how to eat Essay

Submitted By john2russ
Words: 2311
Pages: 10
Open Document
JCCC Honors Journal
Volume 2
Issue 2 Spring 2011

Article 4

6-28-2011

The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New
World
Rebecca Johnson
Johnson County Community College, uncannycanary@dmx.com

Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/honors_journal
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Rebecca (2011) "The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World," JCCC Honors Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/honors_journal/vol2/iss2/4

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Program at ScholarSpace @ JCCC. It has been accepted for inclusion in JCCC
Honors Journal by an authorized administrator of ScholarSpace @ JCCC. For more information, please contact bbaile14@jccc.edu.

The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Abstract

Satire is successful when the writer can make an audience believe the idea presented is not only logical, but practical; the most effective satirists can even convince the reader to consider the idea as a reasonable solution to a problem. Often, satire is used to bring to light certain social or moral issues or absurdities, and even more ridiculous resolutions to said problems. While certain satires are appealing in their obvious disgust of humanity, other works are not so blatant in their mockery, presenting more realistic situations. One of the most famous satirists of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley employed such tactics in Brave New World and Ape and Essence, not to mention other famous novels and essays. In Brave New World, Huxley shows how appalling it would be to remain ignorant in happiness, and lack the potential to develop as a frail, error-prone being. The greatest satirical aspect of this book is that the human race, while trying to better itself and gain knowledge, ends up becoming its own adversary and enemy. Because of this successfully ironic portrayal of human nature, Huxley remains one of the most successful 20th century satirists.

This article is available in JCCC Honors Journal: http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/honors_journal/vol2/iss2/4

Johnson: The Use of Satire

“Tomorrow is a satire on today, and shows its weakness.” -Edward Young

Satire is defined as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices” (Oxford Dictionary).It is successful when the writer can make an audience believe the idea presented is not only logical, but practical; the most effective satirists can even convince the reader to consider the idea as a reasonable solution to a problem.
Often, satire is used to bring to light certain social or moral issues or absurdities, and even more ridiculous resolutions to said problems. The scorn and derision in many famous satires is what gives them their flair. While certain satires are appealing in their obvious disgust of humanity, other works are not so blatant in their mockery, presenting more realistic situations.
One of the most famous satirists of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley employed such tactics in
Brave New World and Ape and Essence, not to mention other famous novels and essays. He is quoted in a letter to George Orwell to say,“Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.” In Brave New World, Huxley explores this idea of a society controlled by pleasure, ignorance, and conditioning.
It is the year 2540 AD, and there is no war, no hunger, no pain, and “if anything goes wrong, there’s soma”, a powerful hallucinogenic drug which has all of the pleasures of modernday drugs and none of the negatives. People are expected to copulate frequently if not
Show More

Related Documents: how to eat Essay

How Did Ancient Romans Eat

When in Rome, eat! The Ancient Romans were huge fans of finger food and takeout! Sadly, the food there is not at all like the food we have today. But many of our food ideas come from the Romans. The main meals in Rome consisted of bread, meat, beans, olives, and vegetables. Romans considered dinner to be the most important meal so, it was the biggest. For breakfast people in Rome typically ate porridge, beans, and a piece of bread. Lunch was usually made up up cheese, bread, and a vegetable of some…

Words 273 - Pages 2

Examine How Taste Influences The Foods We Like To Eat

Finally, let’s examine how taste influences the foods we like to eat. According to the article The Genetics of Taste written by Lisa Bramen we are first introduced to flavors when we are in the womb, but it isn’t just your Mom who has a role in determining what you like to eat. The way we perceive some flavors is coded in our DNA. In 1931, chemist Arthur Fox and other geneticists discovered a single gene that codes for a taste receptor on the tongue. There are multiple versions of this gene, accounting…

Words 504 - Pages 3

How Kids That Eat Sugar Before Bed Sleep Is Affected?

Nasaa Henderson Research Methods Psyc 221 I would do an experiment on how kids that eat sugar before bed sleep is affected. Description: I would randomly select children between the ages of 5 and 7. I would choose these children by asking those simple questions such as how often do they have sweets before bed. Depending upon their response that would determine if I would think they would be a good fit for my experiment. A child that answers they hardly ever have sweets I would not pick them because…

Words 493 - Pages 2

Mindful Eating Cycle Analysis

include: ‘Why do I eat?’, ‘When Do I want to eat?’, ‘What do I eat?’, ‘How do I eat?’, ‘How much do I eat?’, and ‘Where do I invest my energy?’. When it comes to making these decisions, I personally think I follow the processes of Instinctive Eating. I eat to provide my body with energy, and to provide it with the needed fuel to proceed throughout the day. Eating breakfast in the morning provides me with the energy I need to efficiently complete my daily activities. I want to eat when I feel hungry…

Words 498 - Pages 2

Mary Maxfield Food As Thought Analysis

amount of food one may intake varies from person to person. So no one can try and tell one what to eat, not even a nutritionist or scientists. In Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” and Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet” they both agree that scientists are not the ones who should be telling someone what they can and cannot eat. They also write about how the industries are trying to take American’s money. In Mary Maxfield's, “Food as Thought: Resisting…

Words 723 - Pages 3

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Larger Message Essays

the use of the number 3 and how its symbolic of a larger message. Then I would go on with the theme of Chivarly and Moraliry. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is tempted three times by a lady. However on the third time, he falls for it and accepts the green belt. If you didn’t notice, this is very alike to the bible where Eve gets tempted by the snake and eats the apple. In addition, First I would start of by talking about the use of the number 3 and how its symbolic of a larger message…

Words 1378 - Pages 6

Nutrition and Breakfast Cereals Essay

Your body changes as you get older, but a balanced diet will help you stay healthy. Here's what to eat and how to keep healthy as you get older. What to eat A healthy, balanced diet Whatever your age, it's important to eat a healthy, balanced diet. This means you should try to eat: plenty of fruit and vegetables – aim for at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg a day plenty of bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods – choose wholegrain varieties if you can some milk…

Words 1201 - Pages 5

Michael Pollan In Defense Of Food

of information about what nourishment is, and how we are influenced by this change of the western diet. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael examines the question of what we “should” eat, trying to explore through the supermarket, diet & health industry, and places where we choose to eat on a daily. Michael mentions that we are not being mindful about what we are eating and the results are ending up plainly clear as we take a long look at how our wellbeing has adjusted over the time being…

Words 473 - Pages 2

Argumentative Essay On Childhood Obesity

children have to eat what the schools are fixing. Some of those foods seem to be disturbing and gross with no nutritional value. If the schools are serving the children empty calories, how are they supposed to live a healthy lifestyle? “In school, they should teach kids how to eat” (Runyan). The author’s statement is very true. The schools should teach the kids how to eat correctly, know the maximum intake for their size and age, know exactly what to eat and what not to eat, and know the exact…

Words 705 - Pages 3

health nutrition paper

never check the food we eat meaning, how many calories it has, if it has vitamins or not. When we eat the only thing we think about is to not feel hungry anymore, but when thinking too much about not being hungry we forget to think about what if the food we eat is not good for us. Well in this project I had to write down the food I ate and the physical activity I did for two days a weekday and a weekend, and in my report I’ll bet able to notice how many calories I eat and how many I burn and also I’ll…

Words 460 - Pages 2