In this essay I will analyze and compare themes explored in two novels written by the eminent British

novelist Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932) and Island (1962). Topics to be covered include social
organization, education, family planning, leisure, psychopharmacology, religion and philosophy.
Furthermore, I postulate that although some people interpret Huxley’s view on the future as pessimistic,
it is possible to infer the contrary from his writings: humans will always have the innate capacity to
achieve individual enlightenment, no matter how shattered the society surrounding us may be.

In Brave New World, Huxley portrays a dystopian civilization characterized by industrial mass production
and cloning of human beings, direct physiological and psychological conditioning and a powerful World
State controlling a society divided in castes and promoting drug abuse, promiscuity and mass
consumption.

In stark contrast, Island, written thirty years after Brave New World, brings Huxley’s utopic dreams to life
through the Pacific island of Pala, where a decentralized political economy based on mutual support and
voluntary cooperation strives to keep its people untouched by the hands of megalomaniac dictators and
ruthless oil magnates. Pala is marked by its ecological and pacifist practices, selective industrialization,
birth control and a holistic and logical approach to health and education.

Social organization

Society in Brave New World is organized in a caste system. The separation begins prior to birth:
fertilization technicians assess the quality of an artificially-produced ovum’s heredity and decide whether
it should undergo bokanovskification. The Bokanovsky Proccess is a fictional fertilization method which
consists in subjecting human ova to a set of stressors such as X-rays, acid and alcohol, resulting in
multiplication of the eggs and loss of quality; in other words, producing dozens of mentally-handicapped
identical twins. These individuals compose the Lower Caste, ranging from Gammas and Deltas to
Epsilons, according to their mental capacities. However, the ova identified as being of a higher quality
are individually fertilized and specially conditioned, constituting the Upper Caste of Alphas and Betas.
They perform all of the intellectual work as scientists, technicians, professors and so forth. Members of
the Lower Caste engage in simple menial tasks: lifting boxes, pressing buttons, pushing levers. Essential
jobs such as cultivating the land and raising stock are automated by highly advanced machines.

The Kingdom of Pala is a fictional island isolated from mainland access. This isolation, as proposed by
Jerome Meckier (2016), is one of the necessary factors to achieve utopia in the modern world; without
external influence, an isolated society is free to develop on its own way. 1 Palanese culture is based on a
combination of Eastern philosophy (especially Mahayana Buddhism) and Western science, applying the
best of both worlds to its inhabitants’ benefit. In its 120 years of existence, Pala has refused to submit to
modern industrialization, rather choosing to live in balance with Nature, applying modern science only as
long as Nature is not compromised during the process. There is no violence in the Island of Pala because
rational and pragmatic decisions towards pacifism have been made; Palanese ethics are reflected by
their ecological perspective “Do as you would be done by”, transposed from the conservation of Nature
to the conservation of society. Also, citizens of Pala have solved the problem of overabundance of power
turned into aggressive behaviour: through mindfulness and physical exercises, they are able to channel
their energy into something useful instead of causing harm to others or themselves.

“[Underdeveloped countries] are still free to take the road we’ve taken – the road of applied biology, the
road of fertility control and the limited production and selective industrialization which fertility control
makes possible, the road that leads towards happiness from the inside out, through health, through
awareness, through a change in one’s attitude towards the world; not towards the mirage of happiness
from the outside in, through toys and pills and nonstop distractions.” (I 260)

Education

Conditioning, both physiological and psychological, plays a large role in the education of the Brave New
World’s citizens. Predestination takes physical form through countless conditioning processes which are
employed during conception to assure maximum efficiency of future workers. More interesting, though,
are the methods the World State has implemented to condition and control humans at a psychological
level. The first is denominated Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning and, as the name suggests, is based on the
breakthrough discoveries made by the psychologist Dr. Ivan Pavlov, specifically the phenomenon of
association. In the Brave New World, this discovery is taken to a new dimension by being applied onto
human babies. For example, Lower Caste children learn to associate books and flowers to electric shocks
and explosions in order to prevent them from reading and contemplating nature. (BNW 22) The second
and most effective method of psychological conditioning used is Hypnopedia, or sleep-teaching. Moral
education is taught through innumerable repetitions to every child and adolescent during their sleep;
proven to be very efficacious, Hypnopedia is a major component of social order. Furthermore, members
of the Upper Caste have the privilege of formal education. Classes are caste-specific and strictly focused
on scientific specialization, while historical, philosophical and psychological education is limited to a few
people, because “particulars, as everyone knows, makes for virtue and happiness; generalities are
intellectually necessary evils.” (BNW 4)

The educational system in Pala, takes a holistic approach with a combined focus on hands-on,
experiential training and formal instruction with emphasis on the biological sciences. Aside from the
standard symbolic approach to education through language, mathematics, arts and science, Palanese
students are also educated on how to perceive reality directly without symbols. This can be seen during
Will’s visit to the mountain temple, and later to New Rothamsted’s Elementary School. During the first,
teenagers have to climb a mountain as an ordeal “that helps them realize the omnipresence of death,
the precariousness of all existence.” (I 195) The religious ceremony held in the temple at the
mountaintop has the purpose of providing the experience of spiritual enlightenment, to raise the
awareness of their physical reality, tuning into a Higher Ground of Consciousness or the “Mind-at-large”
(more on that shortly.) Huxley proposes a number of educational ideas during Chapter 13, when Will is
brought to the schoolhouse and presented to Palanese educational guidelines; all of which stem from
the principle of awareness. Palanese schools begin by assessing their students’ differences, physiological
and psychological. Professors are intent on educating “children on the conceptual level without killing
their capacity for intense nonverbal experience”. (I 250) Biological disposition (diet, breathing, posture)
is highly taken into account when evaluating students’ ability to learn and develop their capacities. There
is also a focus on each student’s unique innate talents. Complex subjects are easily taught to children
through the implementation of methods such as telling animal parables with underlying social or moral
principles, or teaching scientific subjects through games as coin flipping, dice, cards and board games.

“—What we give the children is simultaneously a training in perceiving and imagining, a training in
applied physiology and psychology, a training in practical ethics and practical religion, a training in the
proper use of language, and a training in self-knowledge. In a word, a training of the whole mind-body in
all its aspects.” (I 256)

“– What are Palanese boys and girls for? Neither for mass consumption, nor for strengthening the state.

– And what in fact are they for?

– For actualization, for being turned into full-blown human beings.” (I 248)

Family

The concept of viviparous reproduction and nuclear family – father, mother and children living together
– has not only been eradicated from the Brave New World, but also stigmatized. The negative Freudian
influence of the family upon an infant’s psyche is eliminated by abolishing parenthood itself. Babies are
raised inside bottles in a laboratory and “educated” through psychological conditioning. Society is their
family and Ford (God) itself is their father and mother, represented by the World Controllers. Sexual
education begins from an early age and promiscuity is socially encouraged; in fact, abstaining from
casual sex is frowned upon by the population. Contraceptive methods are universally distributed and
compulsory. Monogamy is also negatively seen by citizens of the Brave New World, who are conditioned
to engage in meaningless polyamorous relationships.

Although the Palanese may be exposed to the neuroses of family life, they are free to escape early in life:
through MACs (Mutual Adoption Clubs), children can “take a vacation” from their families anytime they
want. Consisting of fifteen to twenty-five families composed of newly-married couples, grandparents and
great-grandparents, MACs provide an alternative to children otherwise stuck in dysfunctional,
unbearable families. Meanwhile, troubled parents go through “tactful therapy from the other members
of their Mutual Adoption Club” until they are ready to be with their children again. (I 110) Simply put,
anytime a young person does not feel comfortable at home, or just wants to experience something
different, she can be adopted by a deputy family from the Mutual Adoption Club for as long as needed,
usually from one or two days to one month. This socio-familiar structure brings about “healthier
relationships in more responsible groups, wider sympathies and deeper understandings.” (I 107)

Leisure

People living in the Brave New World enjoy plenty of leisure options; as a matter of fact, leisure time
constitutes a large part of their lives (when playing golf is suggested, Bernard refuses as he considers it a
waste of time. Lenina, astonished, asks: “Then what’s time for?”) (BNW 89) Everyone engages in sports
such as Obstacle Golf, Riemann-surface tennis and Centrifugal Bumblepuppy, which require
sophisticated apparatus, promoting mass consumption. (BNW 23) In addition, people regularly go to the
Feelies, which is a kind of movie theater with not only visual and aural but also tactual stimulation. (BNW
168) Frequenting nightclubs and dancing to Synthetic Music is a common pastime. (BNW 76) Last but
not least, the Ultimate Recreational Drug, Soma, is heaven in a pill: “One cubic centimeter cures ten
gloomy sentiments.” (BNW 54) “One gramme in time saves nine.” (BNW 89) I will expand on the usage
and effects of soma shortly.

Leisure time in Pala comes in many shapes and flavors. Music, theater, poetry, landscape painting and all
the highest forms of artistic expression are treasured in Pala. Poetic declamations on a public square
accompanied by the sound of a lute are not unusual; neither are puppet theaters adapting Ancient Greek
tragedies to Modern Pala. The philosophy of its inhabitants reflect some Eastern practices such as
stressing the importance of meditation and applying this awareness onto the real world instead of
seeking otherworldly transcendence. The idyllic nature of Palanese lifestyle seems to be one long leisure
trip. In this way, even hard work can be considered leisure when one is well-adapted to see meaning in
one’s actions. Work and leisure, physical and mental activity are very balanced in Palanese life.

“You seem to imagine we do [toil] for ethical purposes […] I do muscular work, because I have muscles;
and if I don’t use my muscles I shall become a bad-tempered sitting-addict.” (I 173)

Psychopharmacology

Soma is a psychoactive substance universally available to citizens of the Brave New World. It can be
stimulant, narcotic or hallucinogenic, depending exclusively on the dosage and seems to have no harmful
side effects. People of the Brave New World frequently take small doses of soma during the day as it
makes them happy and more energetic. In case of an unpleasant event, one can always swallow two
grams of soma and take a holiday from reality, floating in a dimly lit ocean of numbness. In addition,
when someone feels too strongly or on special occasions, it is not uncommon to take very high doses of
soma and enter in a deep trance-like state, “the warm, the richly coloured, the infinitely friendly world of
soma-holiday.” (BNW 77) At first it can be inferred that soma is a positive factor for social order, as it
makes people more satisfied and blissful. However, its dystopian use is later revealed, especially during
the conversation between Mustapha Mond and John.

“And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there’s always
soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there’s always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you
to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past you could only accomplish these
things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three
half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your
morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears – that’s what soma is.” (BNW 237-238)

At first glance, Soma may be seen as inductive happiness and satisfaction. This happiness, however, is
not the kind of happiness brought by a sense of accomplishment or enlightenment; rather, it is a
superficial kind of happiness which only lasts as long as the effect of the drug. Consequently, it is
reasonable to assume people in the Brave New World are not happy, but merely numbed down and
constantly trying to escape their reality. Moreover, Soma’s function as “opium for the masses” is clear
and so is its employment in order to make people passive, submissive and obedient to the State.
In the island of Pala, however, the function of psychopharmacological substances is radically different.
The moksha-medicine is an entheogen used by Palanese on special occasions. It is derived from native
toadstools (I 165). As pointed out by Schermer (2007), “Moksha literally means ‘liberation’ but the drug
is also known as the ‘reality revealer’ or the ‘truth-and-beauty pill.’ It is used to sharpen and deepen
consciousness and brings about a kind of mystical or spiritual experience. It is meant to teach people
more about themselves and their place in the universe.” 2 The first encounter Palanese have with the
moksha-medicine is during the coming-of-age ritual at the mountain temple. Young men and women
gather together and take four-hundred milligrams of “truth and beauty” as a means of being “liberated
from themselves.” (I 199) Through prayer and guided meditation, these young Palanese achieve
liberation or, as Dr. Robert puts it, “the ending of sorrow, ceasing to be what you ignorantly think you
are and becoming what you are in fact.” It is evident that the value of moksha-medicine could not be
further away from Soma’s. Mystical experiences are taken very seriously in Pala and most people use the
moksha-medicine only a couple times per year. Huxley stressed the importance of
psychopharmacological substances as a way of achieving mystical experiences of the same degree as
achieved through deep meditation and fasting, especially by making Will’s experience with the substance
the final chapter and climax of the novel.

Religion and Philosophy

Religion in the Brave New World is a dead concept, considered old fantasies used to “overcompensate
for human miseries.” Nevertheless, citizens of the Brave New World blindly follow the ideology of
Fordism, in which the Divine Figure is considered to be Henry Ford and the assembly line, his miraculous
gift to the world and humankind. The irony is almost palpable here as it is evident that Fordism is only a
vehicle to convey the ideology of mass production and consumerism. Ford’s T-Model, also known as the
Flivver, was the first automobile to be mass produced by an assembly line. Consequently, the date of its
invention is used as a hallmark and beginning of the Brave New World’s calendar. Besides Fordism, the
World State also establishes moral guidelines such as the abolishment and stigmatization of history,
family, monogamy, romance and natural reproduction; division of society by castes, sorted by physical
and intellectual aptitude; encouragement of carnal polyamorous relationships and psychotropic
substance use, best exemplified by the Community Service passage, where twelve people gather
together twice a month to be guided into a mystical experience of sorts, using a considerable amount of
Soma to “see Ford” and engage in ritualistic group sex called Orgy-Porgy. The Brave New World itself is
Huxley’s satire of utilitarianism, a school of thought stating that something’s value is determined by its
efficiency and capacity of providing the “greater good” for the largest number of people. Taken to the
extreme as a thought experiment, Huxley’s conception of utilitarianism is both a prophecy and a warning
of what our society is becoming, given the latest scientific and technological advances and their
consequences on civilization. It is worth noting that by the time Brave New World was written, the world
was taken by excitement and ambition concerning the newest technologies; this was before the World
War II, Nazi eugenics and the atomic bomb. Aldous’ brother himself, the famous biologist Julian Huxley,
was very excited about eugenics. The role of genetic engineering as an imprisonment of human freedom
is beautifully portrayed in the novel and served as argumentative foundation against eugenics since then.
Most importantly, though, are the philosophical considerations of happiness and free will directly
approached during the dialogue at Mustapha Mond’s office. A heated debate between a psychologically
broken, fervent Christian raised among savages and a megalomaniac utilitarian genius explains the
underlying philosophy of the Brave New World. Mustapha’s arguments in favour of utilitarianism are
particularly striking:

“— The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they
can’t get. They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully
ignorant of passion and old age […] they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as
they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there’s soma. […] Actual happiness always looks
pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensation for misery.” (BNW 220-221)

Whereas John, the Savage, defends himself by claiming that humans have a natural inclination to believe
in the existence of God; that if God is real then he provides the reason for being noble, heroic, chaste
and abstinent; for “bearing things patiently, for doing things with courage” (BNW 236).

“– But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want
goodness. I want sin [...] I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.” (BNW 240)

The Brave New World sacrificed true happiness, freedom and humanity in exchange for stability and
social order; for the right to be shallow ‘sheeple’, to live in comfort and convenience. All things
considered, it is quite scary when we analyze our contemporary society and notice that, in many aspects,
Huxley’s prophecies have been fulfilled.

Almost virtually opposite from the Brave New World’s philosophical stance, the Island also focus heavily
on the themes of happiness and freedom, but from a humanist, quite existentialist perspective. In the
Kingdom of Pala, every action and decision is made not only towards the collective benefit, but the
individual benefit which prompts good behaviour. Pala would rather sacrifice its scientific and industrial
development in order to keep its inhabitants free and happy. Palanese culture and ethics are a perfect
combination of Western science and Eastern philosophy, embodied in the figures of the reformers: Dr.
Andrew MacPhail, a Scottish humanist doctor who recognized the value of pure and applied Buddhism
and the Old Raja, a Buddhist Palanese king who recognized the value of pure and applied science.
Together, they provided the scaffolding of what became the Palanese philosophy and ethics, exposed in
the Old Raja’s book “Notes on What’s What, and What It Might Be Reasonable To Do About What’s
What.” One of the main focuses of the Old Raja’s book and Palanese philosophy in general is the
overcoming of dualism onto a sense of unity, combining both the material and spiritual worlds into a
single reality through awareness. As Dr. Robert puts it, “concrete materialism is only the raw stuff a fully
human life.” he says, “It’s only through awareness, complete and constant awareness, that we transform
it into concrete spirituality.” (I 182) The moksha-medicine and the practice of “maithuna”, the yoga of
love (or “beastly dope and sex” as Murugan, the soon-to-be Raja of Pala, puts it) are two practices
adopted in Pala which visibly increase the overall happiness of the population. Essentially, the yoga of
love consists of a deepening of one’s awareness, as in meditation, during sexual intercourse and a kind of
arrested orgasm that leads to a tantric state of pleasure. More importantly, though, it also reduces the
birth rate, thereby solving the demographic overgrowth problem with the aid of free and universally-
available contraceptives.

“— Keeping babies alive, healing the sick, preventing the sewage from getting into the water supply –
one starts with doing things that are obviously and intrinsically good. And how does one end? One ends
by increasing the sum of human misery and jeopardizing civilization. It’s the kind of cosmic practical joke
that God seems really to enjoy.

— God has nothing to do with it, […] and the joke isn’t cosmic, it’s strictly man-made. These things […]
don’t have to happen. They happen only if people are stupid enough to allow them to happen. Here in
Pala we haven’t allowed them to happen, so the joke hasn’t been played on us. We had good sanitation
for the best part of a century and still we are not overcrowded, miserable or under a dictatorship. And
the reason is very simple: we chose to behave in a sensible and realistic way. […] The right people were
intelligent at the right moment – but it must be admitted – they were also very lucky.” (I 95)

Huxley’s view

Huxley depicts a scary portrait of the Brave New World and how our society is progressively marching
towards it. Similarly, no matter how pacific and enlightened its people are, the Kingdom of Pala seems to
be foredoomed to domination and dictatorship – especially by Will’s efforts of oil lobbying for the
Southeast Asia Oil Company. This grim perspective is enough to serve as argument for careless readers.

However, Huxley explicitly or implicitly states his perspective, and it is through his characters’
development that he demonstrates that no matter how broken and corrupted our society may be, there
will always be hope. Helmholtz, for example, develops human feelings and tries to express them through
his poetry but fails to realize that his society is keeping him from rising above his conditioned nature. On
the last few chapters, though, he is sent to an island where he will be free to create his art and express
his feelings together with other unwanted creative human beings. The “intensification and refining of
consciousness” and “enlargement of knowledge” (BNW 177) seem to be the pillars of Huxley’s
philosophical stance, at least at that time.

Furthermore, I believe the strongest argument against Huxley’s pessimism lies within Will Farnaby’s
development throughout Island. He arrives as a castaway, a reporter doing underground lobbying for an
oil tycoon intent on tapping into Pala’s oil resources. He is cynical and contemptuous at first, frequently
mocking the Palanese lifestyle. However, as time passes and Will gets to know better Palanese culture
and its people, he becomes increasingly fascinated and drawn towards it. One of the highest points of his
transformation is seen at the street market, where Murugan, the spoiled prince of Pala, is trying to bring
Will to his mother’s presence in order to discuss the sharing of Pala’s oil royalties:

“Losing all patience, Murugan caught hold of Will’s arm and gave him a savage pinch. “Are you coming?”
he shouted.

Will turned on him angrily. “What the devil do you think you’re doing, you little fool?” He jerked his arm
out of the boy’s grasp.
Intimidated, Murugan changed his tone. “I just wanted to know if you were ready to come to my
mother’s.”

“I’m not ready” Will answered, “because I’m not going. […] I have a prior engagement with someone
who’s dying.” (I 309)

Shortly afterwards, Will considers going back to the marketplace and apologizing to Murugan, but
detains himself.

“Conscience? No. Morality? Heaven forbid! But supererogatory squalor, ugliness and vulgarity beyond
the call of duty – these were things which, as a man of taste, one simply couldn’t be a party to.” (I 312)

Moreover, during the last chapter, Will has his first experience with the moksha-medicine, guided by
Susila. He transcends his physical reality and becomes one with the Clear Light, comes back down to
Earth, witnesses the transformation of Light into the Essential Horror and combines both in a
harmonious marriage, overcoming duality into unity, even briefly peeping at what’s beyond Heaven and
Hell. Just as Brave New World, Island has a striking twist at the ending. Nonetheless, it still beautifully
represents the transition between the odious cynicism of modernity and the beatific transcendence of
utopia.

As a conclusion, it is safe to assume that Huxley at least partially believed humans have the capacity to
overcome their animalistic nature and achieve utopia, given that choices are made rationally and
problems tackled intelligently. It does not matter the world as we know is falling apart, we all have the
possibility of rising above our own limits to become fully human; especially at times like these, when
empathy is discouraged and humanity is crushed, it is our duty not only to perfect ourselves, keeping our
bodies, minds and souls at balance, but also to share this knowledge and help other people to break free
from the shackles of modern conditioning and ignorance.

Bibliography

1. Meckier J. (2016) ‘My Hypothetical Islanders’: The Role of Islands in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New
World and Island. In: Greenberg J., Waddell N. (eds) 'Brave New World': Contexts and Legacies.
Palgrave Macmillan, London
2. Schermer, M. H. N. “Brave New World versus Island — Utopian and Dystopian Views on
Psychopharmacology.” Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy 10.2 (2007): 119–128. PMC. Web.
2 Apr. 2018.

3. Huxley, Aldous. (1932) Brave New World. Harper Perennial

4. Huxley, Aldous. (1962) Island. Harper Perennial