The question is would you ever hide the truth from a friend, relative, or relationship? Would you sacrifice your happiness for the truth? Or would you sacrifice the truth for happiness? If you had the option to create a world based on lies for the benefit of peace and happiness, would you? Aldous Huxley created a world of his own, that highlights the constant battle between truth and happiness, titled Brave New World. He emphasizes his opinion that one cannot achieve both truth and happiness at the same time without being tainted. Georgia Hannifey further highlights this conflict about today’s society and how Brave New World is a clear representation of where our society is heading.
Brave New World, published in 1932, is an unsettlingly sterile and meticulous society based on the future that revolves around the idea of totalitarianism. Brave New World expresses conflict strongly through Huxley’s sophisticated and controversial depiction of his vision of the forthcoming world. With the constant relation to hypnopaedia in the novel, readers begin to adopt an opinion around the methods of this new society. In the novel citizens are taught principles such as; sex is a recreation, drugs (soma) are good, and imbibing in these are both necessary and for the greater good. However, as the book unfurls, these principles become more contradicting. The savage in the novel explains that “one believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” (Page 207). If people were forced to believe that their actions are primarily their own and within reason, then are they not being deprived of the truth? The leaders of the Brave New World society withhold information from every being they control to keep peace and stability in the civilization.
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Many people in today’s society are unaware of events and incidents that occur due to the disconnectedness of the world. Governments today, similar to the leaders in Brave New World, are one of the causes of this disconnection. With these critical people, it is often viewed in society that their roles give them the right to suppress information from the general populace. However, after many years, files have been discovered that have withheld topics such as John Major’s visit to Oman and Saudi Arabia in 1993, immigration rules, and weapon sales to Middle East countries. This information that was withheld resulted in the lack of truth from instances such as terrorism, national threats, and government corruption. By doing this the government is also depriving the world of knowledge to keep us happy. And if so, are we not living in this totalitarian world that Aldous Huxley wrote about? However, what if this conflict of truth versus happiness was reversed? If it were rather happiness versus truth? One of the savages defiantly states, “I'm claiming the right to be unhappy,' (Page) therefore stating he wants to know the truth. Therefore, it is asked again would you wish to live in ignorance for the luxury of happiness, or would you face the unforgiving realities that may confront you?
In the book, humans are engineered to be accustomed to how they live. The book highlights this through not being able to do certain things because they are engineered to think some of them are wrong, similar to how we believe certain things like lies, murder, and hate are wrong in today’s society. Mustapha Mond says, “We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own. We did not make ourselves; we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We are not our masters.” This quote shows the struggle of living in a world under the rule of a government that lies to its citizens. The book’s relevance in today’s society is shown through the constant lack of choice in our actions. In contemporary society, we are held back from doing things because of how we are brought up, all different countries around the world have different beliefs and systems that they follow, similar to the book. A study by the Urban Child Institute shows how the way a child is brought up, and where they live, can affect long-term development. “The home environment can even affect a child's brain development. ... children who grow up poor are more likely than other children to drop out of high school. Therefore, the book has a clear resemblance to the world we live in, consequently showing its relevance and how it is beneficial for people to indulge in.
Humans are often faced with choosing between being sincere or mendacious. If and when you are faced with this option, which would you choose? If you had the option to create a new “ideal” world controlled by lies, would you? Or would you continue with the world we live in? One of war and honesty? Where you are free to live with an opinion and entirely within the truth? Aldous Huxley reveals the truth within his novel surrounding truth and happiness. He states that “that is the secret of happiness and virtue, liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.” This battle between truth and happiness that is prominently displayed in Brave New World clearly expresses the relevance that this novel presents in today’s culture. Therefore, the question arises once again, would you sacrifice your happiness for the truth? Or would you sacrifice the truth for happiness?
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