Theme Of Happiness In Brave New World
Pursuit of Happiness Would you rather live in a world with unlimited pursuit of happiness, but no control over solitude and thinking freely, or limited pursuit of happiness but with control over solitude and thinking freely? It is a hard choice but in the novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley, he depicts the society as a world with unlimited pursuit of happiness with no control over solitude and free thinking. We can clearly see many flaws in this world because they have to sacrifice many things such as art, science, solitude, the ability to think freely and many more in order to gain happiness. Their source of happiness comes from soma, sexual promiscuity and conditioning. Happiness should not be altered by people or objects; you
…show more content…
These people truly believe the happiness they are given is actually meaningful, but in reality the controller gives it to them in order to have a stable society. The saying “ignorance is bliss” can be applied to this situation because the people of Brave New World don’t know that the soma used is to create stability and not used solely for happiness. John believes the use of soma is not true happiness when he says “Well, I’d rather be unhappy than have the sort of false lying happiness you were having there” (Huxley 156). Moreover, John is saying he would rather be unhappy and free than to be happy and be controlled by soma. The use of soma gives off a false sense of happiness because it is not gained yourself but obtained through a drug. In addition, John is saying freedom should be valued more than having obtained happiness and giving up freedom. John is dissatisfied with the way they obtain happiness because he believes in free will and not seizing happiness through other means such as drugs. Since the people in Brave New World are not able to obtain happiness themselves, they need soma in order to achieve the happiness they need. We can compare the people in Brave New World to people who are addicted to Xanax: Xanax is a drug that is able to relieve anxiety and can be compared to soma. The people in Brave New World sometimes experience heinous or erratic emotions at times and cannot handle it, therefore; they choose to quickly rely on soma in order to alleviate these emotions. We also see this in our world where people exploit drugs such as Xanax because they cannot conquer their stress or anxiety themselves. If you are not able to obtain happiness yourself and have to rely on other means such as drugs; it is not worth it at all because attaining happiness yourself is what truly makes it
These people truly believe the happiness they are given is actually meaningful, but in reality the controller gives it to them in order to have a stable society. The saying “ignorance is bliss” can be applied to this situation because the people of Brave New World don’t know that the soma used is to create stability and not used solely for happiness. John believes the use of soma is not true happiness when he says “Well, I’d rather be unhappy than have the sort of false lying happiness you were having there” (Huxley 156). Moreover, John is saying he would rather be unhappy and free than to be happy and be controlled by soma. The use of soma gives off a false sense of happiness because it is not gained yourself but obtained through a drug. In addition, John is saying freedom should be valued more than having obtained happiness and giving up freedom. John is dissatisfied with the way they obtain happiness because he believes in free will and not seizing happiness through other means such as drugs. Since the people in Brave New World are not able to obtain happiness themselves, they need soma in order to achieve the happiness they need. We can compare the people in Brave New World to people who are addicted to Xanax: Xanax is a drug that is able to relieve anxiety and can be compared to soma. The people in Brave New World sometimes experience heinous or erratic emotions at times and cannot handle it, therefore; they choose to quickly rely on soma in order to alleviate these emotions. We also see this in our world where people exploit drugs such as Xanax because they cannot conquer their stress or anxiety themselves. If you are not able to obtain happiness yourself and have to rely on other means such as drugs; it is not worth it at all because attaining happiness yourself is what truly makes it