An Explanation of Satire in Huxley’s Brave New World
In Aldous Huxley’s classic Brave New World, his strong humanist perspectives can be seen through the strong extrapolation throughout the paper. The book was written primarily to enlighten Huxley’s readers about the dangers of the accomplishments and advancements of society of his day. Each element in the work is carefully crafted to represent something in society, as Clareson says “By 1931 some factual basis lay behind each ingredient in his ‘perfect’ world” (Clareson). Huxley makes strong inferences about the flaws of science, utopian society, and the dangers of progression in society. Strong correlations can be seen with Brave New World and the problems our society faces today.
In regards to science, Huxley makes drastic conclusions and creates colorful illustrations about the progressions of society. Most of the characters in the work exemplify Freudian theory. Moreover, Huxley draws strong principles from Pavlov’s Behaviorist School to create the structure for his utopian society. ”The education in Island does not seem vastly different from the kind of Pavlovian conditioning which Huxley had scathingly attacked in Brave New World" (Birnbaum). Many direct correlations are made with society, as well as some more subtle inferences. For example, hypnopaedia was widely practiced in the twenties and thirties. With the invention of the electroencyclograph science eventually proved Huxley’s suspicion that this “sleep-teaching” was largely ineffective. Another example of a more subtle creation would be Soma and its correlation with happiness.
In the beginning of the novel, Huxley masterfully paints his utopian society for the reader. The elements of this society are carefully arranged to represent this mock utopia, while at the same time questioning the very nature of society itself. Firchow says it perfectly in his essay, stating “The focus on leisure, rapid transport, amusements, synthetic substitutes, and...