Brave New World Connection Essay

Contemporary Connection Essay

In Brave New World the idea of sex is completely different from what it is in the world today. Sex, in the novel is a recreational act if you will, an action that holds no meaning in a persons life and is merely preformed for pleasure alone. In todays culture having sex is a big deal and is usually thought of as a momentous occasion in the life of a person, and if you were to have sex so often like it is described in the book you would be labeled a “slut” or a “whore” and have people judge you for your actions. In the world state “erotic play” is encouraged and forced upon children starting at an extremely young age. “We had Elementary Sex for the first forty minutes," she answered. "But now it's switched over to Elementary Class Consciousness.” “The Director walked slowly down the long line of cots. Rosy and relaxed with sleep, eighty little boys and girls lay softly breathing.” (Huxley 71)
This tool or game helps the world leaders, such as Mustapha Mond, solidify the idea that sex is only meant for happiness and pleasure. As a reader you start to become uncomfortable with all of these little kids engaged in sex. In our current society “erotic games or play” are completely immoral and wrong especially for children but also for adults. The brains of children haven’t fully developed and are not as sophisticated making them very influential and completely incompetent of understanding how these games could possibly effect their future relationships. The effects could lead children to believe that it is ok to have sex with anyone at anytime even if the person is some one who they have never even met. Relationships are a sign of togetherness a sign of affection, but in the novel there are not any true relationships there are these sorts of friendships, friendships that are souly based on sex. This is a main problem that John faces with Lenina, he wants to engage in a relationship with Lenina but she is incapable of loving him the same way that he wants to love her making John incredibly frustrated and disappointed. Lenina wants sex and John wants love, this shows perfectly the main differences between the world state and our society. This concept of brain washing people and making them believe what you believe and make them do what you do, such as sex, is enforced by the world leaders. The world leaders are the world states people in the positions of highest power. The main way that the leaders maintain power is that they keep the citizens in this constant “high” from the effects of a drug known as soma. Much like in the world today the people do drugs to suppress the feelings that are being felt and us it to bring out a happier more relaxed version of themselves. Drugs in our life are an escape but in the novel they are required for everyone, much to the disapproval of people like Bernard Marx. "Glum, Marx, glum." The clap on the shoulder made him start, look up. It was that brute Henry Foster. "What you need is a gramme of soma." (Huxley 43). In this quote Henry Foster and Bernard Marx are talking and Bernard is speaking about how he feels like he doesn’t fit into the alpha plus ideal because of his size, Henry proceeds to offer soma to Bernard, infuriating him and causing him to storm out of the building. Although there are a lot of differences between the world as we know it to be and this fictional world created by Huxley, in some weird way Huxley seemed to know exactly where the world was heading and different topics that would become more influential and less influential in our lives. Sex is one of these predictions. When Huxley wrote this book sex was still a thing to be cherished but now it is starting to shift towards being more and more common and is somewhat loosing its value. Not to the extent of the novel where people are having sex with everybody and anybody but to the point where there is a T.V show about 16 year old girls who have become mothers. “sex should be more than an act of pleasure, it’s the ability to be able to feel so close to a person, so connected, so comfortable that its almost breathtaking” ( ). This quote was taken from an article where the author is coming off pretty heated and is talking about her 19 year old daughter who doesn’t even know who the father of her newly born child is because she had been with so many guys.