Technology in Brave New World Essay Example

In the book Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, most everything in society is based on technology. In the books society, the state is using technology to try and have control over the citizens. The government's control gives the society stability, but they are not living how they should. The citizens' humanities are being taken away without them even realizing it as they don’t know what is normal and what is not.  They are being brainwashed, but since they feel stable because of the government, they do not notice. 

The citizens in the book seem more robotic than they do humans. They are always on the job, like working machines, and always trying to make sure the quality of their products are the highest they can be. The jobs they have in the book make them happy, but in reality that's what they consider. Mustafa Mond says, “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” (Huxley 234-235). In the real world, work doesn’t make anyone as happy as the people in the book are, which makes it seem like they do not know what true happiness is. It is like they do not have any true emotions, just like a robot/machine. 

The only one who seems to have an understanding of the sense of morality is John. John, “the savage”, was part of the New Mexico Reservation, which is called the “Savage Reservation.” John lived in the wild, so he definitely has an idea of what morality is since he grew up outside of the government. He is also a descendant of the World State people, so he has learned from both sides, the normal and not normal. In the book there are no connections between anyone in the government; there's no family, no religion, no love, no freedom, nothing. Since John has learned from his Reservation, he knows what is not normal in the World State government and he just wants the truth even if it doesn’t bring happiness. John states, “[b]ut I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin” … then Mustafa Mond responds, “you're claiming the right to be unhappy” and John goes on to say, “[a]ll right then… I’m claiming the right to be unhappy” (Huxley 240). This highlights that John would rather live the truth than be stuck in a technological simulation. Considering that Josh is familiar with the real world and believes in it, demonstrates he is not brainwashed, while the others can not overlook the government. 

The government takes away the childhood the children are supposed to have. The children have not been doing any child-like activities such as; playing games, reading stories/books, picking flowers, etc. This is due to the fact that the government is using hypnopedia and other tactics on the children to condition them for the future. The government believes that the children spending time on flowers and books is a waste of time and “deconditions” the children. “‘[t]ill  at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind. And not the child’s mind only. The adult’s mind too--all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides--made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions!’ The Director almost shouted in his triumph. ‘Suggestions from the State’” (Huxley 28-29). The government coerces the children to believe what they want them to believe. The children do not have a mind of their own and are being brainwashed by their childhoods. 

Brainwashing is the tactic that the World State uses on their citizens to have control over how they think. The government coerces the citizens to feel like they are happy and stable. Therefore, their personal freedom means nothing to them. Being controlled over the state is their normal and they have no knowledge of anything else as they choose happiness and stability over being free and living a true life.