McCall Meade Media & Mass Communications Brave New World Essay 2.28.

13 Brave New World Brave New World is based in the future around the year 2500 where the reproduction cycle is controlled. The book opens with a group of boys being given a tour about the reproductive process that takes place at the conditioning center. In the New World, each person has a specific purpose and belongs to a certain class based on that purpose. Basically, natural reproduction was something of the past and now has transformed into creating humans with specific skills. Henry Foster, the main character, works at the center where he explains how the production center produces thousands and thousands identical embryos. The identical embryos are then sent to another building where they will be conditioned to one of the five classes. Alpha, the highest class, is the most respected people in the New World. Alphas are made to be the most intelligent and physically capable and destined to be leaders. The other four classes in order: Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon are slightly less intelligent and physically skilled than the previous class. As the tour goes on, the boys are shown all the different conditioning techniques that the center controls. Each class is conditioned different to appeal to the needs of the World State. The children that are described in Brave New World are born into a world where they are satisfied with their place in their society. Theres no way for the people of this society to move up to a higher class because they obviously would not qualify. Genetic engineering has been

teetered with a little bit in the present day, but not to this degree. Many people today have been known to get rid of certain genes that may be cancerous, so that it will not be passed down to their children. In cases like that it is obvious that it is for unselfish reasons and want to reduce the risk of their future children to deal with a certain disease. It has been known that some people would like to change the genes to get what some may call a designer baby. Not to reduce the risk of having their child a certain disease, but to basically design their baby to their own wants. Brave New World reflects a type attitude that is similar to the people who have been involved in genetic engineering for their own wants. Not to that certain extent, but it is eye opening to know that people would go that far to create their child. The New World has put in a lot of effort to keep the people of the State from having emotions, desires, and any type of relationship. There is a love triangle that forms in the book between Henry, Lenina, and Marx. Henry and Lenina having been seeing each other for a few months, but its all secretive. Marx overhears Henry talking about Lenina and becomes angry because he has feelings towards Lenina. This is all against the rules of the State because of having desires, emotions, and relationships. The New World tries very hard to control what the people do, feel, and think. In a way the media today does this to an extent. In one of the previous movies that we watched called The Cool Merchants where it described how the media affects our decisions today. Its not us who decides if something is cool or popular, but it is the media who does and portrays anything else to not be in. As the book goes on, it shows the frustration and dissatisfaction that some of the people in the State feel about their caste. Marx feels too weak to be considered a person of his class, and another feels that he is too intelligent for his class. Without the chance to either upgrade or

downgrade to a class that is more appropriate for them they have to settle and just be dissatisfied. Ultimately, this should have been avoided during the conditioning process which makes the New World a utopian like society. As the story goes on, it shows how Marx visits the reservation and brings back John the Savage. Marx connects the dots and figures out that the Director is the father of John who had a relationship with a woman who went to the reservation and never came back. By bringing John back to the New World to present him publicly is a way for Marx to avoid being banished. Marx was going to be banished for being an outcast, but is not bathing in the attention that he is getting for bringing John the Savage to the State. John came from the reservation believing that the New World was quite the fantasy from being told stories from his mother. John realizes he does not like anything about the New World. He finds it disgusting and unethical because of their lack of emotions, relationships, and dependency on soma (the feel good drug used recreationally) and casual sex. He can no longer handle this type of society and once John learns about the death of his mother he is outraged with anger and fury. He escapes the State by seeking out to purify himself or better word punishes him for being in this type of society. He is approached by Lenina and beats her senseless which makes the crowd go into an orgy where John gives in. John wakes up the next ashamed of himself for giving in and kills himself. Brave New World gives us a taste of what it would be like if we gave up all of our rights and uniqueness to have stability. There is a loss of freedom and individuality to keep the structure of this society. This relates to how the media persuades us on how to act and how conform. More and more people try to fit in instead of standing out and showing their own uniqueness.