Page 227 - DENG404_FICTION

Unit 19: Aldous Huxley—Brave New World: Detailed Study of Text-II

by Epsilons and Deltas. He mentions an old experiment on Cyprus that had attempted a Notes
society of Alphas. That society soon disintegrated into a civil war, and in the end, they asked
the World Controllers to take over.
Mustapha also argues that he cannot allow science to make progress without strict controls,
since science can lead to social instability. When the others protest that science is everything,
Mustapha agrees with them. He distinguishes between the science that ensures the social
stability and the science that would create social unrest. His world comes from the type of
science that helps ensure social stability.

Task Why doesn’t John like civilization?

Mustapha then tells Helmholtz and Bernard that he will send them to an island where social
misfits go. Usually they are people who have acquired individualistic traits and might destabilize
society. Bernard protests and prostrates himself on the floor, and Mustapha has him removed
from the room.
Mustapha admits himself would have gone to an island but received the choice of becoming
the next Controller. He explains that his job is to promote the maximum happiness of society
but not his own. Ironically, he must act as an individual in order to decide what is best for
the society. Helmholtz chooses to go to the Falkland Islands in order to write. His reasoning
for the choice is that bad weather promotes better writing. He then leaves to make sure
Bernard is safe.

Analysis
As the first chapter in the declining action of the novel, Chapter 16 essentially provides a
logical defense of totalitarian utilitarianism. It compares the ideals of individuality and those
of the new social order, beginning with the concept of old versus new.

Mustapha argues that the old is unnecessary because it contains destabilizing passion and
emotions. Stability is the highest virtue because it leads to happiness, and old things like
Shakespeare cannot exist since they do not lead to happiness. Mond also insists that the old
things cannot be created in the new world because tragedies like Othello or Romeo and Juliet
are the products of tension in society. If tension does not exist, neither can tragedy. Instead,
all the new feelings and shows must be about nothing, since happiness occurs most easily
when one experiences pure sensation rather than emotion.
They then debate about Bokanovsky groups, which are necessary to society because only a
caste system can make every person in the society happy. Each group has an intelligence
modified and conditioned to make people happy with their jobs, and as Mustapha points out,
a society of pure Alphas leads to chaos because everyone fights for the best jobs.
Mond defines art and science as the two primary sacrifices of the old world in order to obtain
the ultimate utilitarian goal, that of maximum happiness. Art can only exist when it has no
meaning, and whereas science is praised for improving society, it is also restricted because it
may destabilize society.
This chapter draws even starker differences between Helmholtz and Bernard. Helmholtz chooses
the best chair, Bernard the worst. Helmholtz no longer feels himself subordinate to society or any
individual. Bernard on the other hand still bears a strong attachment to his society. He chooses
the poor chair in the hope that by showing contrition he will receive a milder punishment,
indicating that a certain degree of self-loathing is important to the enforcement of social control.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 221