JCCC Honors Journal
Volume 2
Issue 2 Spring 2011

Article 4

6-28-2011

The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New
World
Rebecca Johnson
Johnson County Community College, uncannycanary@dmx.com

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Recommended Citation
Johnson, Rebecca (2011) "The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World," JCCC Honors Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/honors_journal/vol2/iss2/4

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The Use of Satire in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Abstract

Satire is successful when the writer can make an audience believe the idea presented is not only logical, but practical; the most effective satirists can even convince the reader to consider the idea as a reasonable solution to a problem. Often, satire is used to bring to light certain social or moral issues or absurdities, and even more ridiculous resolutions to said problems. While certain satires are appealing in their obvious disgust of humanity, other works are not so blatant in their mockery, presenting more realistic situations. One of the most famous satirists of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley employed such tactics in Brave New World and Ape and Essence, not to mention other famous novels and essays. In Brave New World, Huxley shows how appalling it would be to remain ignorant in happiness, and lack the potential to develop as a frail, error-prone being. The greatest satirical aspect of this book is that the human race, while trying to better itself and gain knowledge, ends up becoming its own adversary and enemy. Because of this successfully ironic portrayal of human nature, Huxley remains one of the most successful 20th century satirists.

This article is available in JCCC Honors Journal: http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/honors_journal/vol2/iss2/4

Johnson: The Use of Satire

“Tomorrow is a satire on today, and shows its weakness.” -Edward Young

Satire is defined as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices” (Oxford Dictionary).It is successful when the writer can make an audience believe the idea presented is not only logical, but practical; the most effective satirists can even convince the reader to consider the idea as a reasonable solution to a problem.
Often, satire is used to bring to light certain social or moral issues or absurdities, and even more ridiculous resolutions to said problems. The scorn and derision in many famous satires is what gives them their flair. While certain satires are appealing in their obvious disgust of humanity, other works are not so blatant in their mockery, presenting more realistic situations.
One of the most famous satirists of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley employed such tactics in
Brave New World and Ape and Essence, not to mention other famous novels and essays. He is quoted in a letter to George Orwell to say,“Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.” In Brave New World, Huxley explores this idea of a society controlled by pleasure, ignorance, and conditioning.
It is the year 2540 AD, and there is no war, no hunger, no pain, and “if anything goes wrong, there’s soma”, a powerful hallucinogenic drug which has all of the pleasures of modernday drugs and none of the negatives. People are expected to copulate frequently if not