Brave New World Government Power Analysis
Absolute Power: The Fears of an All-Powerful Government Since the beginning of civilization, people have constantly struggled to create the ideal form of government. The idea of a fair, generous, and efficient regime remains a welcoming idea to this day. Thomas Jefferson once stated about his ideal government; that “a wise and frugal Government… shall restrain men from injuring one another… shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” Sadly, many people today do not agree with such a claim made by a Founding Father. One group says that the government reserves the right to be more involved in our lives to promote stability
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They try to change history in order to create a sense of false happiness. In Brave New World, the World State does not acknowledge that certain events throughout history even existed, and completely erase them from the books. Such a technique used by the government helps “to reveal ironically the inadequacies of the present… by comparing it with the past” (Firchow). Huxley satirizes the modern day consumer society by creating a world in which characters have short-attention spans who think of nothing more other than events happening there and now; with absolutely no regard to the past and how certain actions may affect the future. The Resident Controller for Western Europe, Mustapha Mond, explains why history is not taught to the newer generations by reciting the “beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford’s [Henry Ford]: History is bunk” (Huxley, 3, 34). By reciting that quote, Mond explains the reason that the past remains in the past, in their case he elaborates on a time when humans raised by a mother and a father was the norm, nowadays considered old-fashioned and too traditional – a dark and immoral time. To have a social taboo such as a family would threaten the power and integrity of the World State, so by destroying the whole concept ensures that those who are in power will stay in …show more content…
Multiple conspiracies have circulated around many governing bodies, even the government of the United States; have been accused of doing such things to cover up mistakes made in the past. Despite all of these allegations being brought up against the government, it is unsure whether they have done any such things. What remains certain; however, is that these conspiracies will continue to seed themselves throughout today’s society, with their origins just as mysterious as Big Brother himself.
Works Cited
Birnbaum, Milton. Aldous Huxley 's Quest for Values. University of Tennessee Press, 1971. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1975. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
Dwan, David. "Truth and Freedom in Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four." Philosophy and Literature 34.2 (Oct. 2010): 381-393. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Kathy D. Darrow. Vol. 276. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
Firchow, Peter Edgerly. The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley 's 'Brave New World '. Bucknell University Press, 1984. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper and Jennifer Allison Brostrom. Vol. 79. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Literature Resource Center.
They try to change history in order to create a sense of false happiness. In Brave New World, the World State does not acknowledge that certain events throughout history even existed, and completely erase them from the books. Such a technique used by the government helps “to reveal ironically the inadequacies of the present… by comparing it with the past” (Firchow). Huxley satirizes the modern day consumer society by creating a world in which characters have short-attention spans who think of nothing more other than events happening there and now; with absolutely no regard to the past and how certain actions may affect the future. The Resident Controller for Western Europe, Mustapha Mond, explains why history is not taught to the newer generations by reciting the “beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford’s [Henry Ford]: History is bunk” (Huxley, 3, 34). By reciting that quote, Mond explains the reason that the past remains in the past, in their case he elaborates on a time when humans raised by a mother and a father was the norm, nowadays considered old-fashioned and too traditional – a dark and immoral time. To have a social taboo such as a family would threaten the power and integrity of the World State, so by destroying the whole concept ensures that those who are in power will stay in …show more content…
Multiple conspiracies have circulated around many governing bodies, even the government of the United States; have been accused of doing such things to cover up mistakes made in the past. Despite all of these allegations being brought up against the government, it is unsure whether they have done any such things. What remains certain; however, is that these conspiracies will continue to seed themselves throughout today’s society, with their origins just as mysterious as Big Brother himself.
Works Cited
Birnbaum, Milton. Aldous Huxley 's Quest for Values. University of Tennessee Press, 1971. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1975. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
Dwan, David. "Truth and Freedom in Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four." Philosophy and Literature 34.2 (Oct. 2010): 381-393. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Kathy D. Darrow. Vol. 276. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
Firchow, Peter Edgerly. The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley 's 'Brave New World '. Bucknell University Press, 1984. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper and Jennifer Allison Brostrom. Vol. 79. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Literature Resource Center.