Ram 1

Richard Ram
Mrs. Stegner
ERWC Period 0
14 April 2016
Two Worlds
A society is based off of the interaction of people either through work or other
entertaining activities. Societies that are unable to provide a safe and pleasurable environment for
its people is dysfunctional. When comparing our society with the fictional society, created by
Aldous Huxley in his book Brave New World, these two societies might have some similar
characteristics but they end up being very different. When comparing the relationships, the use of
drugs, and the separation of classes in both societies the difference can bee seen.
The biggest part of a society is the relationship between the people. In our society the
most well known and probably the most important relationship you can have is love, and this can
be expressed and seen in many ways. In Brave New World however, the children when they are
in school [Have] Elementary sex for the first forty minutes as part of their lessons (Huxley 27).
This shows the major differences in the two societies, in ours the idea of sex and close
relationships is precious, but in theirs it is only seen as a part of life that should not be that
important. Also, in our world these actions, especially in school, would never be accepted and
are illegal to perform. In Brave New World, however, they are conditioned at a young age to not
make emotional attachments to anyone. A similarity that our two societies might share is the idea
of old age and looking younger to impress others. In our world there are surgeries that you can
have that make you look younger than you actually are and people receive these surgeries so
their interaction with others can be better. In Brave New World all the physiological stigmata of

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old age [has] been abolished (Huxley 55). After advances in technology our society today
might not get as extreme as theirs but we might get close. In an article, written by Ray Williams,
he talks about how our society today as being dumbed down because of the excess use of
technology (Williams). After reading this article, and thinking about our society, I have came to
the conclusion that our society is constantly evolving and without the easy access to technology
we would be unable to have a more successful future. But in the long run the comparison of
relationships in the two societies leans towards being very different.
Another big difference is the use and the acceptance of drugs in the two different
societies. In our world there are many drugs that are made for different reasons, but a lot of these
drugs are illegal unless prescribed by a specialist. But in Brave New World on the other hand,
there is a drug called Soma that is made and distributed to everyone that helps them with
whatever they need help with. The citizens in their society are conditioned to take soma
whenever they feel emotions, now dont lose your temper remember one cubic centimetre
cures ten gloomy sentiments (Huxley 89). They are told to take as much soma as they want
when they feel frustrated or just want to have a good time. To much of anything is never good,
especially drugs, we have that in common. A similarity that our societies have is the use of drugs
to have a good time or [embark on a] lunar eternity (Huxley 140). Lenina after a hard day she
goes home, takes a soma, and for about eighteen hours is on this lunar eternity. People in our
societies today also take drugs when they have a rough day that help them sleep and feel
rejuvenated when they wake up. This is a good thing in some cases when people actually need it,
but in Brave New Worlds case people only need it because they have it pounded into their mind
that they have to take it when they need it. In a Ted Talk, by Johann Hari, he talks about drug
addiction and how society should accept the fact that people are addicts and help them by

Ram 3
bringing them in and being close to them, which in return will allow them to get back on their
feet and become a functional part of society again (Hari). This sounded like a good idea, but I
believe that this would just make things worse. If we just all of a sudden accept the fact that they
are taking drugs that it is not only hurting themselves but the others around them, our world
would soon turn into the extreme society as seen in Brave New World. They make a drug and
distribute it to the people and tell them to take it when they want, how is this a society that we
should want for our kids. Who knows that psychological and physical damage this might do. In
the end, our two societies have some similar reasons to take drugs, but the extreme usage of
drugs in Brave New World, compared to our society is very different.
The third difference between the two societies is the class system, and the separation of
classes. In our society today the only major separation of classes is due to wealth. In the past we
used to have separation due to race and nobility but we have evolved away from that. In Brave
New World, however, there are five classes in the society Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and
Explosions. At birth, they are already made and are conditioned for their specific class. Because
of the separation the Alphas and Betas are on the top, and because of this [They are] glad [not to
be] a Gamma(Huxley 62). Being on the top means they have better lives and are perceived as
better than everyone else. In our society some wealthy people might be more arrogant than
others, but in the wide sense the wealthy usual try and help the less fortunate. A similarity that
our two societies have is that usually the higher up in society you are, unfortunately, means you
have more and easier access to education and have better opportunities to work hard and be
successful. In Brave New World, Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than
[others] do, because theyre so frightfully clever (Huxley 75). Like our society, the top is
smarter and hard working, except in their society they are born and made to be where they are. In

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the end, our society is built off wealth, but in Brave New World they are born and conditioned to
fit into their place in their society.
To conclude, the idea that Neil Postman, states how our society today is becoming more
like the society created by Aldous Huxley in his book, Brave New World, is not true. He has
some good points that our society is becoming more technologically advanced and we are
moving away from more personal interactions, but that is not even close to the extremes seen in
Brave New World. When comparing the relationships, the use of drugs, and the separation of
classes in both societies there are some similarities but, the difference are much greater.

Works Cited
Hari, Johann, Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong. TED. June 2015. Web.
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Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York:Harper & Brothers, 1946. Print
Williams, Ray. Anti-Intellectualism and the Dumbing Down of America. Psychology Today.
Sussex

Publishers. 7 July 2014. Web. 6 March 2016.