically utopian, or only dystopian from the outside looking in. The controlling powers go to great lengths to ensure that everyone is happy and content. The Alphas are happy to be Alphas, the Betas are happy to be Betas, and the Gammas are pleased as all get-out to be Gammas (the Alphas and Betas must be under so much stress!). Even when Bernard Marx’s discontent proves incurable, he’s not neutralized or erased; he’s sent to a colony (apparently quite nice) of other malcontents, where he’ll be free to be himself without disrupting the system (John the Savage could not be helped, but then he was “looking in from the outside”).
If you were born into “Nineteen Eighty Four,” most likely you’d be wretched and miserable. If you were born into “Brave New World,” most likely you’d be lovin’ life.
(If you want to see how close we are to Huxley’s world, read Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”)