Brave Old Lies for a "Brave New World"

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that Huxley's negative view of technology as presented in his novel, "Brave New World", is a one-sided perspective that ignores the positive aspects of technology and how it can benefit society.

From the Paper:

"In Aldous Huxley's dystopic Brave New World, humans live in a consumerist world where all human life is directed by the twin scientific miracles of the opiate soma and behaviorist child-rearing and procreative practices that direct the lives of its people. It is easy to look at this book and see it as an example of a world gone wrong in which science has been allowed to usurp the humanity of the masses. The ease with which it can be interpreted in this way is due to the fact that this is how the protagonists see the story unfolding. However, one must keep in mind that Huxley is presenting a very skewed view of this new world, because he draws the force of his narrative sentiment from the point of view of the Savage. The society portrayed is of course dystopic in many senses. However, in many other ways it shows great promise and potential for being superior to anything that preceeded it. Science and technology in Huxley's new world present opportunities for happiness and human achievement which are both misrepresented by the author and openly rejected by the close-minded inhabitants of that world."

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• Book Review # 1308 : "Utopia in Aldous Huxley's Novel "A Brave New World"

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