Brave New World

I just finished reading this awesome book called ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley. One of the most amazing social satires I have read, the book was written nearly 7 decades ago, but the situations it describes are still the same.

 

Without giving away too many plot details, let me try explaining what it talks about.

 

It talks about a society in the future, which has evolved from the way our ‘primitive’ society is today. There are various social classes – Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Mankind has devised ways to generate upto 96 humans from one embryo itself. Hence, the lower classes are ‘batch produced’ to ensure that mechanical jobs are performed by absolutely similar people.

 

Also, to ensure that they have the same mental make-up, the children are subjected to Pavlovian conditioning, and hypnotic treatments. Consequently, after a speeded up aging process, voila! Humans are ready. Since the model of operation is like that of an assembly line, the society doesn’t believe in GOD. However, they do believe in the father of assembly line production – FORD! Therefore, they worship ‘Our Ford’.

 

There are no ‘parents’ because the mode of reproduction is asexual. Humans have heterosexual sex, but purely for entertainment. Society encourages promiscuity, and having just one partner is frowned upon. It is taboo to talk about marriage or pregnancy.

 

Obviously, since people are trained/conditioned for only one kind of job, there is no wish to switch. So, it’s a stable society. People are not supposed to spend time with themselves. They have to be part of a social group. They can either be in bed with a partner of their choice, or participate in ‘religious’ ceremonies, that involve consumption of an intoxicating drink called ‘soma’ followed by an orgy.

 

Seems like a utopian society, right? It probably would’ve been, except for the presence of one man, who is a non-conformist. Because of his shorter stature, which is equated with lower classes, his high-class compatriots consider him an outcast. He takes the woman he ‘loves’, on a trip to a ‘savage’ colony, and brings back two of the savages.

 

Because of this feat, he now basks in glory, and ends up being a changed man.

 

I think I should stop here, and let you experience the story for yourself. The ‘social conditioning’ part made me wonder – are we not being conditioned to be clones? Any kind of classroom education that we have, typically refuses to consider individual differences, and believes that since the input being provided is uniform, the output should be uniform too. Aren’t we being trained to become conformists?

 

And don’t we create artificial social classes, based on our own whims and fancies? Don’t we try to condition people around us? Hence, I found the book pretty relevant.

 

Irrespective of whether you’ve read the book or not, I’d surely like you to express your views about these questions.