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.