Division between
Reality and Delusions
One of the ways in
which Huxley’s dystopian vision can be seen materializing today is
through
the division of
reality versus delusions. In the context of this paper the term
delusion is a world
created by a
person to escape from an uncomfortable or problematic situation. The
way
Huxley’s novel
displays this division is through the drug soma and conditioning
techniques-
hypnopaedia. In
the novel Brave New World these two techniques have been used to make
sure that the
rules of the community are not challenged, and in modern society
these two
techniques can be
seen serving the same purpose.
In the novel Brave
New World, hypnopaedia is used to condition people so they follow
specific rules,
but more importantly so they have a “moral education” (Huxley
13). Through this
technique the
people have been groomed to act a certain away, and not question what
they
have been told. In
the beginning of the novel it can be seen how children are taught to
know
their place in the
caste system, how to interact or think about those in different
castes, and
others rules that
prevent themselves from thinking for their selves. For example, when
Lenina
and Henry are in
the helicopter; Lenina states "What a hideous colour khaki is,"
[…] voicing the
hypnopaedic
prejudices of her caste (36). Here Lenina is not making an
observation based on
her personal view
but rather one that is taught to her. This shows that Lenina way of
thinking is
not realistic but
rather an illusion because whatever she is thinking is not of her
mind but rather
something that was
taught to her through hypnopaedia. Hypnopaedia is something that is
used
today but rather
than doing it when the children are asleep they do it when they are
awake. For
example, from a
young age children are taught what is right and what is wrong by
their parents,
and these pieces
of information are stored in the child’s mind and they later use
that during the
adult life. From a
young age a child does not think on its own, but rather thinks the
way they
are taught, which
is similar to the children in Brave New World.
Another way Huxley
depicts the dystopian vision materializing today is through the drug
soma. In the novel
soma is a drug that is used to ensure that a person is happy, and
does not
have the notion to
think for themselves. For example, when Lenina and Bernard are in the
helicopter and he
wants to spend the night talking rather than having sex, she cannot
understand his
thought process. She instead takes soma, and convinces Bernard to
take soma
so that they are
not defying the rules of society. Here Lenina is using soma to escape
from
reality and enters
a delusional world where she does not have to think for herself. In
modern
society drugs
serve the same purpose as they do in Brave New World. Drugs today are
used as a
means of escaping
from a reality where one does fit in or has troubling adjusting. So
by using
drugs people enter
a delusional where they can fit in and coexist with one another,
rather than
face reality.
The way the novel
Brave New World solves the problem of escaping reality is just the
easy route. From
personal experience I can assure you that the easy way is not really
the easy
way. It would be
better to face to reality rather than to escape it.
