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Ivy Ponce

DiSomma

ERWC - Period 6

24 April 2017

Bread and Circuses

The World State citizens and the Savages both exist in the United States today. In Aldous

Huxleys Brave New World, a pessimist and dark future is told about our society in a way that is

impossible to deny that the authors fears came true.

Huxley feared that we would be given so much that we would be reduced to passivity and

egoism. From the beginning of the novel, it is set that there are differences between the classes

which are highlighted through the novel, for example, by not [having] lower caste people

wasting the communitys time over books (22). The problem here is that that is something set

by the governors of the said society, like Mustapha Mond. The government in both the World

State and todays America, in their sense of superiority, refrain from giving its people,

specially the lower classes, significant knowledge, simply dooming them to live in ignorance. It

is safer that way, a society that does not think can not defy its governors. The same concept is

seen with Lenina, who remarks what a hideous color khaki is (62). This shows not only the

prejudice of her caste but also how quick she is to judge others, the feeling of compassion for the

lower caste not once crossing her mind. Today, we express the same feeling of obliviance

towards others, not glancing twice at a homeless person in the street or at a waitress at a

restaurant. Bernard, different as he is from the others, does not escape this egoism, for the act of

criticizing heightened his sense of importance, made him feel larger (157). Bernard found a

sense of
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superiority in criticizing the society in which he was born in, believing himself to be more

enlightened by seeing what others did not. This does not escape our reality as many people find

their greatness in something otherwise meaningless, like their amount of followers on Instagram,

using that to diminish others. Linda exposes the passivity of the World State by answering Johns

question on how chemicals are made with a simple I dont know further explaining that

[they] get them out of bottles [and that] when the bottles are empty, [they] send up to the

Chemical store (130). The World State citizens do not do anything entirely by themselves. And,

in a world of Drive-Thrus and Uber, nothing could sound more familiar.

Brave New World also shows Huxleys fear that we would become a trivial culture. People of

the World State find peace in Soma which, for them, is christianity without tears (238). The

drug is an escape pod from reality. For us, such relaxation and happiness comes from the

internet, a place much like their Soma paradise, where we can escape to for hours end. The

deprivation of Soma [is an] appalling thought for the Deltas (210). The effectiveness of the

threat exposes the addiction for the drug. That does not fall far from reality. We, ourselves, have

become addicted to such trivial things, as our beloved phones and Wi-Fi. The reader, along with

the Director and his students [stand] for a short time watching a game of Centrifugal Bumble-

puppy (30). The game is only one of many played by all in the World State, having no real

purpose, It is hard not equaling this to todays videogames and phone apps which are equally

meaningless yet, hold so much importance to us.

Aldous also feared that no one would want to read a book, that is, most of the knowledge

would be given, not gained. In Brave New World, kids are put through years of intensive
hypnopaedia, from 12 to 17 (77). This treatment conditions the children to think and act a

certain way, something that remains

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with them through life. Our children are conditioned the same way, only more subtly, by the TV,

movies, school and even their own families. Ignorance plays an important part in the World

State, something that is shown with Lindas difficulty with Johns questions because what [is

she] to answer if [she is] a Beta and [has] always worked in the fertilizing room? (122). They

have no concern in gaining new knowledge, not only being content with the little they have but

happy about it. In a World where our lives are based on the internet, we mirror the book, having

the knowledge of the Universe right at our fingertips but never interested in really having it. It is

clear that the mind that judges and desires and decides [is] made up of [certain] suggestions

[and that] these suggestions are [the States suggestions (29). The people in control of the Other

Place are the ones that decide what an entire society is supposed to think, including themselves.

This does not escape reality where our own government, movies, commercials and all those

around us contribute to who we are, telling us what to think, what to buy, what to eat and who to

like. But where do we draw a line between our own thoughts and the ones we were conditioned

to have? Ignorance is a bliss. Until it is not.

Nearly 90 years ago, Aldous Huxley was able of creating a World that is hard not to identify

with when looking at our own. Both the World State and America in 2017 can be described in

only two words - bread and circuses; where public approval (or happiness, when it comes to the

World State) is achieved not through exemplary service but through the satisfaction of the

immediate. The only thing left to do is, unlike the people in Brave New World, look back at our

past and learn. And hope to move on to a better future, breaking Huxleys foreshadow.