Taylor Webb

Ms. Sanford
AP Literature
15 October 2014
An Army of Perfection
Todays society focuses so much of its attention on appearance that for many people, it
has become an obsession. Girls spend hours doing their hair and concealing the undesirable parts
of their body, while boys spend just as much time pumping iron at the nearest gym. People set
unattainable body image goals based on models or celebrities who have been touched by
Photoshop and diet in extreme ways that the human body cannot keep up with. Not only has the
quest for perfection consumed society, but it has also become a normal, accepted part of
everyday life. But when does this obsession with perfection take a turn for the worst? When does
the idea of perfection become too poisonous to let society grow? The novel Brave New World by
Aldous Huxley is about societys interpretation of perfection and reveals that if perfection is
obtained, the originality and emotion and drive of the world completely disappear; when
perfection is achieved, humanity is lost.
The society in Brave New World has a specific organized structure that helps establish
their view of perfection by separating members of the society into castes. Those placed in a high
caste are in charge of sorting the new members of society, the babies, into castes: we decant
our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or
future He was going to say future World controllers, but correcting himself, said future
Directors of Hatcheries, instead (Huxley 13). The reference to world controllers shows just

how much control those considered perfect in this society have. The Alphas, the highest caste,
are given the power to determine new society members life paths. Those chosen as Alphas
choose the next generation of Alphas and so on, insuring that the current idea of perfection stays
the same forever. Though it may seem that a caste system would make people miserable, the
system is actually widely supported. The troubles of caste systems in the real world, or Brave
New Worlds past, are not known to the society because it has been emptied of a sense of history
and of memory of the past (Varricchio 98). This helps the people of the society think everything
is perfect because they have never known any way of living other than their own. The society is
content with the way it is because their way is truly the only way. Everyone is the same and
everyone is content; the worlds fire of passion has been put out.
The loss of humanity in Brave New Worlds perfect society is no more evident than in the
societys expectations of its people. The Controllers, or the people really governing this unique
society, have established acceptable principles in the society so that they can maintain control of
the world. One of these principles discusses stability. No civilization without social stability.
No social stability without individual stability (Huxley 42). This quote is stated by one of the
Controllers while he is talking to a group touring the Hatchery. The principle of stability he has
established is one in which the societys government and lifestyle is based on. The society has to
be stable in order for the Controllers to be satisfied, and the simplest way to get this stability is to
control anyone that could disrupt it. The control of this perfect society and the evil of the
Controllers is not so obvious because no one is hurt; indeed, this is a world in which everyone
gets what they want (McQuillan 85). Everyone in this society is so brainwashed by the idea that
they are perfect for their caste and job and life that they dont feel the need to question anything.
The only things worth questioning are those that do not fit with the expectations that have been

drilled into their heads. For example, Huxley writes of a little boy who does not want participate
in erotic play, a normal, expected part of Brave New Worlds society. A nurse notices the boys
reluctance, and decides to take him in to see the Assistant Superintendent of Psychology. Just
to see if anythings at all abnormal (Huxley 32). Simply because the boy does not want to
participate in a normal activity, because the boy is different, the nurse is going to get him
checked out to see if he is abnormal, or not perfect. It is expected that perfect children
participate. If this boy is an abnormality, the society is one step further away from true
perfection, and that will not be an issue that is taken lightly by the Controllers.
The Controllers have established what it means to be perfect and use it as a way to
control. They make everyone believe they are perfect when in reality they are all just reciting
what they have heard in their sleep when they were young: Alpha children wear grey. They
work much harder than we do, because they are so frightfully clever. Im really awfully glad Im
a Beta, because I dont work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas.
Gammas are stupid And Epsilons are still worse (Huxley 28). This dialogue is from
Elementary class consciousness; it is a recording played while the Beta caste children are
sleeping. It is not enough that the castes dress differently or that their embryos receive different
treatment (The lower the caste, the less time the embryos are exposed to oxygen.). The castes
have to be separate; they have to look down on the castes lower than them and respect those
above them, all while believing they are blessed to be in the caste they are in. It is not enough to
achieve perfect people; everyone, even those who are not considered perfect, has to be content.
Everyone has to be controlled. The technology in this society developed by the Controllers helps
them control it by reducing man to a species of machine (Firchow 301).

Works Cited

Firchow, Peter Edgerly. "The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World."
The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World,'. Bucknell University
Press, 1984. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper and Jennifer
Allison Brostrom. Vol. 79. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harrper & Brothers, 1932. Print.
McQuillan, Gene. "The politics of allusion: Brave New World and The Debates About
Biotechnologies." Studies in the Humanities 33.1 (2006): 79+. Literature Resource
Center. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
VARRICCHIO, MARIO. "Power of Images/Images of Power in Brave New World and Nineteen
Eighty-Four." Utopian Studies 10.1 (1999): 98. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Sept.
2014.