Freedom In Brave New World

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Pages: 5

In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huxley writes about a utopian society in the distant future called the World State. This society differs from present day society in that people are artificially made and regulated in order to maximize the economy’s potential. When these people are made, they given different amounts of alcohol and go through psychological exercises; by doing this, the people being made can fit into one of the different classes that the society has created. Additionally, these people are often given a drug called soma. Soma is given to the people by the government, and it is considered to be a harmless drug that can provide an escape to those using it. Huxley begins the book with an explanation of the World State’s society …show more content…
When John and Mond discuss their opinions and beliefs about the World State, John argues that to know what true happiness is, a person must also experience despair or unhappiness: “‘But the tears are necessary. Don't you remember what Othello said? 'If after every tempest came such calms, may the winds blow till they have wakened death'” (Huxley 238). John tells Mond that “tears are necessary,” for a person to understand joy. He quotes Othello to support his argument by saying, “‘If after every tempest came such calms, may the winds blow till they have wakened death.’” John uses this quote to express that a person’s happiness can be both appreciated and determined from the experiences, struggles, and despairs they have faced. Happiness or joy is something that must exist with despair or sadness; this is similar to how light must exist with the dark or how good must exist with bad. In Brave New World, the people of the World State go through something called a V.P.S or a Violent Passion Surrogate. The V.P.S exists to help flush or drain out a person’s negative emotions such as jealousy, hate, or sadness. This process helps prevent the people of the World state from experiencing despair, and inevitably real