E! True Hollywood Story: Aldous Leonard Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was born in Surrey, UK in 1894 into an elite English ruling class family. Famous family members include his grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley, who helped develop the theory of evolution, and his Aunt, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, a novelist. As a child, he differed from other members of his family, not in a negative manner, just that he didn’t fit in with his family. He attended a prestigious school for the elite of the United Kingdom.
His upbringing greatly influenced his novels, and it is easy to see similarities with his life and his novels. In Brave New World, Bernard Marx and Hemholtz Watson, distance themselves from their communities because they don’t fit in. Huxley was born into a high class, and in his novels you can see separation due to different castes and how the wealthy, higher up, class have more power and control over everyone else. In the time of Huxley’s upbringing, there was a much stricter class structure.
At 14 Huxley’s mother died of cancer and at 16 he suffered from an eye illness that almost left him blind. Eventually, Huxley was able to recover to the point where he was able to attend Oxford University, however, because of this impediment he could not fight in World War I. These tragedies impacted him greatly. Death is a common topic in his novels. In Island, the people of Pala are very accepting, while in Brave New World, the people are in constant denial of death. The two are very different looks, but Brave New World is a dystopia, and the people cannot deal with death, somewhat similar to the World we live in. While Island, is close to a utopia as it gets, and they have learned to accept the ways of life. Pain is involved, but people get over it, and it is not feared. This shows that Huxley probably struggled with accepting his mother’s death and made him contemplate the matter. In Brave New World, the mother of John, the savage, Linda, dies of cancer. If Huxley had entered the war and survived, his stand points on life might have been drastically different. He possibly would have focused on the behavior of human’s more so than the overall society.
In 1919, Huxley married Maria Nys, a Belgian, and in 1920 they had their only son, Matthew Huxley. The family constantly traveled back and forth between London and different areas in Europe, but especially in Italy. The Huxley’s also visited India and the United States, where Huxley eventually settled. Aldous Huxley was attracted to the extravagance and confidence of American culture, but not necessarily a fan of the expression used in American culture. For example the cars, the different dances, and the lack of conversation all disagreed with his taste. He was also appalled by the waste America created. All his traveling led Aldous to see all the different types of government around the world, including, Italy’s fascist authoritarian government under Benito Mussolini. Mussolini had a campaign in Italy against birth control, to make sure enough people were produced for the military. I can see that this campaign had an affect on Huxley because in both Island and Brave New World, they emphasize birth control. In Brave New World, giving birth and being parents is equivalent to being a communist in 1950’s America and in Pala, the key to a successful society is making sure there is enough resources to go around – no overpopulation. In 1938, the Huxley family settled in Hollywood where Aldous Huxley pursued film making, and he then remained in California for the majority of the rest of his life. In 1955, Maria Huxley died and he remarried Laura Archera in 1956.
Huxley had many interests in life. He studied Greek history, Sanskrit, Buddhism, pharmacology, scientific experiments and reports, Polynesian antrophology, and many essays and novels. He was also interested in ecology, and considered to be a leader in the environmental movement because of an essay he wrote. He is also known for being a pacifist.
Aldous Huxley has a long list of accomplishments, which include: 11 novels, and a handful of short stories, poems, shorts, travel writings, essay compilations, and screen plays. Brave New World, his most famous novel, was published in 1931 and only took four months to complete. It must be noted that Brave New World, was written before Hitler and Stalinism. In 1946, Huxley wrote a foreword to Brave New World and then in 1958, he published Brave New World Revisited. In both of these he discussed how being a good and functional society is not impossible, however it is still very difficult and rare. These were after Huxley had seen the terrors that occurred in the Soviet Union and across Europe because of Hitler. In 1963, Huxley published Island, which in comparison to Brave New World took a lengthy twenty years. All his novels have been critically studied and many critics have come to the conclusion that he was a better essayist than novelist because he focused on his ideas more than the characters. As a symbol for his accomplishments, Huxley received the Award of Merit.
The 1950’s opened up a new world for Aldous Huxley. He began to experiment in psychedelic drugs such as LSD and mescaline. From his experience with mind altering drugs Huxley went on to write several books that talked about the positives and negatives of drug use.
Aldous Huxley died November 22, 1955. This was the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and because of this his death was somewhat overlooked at the time. However, Huxley will forever go down in history as a modern thinker and famous novelist.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Blog # 3 - The Island Passages
“‘Were you taught maithuna at school?’ he asked ironically.
‘At school,’ Radha sanswered with a simple matter-of-factness […]
‘Between fifteen and fiteen and a half’” (93).
Maithuna is the yoga of love, or in more understandable terms, the act of making love. Sex and sexual desires are confronted with no negativity as it is the norm to express it. It is such an everyday occurrence that it is taught at schools at relatively young ages. For the islanders it is a form of enlightenment. In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, sex is also a norm in society. In fact, meretriciousness is smiled upon; however, in The Island, sex is not a fun game. It is a much more serious matter that brings one enlightenment and freedom. The comparison between the two novels and their shared theme of lots of sex displays the difference in the novel. Brave New World is a dystopia while The Island is a utopia, or as close as one can get, and they have the use of sex in common. In BNW, Huxley uses sex as a way to avoid reality and the lack of a monistic relationship shows how people make no real bonds and relationships and in The Island, he uses it to express the openness of the community and the feelings of one with nature. Relationships are a very important part of Pala, and maithuna is a way to strengthen one’s relationship. Since 2 out of the 2 books I have read by Aldous Huxley, I can infer that he was very preoccupied with thoughts about sex and its impact on society.
“Will felt a twinge of conscience. What charming young people! And here he was, plotting with Bahu and the forces of history to subvert their world. He comforted himself with the that that, if he didn’t do it, somebody else would” (100).
Will is a British journalist who ended up on Pala, to ‘discover the truth’ and convince them to sell their oil to the Uncle of his dead wife. He becomes accepted in their society as one and is taught the meaning in life as thought by the islanders. He is surprised by the intellect in the community and realizes how at peace with the World they are. He sees their strengths, and even though outsiders only see the people of Pala by the clothes that they wear (which is almost nonexistent) and the abundance of oil on their land, Will recognizes that this might possibly be the most advanced country in the World. He is captivated by their lifestyles, but sees them as no real threat to the developed world. Pala has no military and no means of protection, aside from their rocky shore, which has prevented many explorers from stopping there, and Pala has something the developed world craves. Oil. The more powerful countries, which are starved for this modern day necessity, are willing to destroy the island and its inhabitants without regard. Will, even though he knows better, comforts himself by convincing himself that the country’s ruin is inevitable. The comfort is necessary because he knows what a great community Pala is, but he feels inferior to the World of power and money and does not have the guts to do anything about it. I see similarities in Will, which I saw in Bernard in Brave New World. They are both people who know a little more than what they’re supposed too about the World, yet they do nothing about it because of their lack of courage and the feeling that they are outnumbered anyway.
“The serpent tempted me, and I did eat. The tree in the midst of the garden was called the Tree of Consumer Goods, and the inhabitants of every underdeveloped Eden the tiniest taste of its fruit, and even the sight of it’s thirteen hundred and fifty-eight leaves, had power to bring the shameful knowledge that, industrially speaking, they were stark naked. The future Raja of Pala was being made to realize that he was no more than the untrousered ruler of savages” (164).
The thirteen hundred and fifty-eight leaves is a reference to a thirteen hundred and fifty-eight page book made up of chain store catalogues collected over one year. This book was given go to the future Raja of Pala, Raja being the ruler, by the Colonel, who lives nearby in the developed World. Colonel wants the oil of Pala and is going about it by teaching the young future Raja to be materialistic and see his own country through the eyes of ‘civilized people’. One ounce of this ‘beautiful’ materialistic world makes the future Raja feel like a leftover scrap, and he yearns for his island to be wealthy, in terms of money. This passage is also a reference to the Old Testament in the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve. Eve takes a bite of the fruit offered by the servant, even though she is told not too, and lands herself and Adam in this imperfect, ugly world, the world we live in today. The story shows human traits and explains the reason for our imperfections. On Pala, the people are naked, like Adam and Eve, in this beautiful garden, like Pala, and then this future Raja plans to change the ways of the country by biting into the ‘fruit’. This bite will be the end of Pala, and foreshadows the possible outcome of a ruinous Pala. It is the movement from a utopia to a dystopia.
“Between four and a half and five all our children get a thorough examination. […] All the cute little Peter Pans are spotted without fail, and appropriate treatment is started immediately. Within a year practically all of them are perfectly normal. [They have] been transformed into a crop of useful citizens who can be governed adandena asatthena – without punishment and without a sword” (185).
Pala does not have the same type of medicine that the developed world has, however it does have its own doctors and conducts its own experiments, as well as study those of others. The key to health in Pala, and plenty of healthiness there is, is prevention. The doctors can recognize the bad cookies in the batch through different approaches, both psychological and physical. They then treat these kids in ways that will help them fit into society without causing any disruption. Huxley compares these preventive methods to those of the developed world that deal with criminals using punishment. Punishment only harms society and causes more chaos, while Pala never encounters the need for punishment by maintaining peace in the first place. In Brave New World, the society controlled it’s people through extreme measures at birth to fit the necessary role in the community, and this is similar to what’s happening on Pala where people are taught better ways and not to interfere with the way of life. There is a big difference though, Pala helps the people in a humane way and still allows people their freedom, while in Brave New World extreme measures are taken.
“I’m too dumb to be any good […] No talents and no cleverness. So I ought to feel horribly inferior and depressed. But in fact I don’t – thanks entirely to the moksha-medicine and meditation” (227).
Moksha is a drug in Pala that helps people reach enlightenment. People in Pala realize when they are not as intelligent as others, but as this person points out, she does not feel ‘inferior and depressed’ because of her lack of brain usage. Moksha makes a person feel one with the world, and gives great insight to problems. Whether moksha is or is not the right way to go about this it is there on the island. Moksha is used for religious purposes and not abused by the people for recreational activities. It is comparable to the Soma found in Brave New World, which is a drug used to forget problems. In a way, the woman is forgetting her feelings of inferiority because of moksha, but the novel focuses more on how moksha helps her become aware that she may not be intelligent in the traditional way, but still is happy and fulfilled in her life. It is uncertain if this is true happiness, but she is without doubt happier than any façade that Brave New World offers.
‘At school,’ Radha sanswered with a simple matter-of-factness […]
‘Between fifteen and fiteen and a half’” (93).
Maithuna is the yoga of love, or in more understandable terms, the act of making love. Sex and sexual desires are confronted with no negativity as it is the norm to express it. It is such an everyday occurrence that it is taught at schools at relatively young ages. For the islanders it is a form of enlightenment. In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, sex is also a norm in society. In fact, meretriciousness is smiled upon; however, in The Island, sex is not a fun game. It is a much more serious matter that brings one enlightenment and freedom. The comparison between the two novels and their shared theme of lots of sex displays the difference in the novel. Brave New World is a dystopia while The Island is a utopia, or as close as one can get, and they have the use of sex in common. In BNW, Huxley uses sex as a way to avoid reality and the lack of a monistic relationship shows how people make no real bonds and relationships and in The Island, he uses it to express the openness of the community and the feelings of one with nature. Relationships are a very important part of Pala, and maithuna is a way to strengthen one’s relationship. Since 2 out of the 2 books I have read by Aldous Huxley, I can infer that he was very preoccupied with thoughts about sex and its impact on society.
“Will felt a twinge of conscience. What charming young people! And here he was, plotting with Bahu and the forces of history to subvert their world. He comforted himself with the that that, if he didn’t do it, somebody else would” (100).
Will is a British journalist who ended up on Pala, to ‘discover the truth’ and convince them to sell their oil to the Uncle of his dead wife. He becomes accepted in their society as one and is taught the meaning in life as thought by the islanders. He is surprised by the intellect in the community and realizes how at peace with the World they are. He sees their strengths, and even though outsiders only see the people of Pala by the clothes that they wear (which is almost nonexistent) and the abundance of oil on their land, Will recognizes that this might possibly be the most advanced country in the World. He is captivated by their lifestyles, but sees them as no real threat to the developed world. Pala has no military and no means of protection, aside from their rocky shore, which has prevented many explorers from stopping there, and Pala has something the developed world craves. Oil. The more powerful countries, which are starved for this modern day necessity, are willing to destroy the island and its inhabitants without regard. Will, even though he knows better, comforts himself by convincing himself that the country’s ruin is inevitable. The comfort is necessary because he knows what a great community Pala is, but he feels inferior to the World of power and money and does not have the guts to do anything about it. I see similarities in Will, which I saw in Bernard in Brave New World. They are both people who know a little more than what they’re supposed too about the World, yet they do nothing about it because of their lack of courage and the feeling that they are outnumbered anyway.
“The serpent tempted me, and I did eat. The tree in the midst of the garden was called the Tree of Consumer Goods, and the inhabitants of every underdeveloped Eden the tiniest taste of its fruit, and even the sight of it’s thirteen hundred and fifty-eight leaves, had power to bring the shameful knowledge that, industrially speaking, they were stark naked. The future Raja of Pala was being made to realize that he was no more than the untrousered ruler of savages” (164).
The thirteen hundred and fifty-eight leaves is a reference to a thirteen hundred and fifty-eight page book made up of chain store catalogues collected over one year. This book was given go to the future Raja of Pala, Raja being the ruler, by the Colonel, who lives nearby in the developed World. Colonel wants the oil of Pala and is going about it by teaching the young future Raja to be materialistic and see his own country through the eyes of ‘civilized people’. One ounce of this ‘beautiful’ materialistic world makes the future Raja feel like a leftover scrap, and he yearns for his island to be wealthy, in terms of money. This passage is also a reference to the Old Testament in the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve. Eve takes a bite of the fruit offered by the servant, even though she is told not too, and lands herself and Adam in this imperfect, ugly world, the world we live in today. The story shows human traits and explains the reason for our imperfections. On Pala, the people are naked, like Adam and Eve, in this beautiful garden, like Pala, and then this future Raja plans to change the ways of the country by biting into the ‘fruit’. This bite will be the end of Pala, and foreshadows the possible outcome of a ruinous Pala. It is the movement from a utopia to a dystopia.
“Between four and a half and five all our children get a thorough examination. […] All the cute little Peter Pans are spotted without fail, and appropriate treatment is started immediately. Within a year practically all of them are perfectly normal. [They have] been transformed into a crop of useful citizens who can be governed adandena asatthena – without punishment and without a sword” (185).
Pala does not have the same type of medicine that the developed world has, however it does have its own doctors and conducts its own experiments, as well as study those of others. The key to health in Pala, and plenty of healthiness there is, is prevention. The doctors can recognize the bad cookies in the batch through different approaches, both psychological and physical. They then treat these kids in ways that will help them fit into society without causing any disruption. Huxley compares these preventive methods to those of the developed world that deal with criminals using punishment. Punishment only harms society and causes more chaos, while Pala never encounters the need for punishment by maintaining peace in the first place. In Brave New World, the society controlled it’s people through extreme measures at birth to fit the necessary role in the community, and this is similar to what’s happening on Pala where people are taught better ways and not to interfere with the way of life. There is a big difference though, Pala helps the people in a humane way and still allows people their freedom, while in Brave New World extreme measures are taken.
“I’m too dumb to be any good […] No talents and no cleverness. So I ought to feel horribly inferior and depressed. But in fact I don’t – thanks entirely to the moksha-medicine and meditation” (227).
Moksha is a drug in Pala that helps people reach enlightenment. People in Pala realize when they are not as intelligent as others, but as this person points out, she does not feel ‘inferior and depressed’ because of her lack of brain usage. Moksha makes a person feel one with the world, and gives great insight to problems. Whether moksha is or is not the right way to go about this it is there on the island. Moksha is used for religious purposes and not abused by the people for recreational activities. It is comparable to the Soma found in Brave New World, which is a drug used to forget problems. In a way, the woman is forgetting her feelings of inferiority because of moksha, but the novel focuses more on how moksha helps her become aware that she may not be intelligent in the traditional way, but still is happy and fulfilled in her life. It is uncertain if this is true happiness, but she is without doubt happier than any façade that Brave New World offers.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Blog # 2 - Brave New World Passages
“A the end of the room a loud speaker projected from the wall. […] ‘Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. […] Oh now, I don’t want to play with Delta Children’” (35).
This passage takes place during a tour of the CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, where children are separated as embryos and then brain washed to fit society’s standards and to be happy with whom they are. As children they have lines in repetition, while they sleep describing the caste system of their society, and making sure that this caste system does not cause complaints. If a person is happy, then they will not complain or cause a disturbance in this peaceful, planned World. If there are no complaints, then the there are no problems. So as children, they learn to be satisfied with who they are and deem everyone else as ‘frightfully clever’ or ‘stupid’. The voice over the speaker says “I don’t want to play with the Delta Children,” which keeps the different caste systems from associating with another. If they never associate with the other, they will never be directly made fun or realize their true being. It is better to be separate and controlled. Every aspect of this society is broken up to simple pieces that are easy to maintain and control. This Brave New World is not a World of freedom, but one of supreme management and manipulation.
“Ending is better than mending; ending is better…” (57).
This is an example of one of the lines, repeated to the citizens of this World from birth so that they are unable to think for themselves and automatically respond to situations with what they have learned. There is no time for thought, thought is evil; thought is associated with independence and chaos. This will destroy their orderly World. “Ending is better than mending” expresses the need to throw things away when they are broken or useless. Nothing is worth repair; it is easier to get something new, something is better and to end the life of the ‘old’ product. If there is a problem, end the problem, do not fix it. If someone does not fit well in society, get rid of them; do not rehabilitate them into that society. There is an infinite amount of goods, and no need to hold on to things of the past that do not work correctly. This is how their world functions. People live to work so that they can buy goods and be happy. If people held on to their old gadgets and gismos, their would be no work, and this would lead to turmoil. Everything fits in to this Brave New World, everything has a purpose.
“‘There’s one thing we can be certain of; whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now’” (77).
Lenina and Bernard, two main characters, are on a date in a helicopter passing the area where people meet their end when this discussion occurs. The way the World is run makes sure that everyone is happy. The word happy does not have the same connotation as it does in the real present. Happy in Brave New World is satisfaction with society. There is no real thought or feelings behind ‘happiness’; Happiness is what the people think want, according to the government. Happy means nothing, but stability in society. There is no such thing as free thought or opinion, the World just is. This ‘happiness’ is guaranteed because they are brainwashed from the embryo and no nothing more then what they are told.
“And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts” (213).
Soma is the equivalent of a drug in today’s society, but without the negative side effects. When anything uncomfortable might slip through the control of the government, the government still has power and provides the people with soma. Soma is a way to forget any problems, a way to prevent thought and to stop people from mending problems. If anything out of the ordinary happens, people do not freak out, they take soma. Therefore the people do not worry about the situation they are in and forgot about. Everything is okay. It is an escape from reality, an escape from their ‘happiness’ and discontent with issues.
“‘Did you eat something that didn’t agree with you?’ asked Bernard. The Savage nodded. ‘I ate civilization. […] It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then […] I ate my own wickedness’” (216).
The Savage, is John, who came from The Reservation; A place where people are not brainwashed and think for themselves. The word savage, brings up thoughts of unruliness and unhappiness. From the viewpoint of a civilized person, the people of The Reservation are animals who cannot control themselves nor be controlled. John is removed from The Reservation and placed in the Brave New World, where he lives unhappily. John says “I ate civilization […] It poisoned me.” He tried out this perfect utopia and was dissatisfied. He saw through the false sense of happiness and it did not agree with him. He was poisoned, ruined. The magical world he had created in his mind of what he thought was the ‘real world’ was nothing but a place made up of robots. Society ruins him. There is nothing good in the Brave New World, nothing personal. All meaning in crushed, and it ‘poisons’ him to the point of suicide.
This passage takes place during a tour of the CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, where children are separated as embryos and then brain washed to fit society’s standards and to be happy with whom they are. As children they have lines in repetition, while they sleep describing the caste system of their society, and making sure that this caste system does not cause complaints. If a person is happy, then they will not complain or cause a disturbance in this peaceful, planned World. If there are no complaints, then the there are no problems. So as children, they learn to be satisfied with who they are and deem everyone else as ‘frightfully clever’ or ‘stupid’. The voice over the speaker says “I don’t want to play with the Delta Children,” which keeps the different caste systems from associating with another. If they never associate with the other, they will never be directly made fun or realize their true being. It is better to be separate and controlled. Every aspect of this society is broken up to simple pieces that are easy to maintain and control. This Brave New World is not a World of freedom, but one of supreme management and manipulation.
“Ending is better than mending; ending is better…” (57).
This is an example of one of the lines, repeated to the citizens of this World from birth so that they are unable to think for themselves and automatically respond to situations with what they have learned. There is no time for thought, thought is evil; thought is associated with independence and chaos. This will destroy their orderly World. “Ending is better than mending” expresses the need to throw things away when they are broken or useless. Nothing is worth repair; it is easier to get something new, something is better and to end the life of the ‘old’ product. If there is a problem, end the problem, do not fix it. If someone does not fit well in society, get rid of them; do not rehabilitate them into that society. There is an infinite amount of goods, and no need to hold on to things of the past that do not work correctly. This is how their world functions. People live to work so that they can buy goods and be happy. If people held on to their old gadgets and gismos, their would be no work, and this would lead to turmoil. Everything fits in to this Brave New World, everything has a purpose.
“‘There’s one thing we can be certain of; whoever he may have been, he was happy when he was alive. Everybody’s happy now’” (77).
Lenina and Bernard, two main characters, are on a date in a helicopter passing the area where people meet their end when this discussion occurs. The way the World is run makes sure that everyone is happy. The word happy does not have the same connotation as it does in the real present. Happy in Brave New World is satisfaction with society. There is no real thought or feelings behind ‘happiness’; Happiness is what the people think want, according to the government. Happy means nothing, but stability in society. There is no such thing as free thought or opinion, the World just is. This ‘happiness’ is guaranteed because they are brainwashed from the embryo and no nothing more then what they are told.
“And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts” (213).
Soma is the equivalent of a drug in today’s society, but without the negative side effects. When anything uncomfortable might slip through the control of the government, the government still has power and provides the people with soma. Soma is a way to forget any problems, a way to prevent thought and to stop people from mending problems. If anything out of the ordinary happens, people do not freak out, they take soma. Therefore the people do not worry about the situation they are in and forgot about. Everything is okay. It is an escape from reality, an escape from their ‘happiness’ and discontent with issues.
“‘Did you eat something that didn’t agree with you?’ asked Bernard. The Savage nodded. ‘I ate civilization. […] It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then […] I ate my own wickedness’” (216).
The Savage, is John, who came from The Reservation; A place where people are not brainwashed and think for themselves. The word savage, brings up thoughts of unruliness and unhappiness. From the viewpoint of a civilized person, the people of The Reservation are animals who cannot control themselves nor be controlled. John is removed from The Reservation and placed in the Brave New World, where he lives unhappily. John says “I ate civilization […] It poisoned me.” He tried out this perfect utopia and was dissatisfied. He saw through the false sense of happiness and it did not agree with him. He was poisoned, ruined. The magical world he had created in his mind of what he thought was the ‘real world’ was nothing but a place made up of robots. Society ruins him. There is nothing good in the Brave New World, nothing personal. All meaning in crushed, and it ‘poisons’ him to the point of suicide.
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