Brave New World7 :: Essays Papers

Brave New World7 From my readings in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World I have noticed most of the World State citizens remain in a childish state of mind all of their entire lives from playing games all day to having instant gatification from their problems. This bothers me very much because in the real world people must work for what they want. Instead the citizens of this deranged culture are taken care of for their whole lives like children. In Brave New World the citizens of the World State take soma for instant gratification from everything much like kids today smoke marijuana to get away from their problems. For example when Bernard finds out that he is being sent to Iceland he takes some soma to relieve himself from his problem. After finding out that he was being sent to Iceland, "Lenina pursuaded him to swallow four tablets of soma. Five minutes later roots and fruits were abolished; the flower of the present rosily blossomed." (104) The soma Bernard took was because he wanted his problem to go away and hoped someone other then himself would fix it. The next example of the citizens being taken care of like children, was that they were taught by hypnopedia what to think and believe and to stick by it like a stubborn child. An example of this is when Bernard wants to think on his own, which is very unsual for these people, and Lenina repeats phrases she heard during hypnopedia to get him to take some soma to get rid of those thoughts: " A gramme in time saves nine, she says blindly" and "One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments."(89) Bernard is frustrated by her inability to think but Lenina then finally nags him to the point that he takes the soma to make her stop. By doing this Lenina proves she can't think independently like a stubborn child would try to get its way. The last example of these citizens acting much like children is that all day they play elaborate games like elevator squash and obstacle golf. You never find out if they have any real responsibilitys at all but they play games during the day. At one point Bernard bemoans Lenina's tendencies: "...wretched that she should have thought it was a perfect afternoon for obstacle golf...." (64) You must wonder how they could play this in the afternoon if they have any responsibilitys at all.