Control in Brave New World

Control in Brave New World

In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley illustrates ways in which government and advanced science control society. Through actual visualization of this Utopian society, the reader is able to see how this state affects Huxley's characters. Throughout the book, the author deals with many different aspects of control. Whether it is of his subjects' feelings and emotions or of the society's restraint of population growth, Huxley depicts government's and science's role in the brave new world of tomorrow.

One aspect of control that is touched upon from the beginning of the novel until the end is the control of the population birth and growth. As a way to maintain the society's motto of "Community, Identity and Stability," the number of inhabitants is managed through the artificiality of the brave new world's use of technology. In the first chapter of the novel, the reader is introduced to the process of creating humans in this Utopia. The advancement of science made it possible for the building of an artificial arrangement with the reproductive glands and equipment needed for fertilizing and hatching the resulting eggs. The fact that machines do what is done by human reproductive systems shows how science has dominated over man in this world.

The actual process of creating humans is made possible through the use of a single ovary which makes thousands of identical people. Since these people are similar in appearance, thought and relations, they are able to live in perfect harmony with each other. Huxley uses Lenina and Fanny, two of his female characters who are distant relatives from the same ovary, as people who get along well and are on the same page on issues concerning Utopian lifestyles. This is how the government of Utopia, made up of only ten controllers, is able to maintain stability among its people. Since stability is part of the brave new world's motto, it is a crucial deal for the government to uphold.

Something else that is controlled by government and science is any thing to do with marriage, romance and pregnancy. It is a rule by the government for everyone to freely have sex with anybody at anytime they want. It is against the rules of the Utopia to date anyone regularly. Government forbids anyone to go towards thoughts of monogamy and romance because they require too much time and bring no stability to life. Science controls the aspect of pregnancy in the way that females have to wear contraceptive belts while having endless sex to avoid any pregnancy. Pregnancy is controlled because it brings pain and goal of the brave new world