BNW Questions ~ #2

1. How does the concept of success and contentment with life in Brave New World differ from what we view to be contentment in our society today?
In our culture, happiness is defined as something that is meant to accompany success, which is something that in turn is designed to be individually achievable. In the One State society, happiness is a state-facilitated process that comes through the use of the feel-good drug soma. Rather than personally select the path that an individual believes will bring them contentment, as we do in American culture, people are induced from birth to automatically be satisfied with whatever position they have in life. This is why Mustapha Mond ponders, "It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes–make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere, that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge. Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true. But not, in the present circumstance, admissible" (chp. 12). He recognizes the absurdity of the idea that happiness is based on a goal that can be achieved or by the gaining of knowledge, rather than something that is essentially "inborn".


2. How does the One State's view of what is considered sexually "moral" be treated in our society?
In American culture, it is typically the norm for women to be sexually passive while men are the "aggressors" in the relationship. Women are more commonly expected to be chaste and not behave in the way men traditionally do. In Brave New World's society, "everyone belongs to everybody", and sexual promiscuity amongst women is not only common but considered moral. This is why Helmholtz finds Shakespeare's writing of a woman selectively choosing to be with one man is absurd, and comments that Shakespeare is a "marvelous propaganda technician" and that "he had so many insane, excruciating things to get excited about" (chp. 12). Conversely, this setup within our society is considered the norm, and if Helmholtz were to share his view with the average American today, they might react not only with shock, but with disgust as well. Unlike in Brave New World society, many people in American culture cite the Bible as the basis for what they believe in morally, and the Bible staunchly opposes any setup other than a one man-one woman arrangement.

3. How does Brave New World's society differ from 1984's?
1984's society utilizes fear tactics to enforce conformity; Brave New World's utilizes mental conditioning from an early age to make conformity the only choice available. Yet, those who do not conform entirely are not hunted down by the government to be locked away; rather, they are simply admonished to behave more morally. I believe the reason Brave New World's society does not immediately rush to kill off anyone who does not conform is because the sleep-hypnosis and genetic conditioning is typically so effective that "revolts" are not viewed as serious threats. People in 1984's society might be able to envision the possibility of another type of world, and if they do, they are taken to the Ministry of Love to be tortured and reformed mentally; in Brave New World, change from the government's established norm is not seen as possible, therefore, it is not as much of a concern.