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Social Conditions In Brave New World

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Although Huxley intended Brave New World (1932) to represent a futuristic “utopia”, the prevalent motif of stability stemming from obedience can be found in real societies that existed before the book was even published. In the early to mid 1800s, the American South consisted of a social hierarchy and an economy that depended on the complacency of its slaves (including former slave, Frederick Douglass). In both the World State and the American South, the overall stability and “happiness” relied on the compliance of all people (especially lower classes) into a hierarchy; this compliance was achieved through mental conditioning and imposing ignorance upon individuals by denying education. Hierarchy was one of the major factors for stability …show more content…
In the World State, embryo conditioning included the addition of alcohol or deprivation of oxygen to stunt lower classes mentally and physically; in doing so, it was assured that they could never challenge the upper classes. Hypnopaedia further subconsciously forced upon each caste their specific beliefs. This was shown when the Beta children were conditioned, “I don’t want to play with the Delta children” and “[Alpha children] work much harder than we do…[I’m] glad I’m a Beta because I don’t work so hard”, which essentially guaranteed that Beta’s would never socialize outside their caste (Huxley 26). Besides this hypnopaedia, citizens of the World State were educated on little else. As for slaves, the majority were born into slavery and were taught only the work and the whip; education was forbidden. Douglass’s master, Mr. Auld, upon discovering that Douglass had begun learning to read, declared, “A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world”, which reinforced the idea that ignorance was critical to obedience which in turn was critical to social stability (Douglass 29). With a combination of conditioning that reinforced deference and the supression of education, the communities of the World State and the American South maintained their hierarchical …show more content…
The World State, in many senses, was ruled benevolently. Everyone was “happy”, even if the happiness was forced upon them. Conditioning was subconscious and rarely painful. In the South, the slaves underwent atrocities such as whippings, murders, rape, and worse. Their conditioning was violent and they rarely lived a “happy” life. Regardless, the citizens of the World State were just as compelled to remain in their “place” as slaves for the good of society. Both were “encouraged” to remain ignorant in order to remain compliant through a means of controlled conditioning and limited education. By stripping away individualistic freedom or the desire of knowledge, the government in these communities created submissive sheep in order to secure the foundation of their

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