Social Alienation in Brave New World

The new brave world (Social alienation) Alienation is a common condition but still a very complex one. It occurs when an individual is isolated or by himself withdraws from the society away from other people. Besides the fact that alienation is sociological, it is also psychological thus can have an intense effect on ones’ health and trigger a certain medical condition in the body (Gottschalk, et, al (98). Authors then take the opportunity to criticize these acts of alienation in their works and a good example is Aldous Huxley the author of the New Brave World. In this novel, he writes about a society that alienates people who do not fit their normal standards or they have different personalities. The Brave New World is a society which is highly structured and guided by principles under a regime that tends to control everything around (Thompson, Clive (55-63).

A good example of a character that faces alienation in the novel is John who is isolated for life because of his skin color and his different moral values. He faces mental, emotional and physical alienation in both cultures in the society namely World State and Savage cultures. He is confused whether to maintain his true virtues or conform to society. This Savage society did not recognize him as part of them because he looked different from other Indians in the reservation. John really wanted to be part of them, be involved in the rituals and become a part of the culture. He was left out, mocked and shunned him always. The dark skin Indians hated all people with light skins and considered them as people from ‘other places’.

Bernard Marx was ‘short and ugly’ as they referred to him in the Brave New World, and it is off because these general appearances that he got alienated from the society. Unlike Bernard, John was born raised outside New Brave World, so he had a developed sense of ethics. He was a decent boy not forgetting that his parents were Christians who had knowledge of American Native religions and taught him some William Shakespeare works. His conflicting principles are open and are evident when he warns Lenina of watching fee-lies which contain sexual materials, which reveals his morality but Lenina who grew up in this society shows only open sexuality.

The New Brave World is highly mechanized with sophisticated technology. For instance, fertilization of human beings takes place in bottles and everything like intelligence, gender, and your role in the society are all fated before birth. Bernard blunder came in during fertilization in the bottle and it is the reason he does not like being with other people. He alienates himself from other members of society and it is the reason he hates Lenina because she tries to force him to socialize. He likes watching the sea which he says looking at it makes him feel like he is more of him. Unlike John, social alienation feels good to him and he actually seeks it; it is the way to stress his personality. The society also isolates him because he is 7cm shorter than others and they bully him by saying that alcohol was put in his bottle that’s why he reacts like he does. His inferior complex due to his heights results in him being ridiculed and isolated from others.

Linda who is the biological mother of John is also alienated from the society as she is considered immoral by the residents. It is true that she does not adhere to laws of the reservation and she likes drinking alcohol which causes the conflict between her and the inhabitants. The reservation director abandons Linda and since then she cannot adapts to the cultures of the Savages as she does not keep the societal rules. She is banished from Limbo because she tries to live in both her former New Brave World and the reservation lands. She even teaches John reading and writing which is breaking the law. She faces alienation because of her promiscuous behavior and she lives in the world of in-between because both societies don’t like her promiscuousness.
When she gets the chance to live in the Brave New World Again, she is again exiled because her health condition had deteriorated and she had a son with a different appearance. Nobody desired the least to see her and some of them used to say; ‘and if you have people in an ordinary way, the others think you are wicked and very anti-social, they hate and despise you,’ (page 121). She abused a lot of soma such that she almost killed herself. She could not handle reality anymore so she alienated herself mentally. Linda spent much of her time sleeping and not forgetting the drugs she used to heal from the depression she was falling into.

Helmholtz is an emotional engineer who is super talented and his main aspiration is to use his special gifts to make something important out of it. He decides to create awareness about loneliness by writing a rhyme which made him be spurned in the institution and even the principal threatening to expel him. His superiority and intellect cause him to be alienated from the society. The author identifies him as an individual who was committed to awakening in others the feelings of loneliness he was experiencing. The new brave world is undeniably a very oppressive society and it might be the reason why there is so much alienation. The government has implemented the new world order which values stability more than anything else so the residents hate hearing the truth because it is painful.

In conclusion, the author reveals how the society has lost its morals by alienating people who look differently or their morals differ from theirs. Almost all the characters in the novel experience social alienation which to me is unfair and nobody deserves such treatment. Alienation as said before is that feeling of not belonging somewhere. Most authors do use it in their works because it is a common experience by many people (Massey, Doreen (9-19). It is an underlying theme in this 21stcentury as more writers try to warn us and create the awareness of the alienation that is taking place in the families and the society at large. Just like in the Brave New World, the modern day technology is compartmentalizing many people lives, thus making it hard for them to remain connected to their humanity (See man, Melvin (171-184). Another reason why authors are focusing a lot on alienation is to educate people on the effects; it’s good to avoid alienation because it is a hindrance to a happy life. It can cause mental breakdowns or trigger some medical condition in the body.