Comparison Between Brave New World and Freud's Future of an Illusion

Freud and the Brave New World:

Science can replace religion as a means of creating a stable civilization. This is what Sigmund Freud believes, and this is what Aldous Huxley tries to prove. Freud in his Future of an Illusion states that religion allows men to act according to reason, and not their instincts. People are taught with a religious background and are taught about a balance of crime and punishment. Punishment will be cast upon men if men are unable to control their instincts and commit a crime. However, those who are not taught in a religious way see no reason to act according to reason just for God. In fact, they fight their instincts for another morality that they are taught. Similarly, if science was taught as a moral education, it can replace science as a means of controlling men's instincts. Huxley adopts this idea and embeds it as a major background-idea in his novel. In Brave New World, Huxley presents a world that uses science to bring stability and happiness to its people. This world uses a series of technological methods to produce and alter infants so that they grow up to correctly serve the State, part of the controlling forces. The novel starts by introducing many of these technologies and science. As the novel progress, the readers meet the two main characters, Lenina Crown and Bernard Marx, who eventually go to the isolated Savage Reservation in New Mexico. At the Savage Reservation, they meet a young man named John the Savage, who, as they soon finds out, is the son of the Director of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre and a woman called Linda. Since Huxley's society doesn't allow "birth" to happen and Linda has broken this "law," she is forced to stay at the Reservation. She cannot go back to London. With Bernard's help, however, John and Linda are able to return to London and see the DHC. The DHC, upon seeing the two, falls into shame and embarrassment and resigns immediately. Eventually, Linda dies due to over-consumption of soma and John tries to corrupt the society. Brought before Mustapha Mond, the World Controller, he still fails to persuade Mond to change the society. He goes into isolation and soon kills himself. All along, Huxley tries to show the pros and cons of Freud's theory. He creates a world that abandons religion and uses science to bring happiness and stability to a civilization. In addition, the civilization will protect against outside influences, such as nature. However, Freud probably will not agree with this kind of world. Freud's idea includes a stable civilization through science, but also an education that will lead a mass of people to intelligence. Huxley's world never accomplished this task. Nevertheless, Huxley does tries to create a world according to Freud's ideas, though Freud will probably never accept this world.

Freud believes that science can replace religion as a means of finding a stable civilization, and Huxley creates a world through this idea. In his Future of an Illusion, Freud sees religion as one of the gifts that is presented to people as a bargain. In return for these "gifts," people must fight their instincts and give up their desire for crimes. However, as an atheist, Freud soon finds that he is cheated since he never received the gift of religion. He believes that this is the same for everyone in the world. Once everyone finds that there is no God, religion can no longer suppress the people's instincts. The foundation of the house, or religion, will collapse and destroy a stable civilization. However, when replaced with another foundation, which, in Freud's view, is science, civilization is able to thrive and continue its stability again. This new civilization can be seen through Huxley's world. Huxley's world uses science as a means to build technology so that the State can create a stable, happy, superficial world through things such as the "feelies." The technology is used in various parts of the society. In reproduction, it is used to aide the removal of ovaries, Bokanovsky's Process, and the hypnopaedic conditioning. The State can then use these technologies to create and alter babies and their minds. In addition, the State also uses science to create complicated entertainment machines that can generate both harmless leisure and high levels of consumption and production. These machines satisfy the people's needs and reduce any kind of rebellious thoughts. The result of these technologies gives stability and control to the State of Huxley's world. The results of these machines are part of the basis of the World State's stability. Although the only science seen throughout the book is the creation of technology, the results of science is already enough to bring stability and happiness to the society.

Huxley not only shows that science can replace religion, but also gives his own reasons as to why religion has no place in his world. Huxley presents his ideas through an argument between Mustapha Mond and John the Savage. When John asks him, "then you think there is no God?" (Huxley, 234), Mond replies, "No, I think there quite probably is one" (Huxley, 234). Huxley and Mond never deny that there is no God and religion. However, God "manifests himself as an absence" (Huxley, 234) and allows war after war to happen. God doesn't do anything to stop the wars and people's fear, especially, in Huxley's world, the Nine Years' War. In Huxley's view, God, science, and art prevent people from obtaining true happiness and stability. Therefore, Mond and his society choose happiness and abandons God, for, "God isn't compatible with...universal happiness" (Huxley, 234). In fact, by using limited science and technology,