Mustapha In Brave New World

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a work of science fiction, but it is not a work about the dangers of science. Huxley himself says in the forward to the novel that "the theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals" (Huxley xi). In the novel, Huxley shows that science itself is dangerous and that the true goal of the World State’s research is to advance consumer technology—the aspect of science that directly affects the State’s citizens. The dangers of science to the World State are pointed out by one very high-ranking World State official: the Resident Controller of Western Europe, Mustapha Mond. Towards the end of the novel, Mustapha reveals that he
was once a physicist, but that “science is dangerous: we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled” (Huxley 231). Importantly, he also says that he was “good enough to realize that all our science is just a cookery book, with an orthodox theory of cooking that nobody’s allowed to question, and a list of recipes that mustn’t be added to except by special permission from the head cook” (Huxley 232). The “orthodox theory of cooking” in question is the technological drive of the World State. Scientists and innovators are not allowed to do research that will jeopardize the ignorance of the citizens of the World State or that selfishly does nothing to benefit society as a whole. At one point, Mustapha even sends a biologist away for doing research that he admires and that could change things for the better, but that is original enough that it could cause unrest among the higher social castes (Huxley 180). The advancement of science itself is not the issue which Huxley is attacking. Rather, he seems to support the search for truth in scientific research by presenting pure scientists as noble free-thinkers whom Mustapha respects, but feels he must throw out to protect the happiness of society. Mustapha, along with other World State officials, aims to protect the happiness of society through the advancement of consumer technology.
Consumerism trumps scientific curiosity in the World State because economic revenue increases stability while scientific knowledge decreases it by jeopardizing the blissful ignorance of World State citizens. Technologies which average citizens care about are either recreational—centrifugal bumble-puppy, electromagnetic golf, the feelies—or medical—soma, the prolonged preservation of youth, mass sterilization. In society, recreational technologies tend to increase the revenues of the World State, while medical technologies tend to increase the mindless happiness of citizens. Both forms of technology are an integral part of the stability of the world state because both directly keep citizens complacent. Technology is a derivative of science, because, without scientific advances, technology would be impossible. The World State tells its citizens that “science is everything” (Huxley 231) in its hypnopædic teachings for this very reason, but the state’s reverence for science is completely superficial. Through his treatment of science in Brave New World, Huxley shows that only the advances which directly affect individuals are important to the development of his dystopian World
State. The World State of Brave New World is based on scientific advances, but it does not respect scientific principles of truth and discovery. Only technologies which directly increase the perceived happiness of individuals are acceptable. Through his narrative, Huxley shows that technology can destroy scientific curiosity, and, therefore, individual freedom if it is allowed to progress too far.