A Brave New World Literary Analysis

Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, is a dystopian novel where everyone is obsessed with their own appearance. In this novel, the people of the World State take a drug called Soma. Soma helps relax the mind and body. They take Soma to escape reality. At the savage reservation Lenina “swallowed six half-gramme tablets of soma”(Huxley,140) to escape the reality. Soma shows the obsession with a calm, fun loving appearance in the World State society. In Brave New World, everyone is suppose to have many sexual partners. It is deemed unnatural if you only have one. People tend to follow this trend because they want to seem normal. They care about the opinions of others in the society. Mustapha Mond was talking to the students about a proverb …show more content…
It feels good to have a nice appearance. Peers think positively about someone with a good appearance. When peers comment and like an appearance it causes a dopamine spike in the brain, which causes a state of euphoria. With the advancements in technology, the use of photoshop, and the use of language, our society has become fixated on our own appearances.
Language plays a massive role in the development of children. Certain words can be interpreted and help shape the thoughts of the child. Symbolic Interactionism is a theory by George Mead that supports how language plays a role in the obsession of our appearance. When growing up parents use words such as pretty and strong to encourage their children. This only causes the split in gender roles and it causes the child to have a skewed perception of accomplishments in life. Instead, Symbolic Interactionism states that children "who are raised receiving compliments highlighting their abilities and their competence to persevere and succeed will likely grow up to become a person with self confidence and eagerness to be productive and influential in this …show more content…
People have become more obsessed with their appearance. It has had detrimental effects in society too. Eating disorders, bad surgeries, and death due to drugs has plagued society because people want to look "good". What society needs to learn is "good" is what the norm is. If acne was a norm, then it would look "good" and attractive. Children are conditioned from a young age about the standard of beauty, through language they create gender roles and expectations. Photoshop and technology advancements can relate to Soma. It allows people to escape reality and perceive their appearance in a different way. Society's obsession with appearance has caused selfishness and arrogance. People flaunt and brag their looks, while others enter a state of depression. There are alternatives to appearances. Society should start to compliment intelligence or humor. Society shouldn't so much into glamor, but more into brains and personality. Start complimenting persistence or hard work. It will still make someone's day, but it will change the mindset of society. Together through the use of language, society can get rid of the stigma that appearance is the only thing that matters. Hopefully, this will get rid of the obsession that people have with their

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