Brave New World

Written by: Aidin Beck
An Insight Into the future?
Brave New World by Aldus Huxley is a captivating book that peruses the idea of genetically engineering people and populations. Considering that this book was written in the 1930’s, many of the scientific concepts are very advanced and are explained in an astonishing amount of detail. Brave New World emphasises the issues that modern science could present to large populations. One daunting view of advanced science is the idea that populations could be specifically engineered to create perfect societies. In Brave New World, Huxley imagines a society where people are created in laboratories so that they can be genetically modified to fit in an appropriate level of society. The population is made up of Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Epsilon classes. Alpha and Beta consist of the smartest individuals while Gamma and Epsilon belong to the least intelligent. Each individual is selected to belong to a group before being created. The process of creating humans is called ‘Decanting’ and certain processes are initiated for creating humans that fit each class. For example, to prepare a foetus for a life of mindless repetition and limited brain capacity such as an Epsilon, the foetus is subjected to oxygen starvation to prevent the brain from fully developing. Alphas are treated much differently by being subjected to many growth enhancers and vaccines to keep them healthy and thriving.
This process of government controlled populations completely hinders genetic variation and destroys any possible chance for an individual to be unique or free minded. These decanting processes are undergone so that each class will enjoy their life and their job that they are assigned. In essence it creates the perfect society but is morally appalling. Brave New World shows the importance of genetic variation and uniqueness and that rapid growing technology can greatly affect out world with negative repercussions. Huxley identifies certain attributes that this society maintains because of its advanced technology. For example, Alphas are bred to be very intelligent and dedicate their lives to advanced science and other important subjects. This allows very rapid growth in science and medicine while the more simple tasks that provide the building blocks of society are performed by lower classes.
Aldus Huxley identifies that science and technology are very important in improving our world and society but that if we allow ourselves to be controlled by technology we risk losing individual creativity and distinctiveness. The advantage of an extremely technological society is that medicine has been greatly improved and has become totally efficient. Aldus Huxley identifies how the society in Brave New World has been affected by technology and this society parallels our own. For a book written in the 1930’s, it shows an astonishing accurate prediction of what our society has become and what awaits us in the future. Huxley warns that advancing technology should not be abused by humans and should rather be used to benefit a society without completely controlling each individual. Readers will surely be captivated by this book as it provides an insight into our future. We see reminders of growing technology every day, mainly from big sources like the media or even simple experiences like personal inquiries about your neighbour’s new gadget. Technology has helped propel our population into a spiral of evolving tools. Aldus Huxley shows the clash between our changing world and the primitive world. This clash is identified by the Savage Reservations that belong to people without technology. These remote articles of land provide homes for people that strongly resemble First Nations. The main character, Bernard, wants to change his life to live on these Reservations because he feels he is not accepted in the other society. Huxley shows the importance of maintaining and remembering that we should respect nature and that we are moving too fast. Is this change for the better or for worse? Brave New World will provoke any reader’s insight into the way we are changing our and hopefully encourage people to recognize the importance of our planet’s habitat and life.
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