Brave New World Revisited Reaction

In 1958, Brave New World Revisited was written by Aldous Huxley 27 years after Brave New World was published. In the 1958 book, Huxley discusses the increasing similarities of our world to his Brave New World. He observes that the course our world is set on will lead us to a world very much similar to Brave New World. He uses points to convey this idea such as: the problem of over-population, the acceleration of organization, more effective mass means of communication, and so on. 

Aldous Huxley spends a portion of the first part of the book talking about the issue of over-population. With human life so rapidly increasing, at some point natural resources will run out and the world's population will die out. This clearly is a large problem. Huxley discusses the idea of making life in space possible to prevent over-population, but clarifies that this would not fix anything by comparing it to when Europeans migrated to the Americas starting in the late 15th century. This comparison spoke of how the migration of the Europeans did not solve the problem of over-population at all. Furthermore, Huxley talked about how not only is the world becoming over-populated, but also the quality of the human life is going down. In the past, babies born with hereditary defects would usually not make it far past childbirth. Nowadays, however, with our society's medical care, people born with hereditary defects are not only able to survive their youth, but also reproduce. This, naturally, decreases the quality of the human life form. I found this idea to be enlightening, and interesting. It was enlightening because I honestly had not ever really thought about the world becoming over-populated before. After reading what Huxley had to say on this I was immediately interested. However, it is not a topic I would particularly like to dwell on. 

When Huxley first brought up the point of over organization, I was a little confused. So what does he mean by this? Simply put, due to the fact of our ever-increasing technology, new systems are constantly having to be put in place. By conforming to these new rules of society, people are losing their individuality. Makes sense when explained. 

Obviously effective means of mass communication are an easy tool for the government to control people. With constant repetition of the government's ideas, people eventually start to take on whatever worldview or thought is being thrown at them. Tell a lie long enough and loud enough and people will start to believe you. Huxley makes the point that democracies typically use inconspicuous repetition and subliminal messaging to control, whilst a totalitarian government is more ruthless and open open how they will control people. These ideas are similar to that of the conditioning that goes on in the Brave New World.

I believe that Aldous Huxley is simply a genius. This set of essays was concise and clear on how our world is accelerating quickly into his Brave New World. It was incredibly interesting to read. Also, he did not just leave the reader hanging there feeling depressed about where are world is headed, he also talked of a solution. This solution is the education of freedom.  Huxley made the analogy of a bird to convey his solution clearly. The quote he used was this, "Any bird that has learned to grub up a good living without being compelled to use its wings will soon renounce the privilege of flight and remain forever grounded." 

Reaction to Brave New World

To be honest, I found Aldous Huxley's Brave New World to be very odd. That is not to say that I did not enjoy it, because I did--somewhat. Stories with corrupted so-called "Utopian" societies always intrigue me. Huxley's writing style was very straight-forward. Despite this, however, it was very unique and at times scattered.  In chapter three, for instance, the scene changed constantly, sometimes even sentence by sentence. His style is certainly unusual, but fantastic all the same.
It is interesting to note the irony in the title, Brave New World. The title comes from Shakespeare's The Tempest, and was spoken in the novel by the character John, or "The Savage". The reason this title is so ironic is because the society they were living in was a hidden disaster. It looked nice from the outside, but it was clear to the reader, and John as well, that this Brave New World, was quite twisted. 
Out of all of the characters in the story, John was the most interesting. With Shakespeare's works as his "bible", his incessant quoting of the plays was enjoyable. John, the protagonist of the story, could see how faulty the society was. His debate with the controller, Mustapha Mond, defined the novel in my opinion. Mond spoke of how the society was made to benefit everyone, but John, seeing through this, brought to light that the fake happiness Mond spoke of was wrong. John, however, closes the novel by hanging himself.
Overall, I think that although the novel, though interesting, was somewhat depressing. The fake happiness that the novel was based upon held an air of hopelessness. Therefore, Brave New World was not my favorite read, but it was worth reading nonetheless.