In Huxley’s Brave New World the reader is presented with a world where; the governing body, known as the World State has eliminated many of the problems we find in many aspects of our society today. There is no crime, no poverty, no unemployment and most importantly no discontent among the general populace. Everything is not quite as grand as it would seem however; and the author makes it clear throughout the novel that this new world would not be the ultimate Eutopia that it sounds like it should be. This holds especially true when we compare it with social status quo of today. The reader is left with question of whether or not freedom and individuality are worth sacrificing for security and comfort.
This new world illustrated within the novel takes place well into the future, where the World State has taken authority and power over the population to new heights. Control of reproduction, genetic engineering, conditioning (using repetitive messages during sleep) and the perfect drug (with no side effects) called “Soma” are the fundamentals of this new society. Reproduction has been put into the hands of technology; with conveyer belts and reproductive workers altering embryos to produce different grades of people.
This novel raises the question of whether or not there can ever be a perfect working environment, whether or not it is possible to make every worker happy. Even if perfect jobs existed, who would they be perfect for; indeed it seems that in order for such a circumstances to exist we would have to throw away some of the things we cherish most in our societies today, individuality and freedom of choice for example. This novel makes one contemplate whether it is the easy job and happy life that we as individuals truly desire; or whether we are more satisfied by the sense of accomplishment we get in the pursuit of one.
These grades range from the very highly intelligent Alphas down to the dwarfed semi-moronic Epsilons.
Each class has been conditioned to genuinely love its type of work and its place in society; for example Epsilons are only truly happy doing mundane work such as running elevators while Betas take on more advanced tasks such as working in labs as technicians or assistants. Outside of work, citizens live their lives in constant pleasure. This involves continually buying new things (whether they need them or not), participating in elaborate sports and candid sex. A big contrast on current values from the world described in the book is that uninhibited sex is universal and considered socially constructive, while love marriage and parenthood are viewed as obscene.
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