Social Stability In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932, is a science fiction novel. Brave New world portrays a utopic world, the “World State”, in which society is formed and controlled through genetic and biological engineering and conditioning for the aim of social stability.
The Novel is set in the 25th century or as mentioned in the novel in the year A.F. 632, which indicates the 632th year after the year of Henry Ford, the new “God”. After the Nine Years War the world and the social structures have totally changed. The objective of the World State is to reach a status of stability and happiness of the society according to the World State’s motto “Community, Identity, Stability”. To achieve this goal old social structures, like religion,
family life and history, have been abolished and a new five caste system has been established as well as the belief in Henry Ford and his idea of mass production have replaced the old religions. Through the five castes the social status and the profession is determined. To create perfectly adapted and satisfied adults in every caste, the adults were produced in factories like the “Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre”, where the plot of the novel begins.
In these factories human beings are physical and psycologically formed according to their predestined role in the caste system. The higher and intellectual superior castes, Alphas and Betas, have the privilegde to arise out of one single egg with no impairments of the intellect. Consequently, they are destined for responsible and leading positions. The lower castes, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon, have depending on their predestined work less intellectual faculties. To create a high number of equal adults of the lower castes, the fertilized eggs undergo the Bokanovski process, which means that the eggs are firstly shocked through X-rays and then through alcohol. In consequence of the treatment, the eggs divide into two to eight similar buds every step. Additional to the Bokanovski process, the fetuses are treated with heat, cold, alcohol and oxygen deprivation in order to reduce the intellect or to generate specific physical properties. After this process of biological engineering the infants undergo a program of conditioning based on hypnopaedia while sleeping and electro shocks and punishments in order to embed
certain antipathies and moral values in their minds. In the first two chapters the director of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre guides a group of students through the Centre and explains the production and conditioning process of the embryos up to the infants. In the third chapter the Western Europe Controller, Mustapha Mond, arises. He explains the dangers of family life, which leads to individual and social instability due to the strong emotions within the family. Therefore, the upbringing of the infants is controlled through the World State and the phrase “everyone belongs to everyone” has became an essential maxim of the new society. As a prevention of boredom and a lack of happiness the drug soma is given out to the adults by the World State.
During the first three chapters the plot is explained by an omniscient third-person narrator.
In the first two chapters the narrator tells the story from the director’s point of view. The narrator frequently changes from direct speech into indirect speech of the director. A little bit confusing is the fact that the narrator sometimes does not indicate the indirect speech with a phrase like “the director said…”. Due to the describtions of the biological engineering, the language of the first two chapters is partly scientific. Furthermore, sometimes the sentences tend to sound like enumerations and the style is not lengthy. In the third chapter the narrator often changes the point of view. First we are with the director, then with Mustapha Mond, then with Lenina and Fanny and then different conversations alternate between each other. This passage appears a little bit chaotic. During the indirect speech and the descriptions the tense is simple past, but the direct speech is in the simple
present.
The subject of Brave New World is in my opinion still a very interesting and current topic. The motto of the World State “ Community, Identity, Stability” at first sight appears harmless and desirable also today. A social background with strong relationships and a family, an individual identity and some kind of stability in the social and financial parts of life are values of great importance for many people nowadays. The `Brave New World’ shows what else can be meant by these words. The dangers of biological engineering combined with a loss of respect for individualism and nature and a totalitarian state are pointed out. In Brave New World the individual is no longer a person with an unimpeachable dignity. Additionally, the happiness and welfare of the society have a greater importance than human rights. Therefore, the World State can ,with the help of science, form and create adults according to the preferences of the World State. But through the process of “creation” many substantial human properties get lost, like independent thought or love.