Today’s lesson comes from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It is the tale of a future society in which everything is completely controlled through eugenics (i.e. – managing human breeding for a desired outcome), psychological conditioning (so that people’s tastes, desires, and turn-offs are all as the government wants), sexual promiscuity (to keep everyone occupied on something mindless yet enjoyable), and soma (the government-issued, universally accepted drug, at once “euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant” (p. 53)).
Psychologist Bernard travels from Great Britain to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where he finds a young fellow named John. John is the son of a British woman who was accidentally left in the reservation a few decades ago. John’s mindset is the combined product of indigenous mythologies and now-nonexistent Christianity. During one conversation, John says:
“‘I stood against a rock in the middle of the day, in summer, with my arms out, like Jesus on the Cross.’
‘What on earth for?’ [asked Bernard.]
‘I wanted to know what it was like being crucified. Hanging there in the sun…’
‘But why?’
‘Why? Well…’ He hesitated. ‘Because I felt I ought to. If Jesus could stand it…’
‘It seems a funny way of curing your unhappiness,’ said Bernard. But on second thoughts he decided that there was, after all, some sense in it. Better than taking soma…” (pp. 137-138).
This episode turns out to be useful foreshadowing (forgive me for even using that high school English term) for what happens later in the book. I won’t give that away specifically. The point is that civilization thrives on conformity. Sterilization of mind and body allow a society to operate more efficiently. If an individual dares to stand against the wave, he will not only feel the pain of his struggle; he will also be punished directly by those creating (or riding) the waves. This leads to my theory about The Big Lebowski, which deserves an essay in itself. With that said, I should probably collect my thoughts for a larger work.
