Critically evaluate “Concept of Utopia in novel ‘Brave New World’

Critically evaluate “Concept of Utopia in novel”

           The word ‘utopia’ is taken form the Greek for ‘No Place’. It means an imaginary place with a perfect social and political system. This word was used by Sir Thomas More as the title of a book ‘Utopia’.  He would have taken the ideal from Plato’s republic in which Plato describes his ideal state. There are many other writers who have used the idea of Utopia.

 e.g. Fransis Bacon’s ‘New Altantis’, Swift’s ‘Gulliver Travells’ etc.

           In 20^th century, H.G. Wells wrote much scientific and sociological fiction describing future events and society. Huxley also continued in the vein of own bag Utopian with Brave New World’ and ‘Island’. ‘Brave New World’ is a novel about a vision of utopian future brought about by immense strides made by science.

          Huxley has written both the utopian and the anti-utopian fiction depicting an ideal world where peace, joy and love prevail, and people lead a happy and serene life. Last novel ‘Island’ is a utopian fiction. However his novel ‘Brave New World’ is an anti utopian work because it has presented a picture of the future world which is extremely gloomy, dismal, depressing and repulsive. It can be regarded as a utopian novel because it projects an imaginary work of future but it is anti-utopian in that, this world is simply disgusting and not an ideal or alluring one as we find in a work of utopian fiction.

          In ‘Brave New World’, Huxley presents a utopian future based on science and technology. He shows the conditions in the future world which is governed by science and has little to do with human emotions and morality. In this world babies are decanted in laboratories and so conditioned as to be unable to develop any natural sentimental like love, hate loyalty etc. Edward Albert remarks,            “The novel gives a satirical

picture of what he imagines

the world would be under

the rule of science. No disease,

no pain but no emotion and

worse, on spiritual life”.

          Huxley’s future world shows a real utopian, dedicated to pursuit of happiness. In the future world, children are bred artificially in and made in the very test tube. Human being are graded like examination-results: the Alphas, do the intelligent work, the Deltas are sweeper and cleaners. There is not much to do and there are manifold pleasures, chief of which sex, though a sex totality dissociated from the act of reproduction. There is no crime, there is no immorality’s science had bred out the destructive element in man. Mond rightly says in the novel, 

“Now such is process the old men

work,  the old men copulate,

the old men have no time, no

leisure from pleasure, not a

moment to sit down and think.

          Brave New world is an anti-utopian novel presenting contrast world represented by John, In contrast to this world of material well-being, which is represented by Mond, there is the world represented by John, the savage who derides this world and is opposed to its values and conventions. The savage rejects the new sinless and happiness-seeking order; he thinks that man ceases to be man when he is incapable of squalor, shame, guilt and suffering.

          In fact, we also feel what the savage feels. i.e. the world presented by Huxley in this novel is neither new nor brave; it is the product of a distinguishing vision of the world, which can be called utopian only ironically. Actually it is an anti-utopian world Ushered in by man’s excessive subservience to science.

          The Huxleyan vision presented in ‘Brave New World’ may be distinguishing, but it is an authentic vision as is proved by the fact that it has turned out to be true much earlier than he had imagined. In this respect, ‘Brave New World’ can be regarded as a prophetic work, which prophesies an anti-utopian future for many which sure to come he continue to run after temptation offered by science and today it seems quite possible that the horror may be upon us with in single century. A.C. Collins right remarks,

“In “Brave New World’ he had

warningly prophesied that the

growing power of science in a

material minded world might

result in a world at dehumanized

beings.”

          In conclusion ‘Brave New World’ is an anti-utopian novel presenting a negative vision of future world under the rule of science where there is no pain, no emotions, religion and love. It forms Huxley’s contribution to the English Utopian fiction. It presents an ideal or exemplary vision of future of an imaginary world; it presents a dismal and gloomy picture of future. So indeed it is anti-utopian or dystopian in nature. As F. R. Karl and Marvin Magalaner remark,

“As an outstanding work of

science-fiction, Keith May aptly

called it a Satirical utopian or

anti–utopian science fiction.