What is Satire? Consider Brave New World as a Satire.

Answer

What is satire? Consider Brave New World as a satire.

Satire is a literary device in which the author ridicules the existing faults and vices of a particular society to correct them. Brave New World (1932) is a masterpiece of satire composed by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963). It is a satirical fiction. Huxley depicts a scientific futuristic society in the novel Brave New World. Huxley satirizes probable futuristic social elements. 

Satirical Title: Huxley takes the title Brave New World which has been derived from Miranda’s speech in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. John says,

 oh brave new world that has such people in it.

To describe the World State, he is being ironic. He exposes that the people of the world state are cruel and inhumane. So Huxley wants to expose that this is not a brave world; this is an inhumane, perverted, and cruel world.

Satire on the Caste System: The social structure of the world state is a serious satirical issue. People of the world state are classified into five castes. They are Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Alphas and Betas are upper classes, and they are produced to rule inthe  future. But the rest of the three are lower classes. They are produced through the Bokanovsky process. It is a process by which a large number of similar twins are hatched at the rate of ninety-six per egg by budding. We find Tomakin to say,

Bokanovsky’s process is one of the major instruments of social stability.

Satire on Soma: John blames his mother’s death for Soma. He tries to convince other people not to take Soma. He tries to keep people aloof from Soma by interfering with daily soma rations for workers at the Hospital. For both John and the reader, soma now symbolizes a lack of free will, central social control, and enslavement. In the end, John, the novel’s protagonist, uses soma and takes part in anonymous sex. John protests against the World State for as long as possible in spite of Lenina’s seductive attitude. To Lenina,

A gramme is always better than a damn,

John sees soma as a tool of social control.

Satire on Inhumane Qualities: Huxley represents the most influential satirical issue which is the inhumane tendency of the governing body of the world state. Everyone is mechanized for happiness and comfort. This mechanizing process starts at birth and ends with death. To them, death is very natural. Women’s ovaries are treated like commodities. Human beings are produced and maintained in hatchery and conditioning centers. The production rate of the population is controlled by its demand. Again, they worship Ford instead of God.

Satire on Consumerism: The people of the world state are conditioned and maintained as consumer products. They have no free will. They are produced in such a way that there is nothing but science and technology. There is no human rights. They are taught in an inhuman way. So when Lenina goes to visit the Savage reservation, she criticizes Linda, saying,

But the director’s old, lots of people are old; they’re not like that.

Again, in the world state, people seem to think that ending is better than mending.

Satire on the Perversion of Sex: In the world state, everyone is used to emotionless sex and instant gratification. From the background of the novel, the accidental conception of Linda is found. Again, We find Lenina while she is excited to have John to gratify her sexual pleasure. She relates,

Hug me till you drug me, Honey.

This causes Lenina a good amount of distress. It raises an important question: Does Lenina really love John? No, not at all. It’s the attraction of John’s body.

This fiction satirizes the futuristic world. For the enhancement of Science and technology, people are devoid of emotion. Huxley relates that scientific development has bankrupted them morally and emotionally. So, Brave New World is out and out a satirical fiction.