Aldous Huxley

When Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, nobody imagined that his fairytale story would someday be a reality. It is almost scary to see how accurate Huxley's far-fetched fantasies came to be. When Huxley wrote about the conformity, drug use and sex and technology of the society, he was almost pinpoint exact to predicting today's societies. Unfortunately, all of these things haven't exactly changed our society today for the better.

It is amazing to see how accurately Aldous Huxley was in his predictions to human conformity today. The novel's classes of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons each have assigned roles. In the novel, each caste is brainwashed into believing that it is crucial and important for the well being of the society as a whole. Since everyone is brainwashed at such an early age, nobody really questions the order or rules. However, there are always those few who refuse to conform. The novel's John, Helmholtz Watson, and Bernard Marx were all exiled from their society by the World Controller Mustapha Mond. Their actions involving the soma in the hospital were considered far too disruptive to society and they were no longer allowed to co-exist in the preset world of Ford. Our own world is very similar to the world of Ford as we 'exile' all who are different. One example of a group whom our society's majority refuses to accept is the gay population. They could, of course, chose to go against their ways and date the opposite sex just so that they would be accepted, but because they do not, most people refuse to accept that and therefore exile them. The conformity struggle starts as young as elementary school. Popularity is based upon those who conform the best and follow everyone else and unfortunately, those who are different and stand out are usually harassed for their differences.

Drugs are one of the most copious problems that exist today, as we are beginning to see more and more of them in today's society. Drugs have even become commonly used by today's youth starting as low as elementary school. The need to feel that 'high' has become more and more common. Unfortunately, the drugs used in today's society aren't as safe as those used in Huxley's world. "Soma" is the drug of choice in Huxley's world which gave similar 'highs' as does ecstasy, but did not have the harmful side effects. It is amazing that Huxley came up with this psychological high so many years ago that has an uncanny parallel to today's society. Aldous Huxley has been able to again predict a quality of the world that we live in today. Unfortunately, when one is caught doing or selling drugs, they could be fined or given a jail sentence that could last many years in our society. While Huxley's world has a consequence free lifestyle, our harsh world has punishments and the possibility of overdosing that can take life away.

The world that exists in 2005 draws many parallels to the fictional one presented in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Technologically speaking, the world that Bernard Marx inhabits has witnessed a total change in the way that humans are created. No longer are children conceived by parents who are responsible for raising them into functional members of society. Instead, one fertilized egg is split into what could be made into thousands of identical clones, producing a "batch" of children who are essentially photocopies of one another. These embryos are categorized into Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons to represent their roles in the social hierarchy. Each of these batches are socially conditioned by subversive methods of brainwashing that eliminate the potential for these people to question society at a later point. In this world, the family unit does not exist and the concept of having a mother and father is considered a primitive quality of humans. Technology has subverted the world so much that even God is replaced by Ford. Constant references