The Use of Soma to Shape and Control Society in Huxleys Brave New Worl

The Use of Soma to Shape and Control Society in Huxley's Brave New World The future of the world is a place of thriving commerce and stability. Safety and happiness are at an all-time high, and no one suffers from depression or any other mental disorders. There are no more wars, as peace and harmony spread to almost every corner of the world. There is no sickness, and people are predestined to be happy and content in their social class. But if anything wrong accidentally occurs, there is a simple solution to the problem, which is soma. The use of soma totally shapes and controls the utopian society described in Huxley's novel Brave New World as well as symbolize Huxley's society as a whole. This pleasure drug is the answer to all of life's little mishaps and also serves as an escape as well as entertainment. The people of this futuristic society use it in every aspect of their lives and depend on it for very many reasons. Although this drug appears to be an escape on the surface, soma is truly a control device used by the government to keep everyone ensla ved in set positions. In the utopian society Huxley creates, everything is artificial. The future of the world depends merely on a handful of directors, and everyone else is simply created as a pawn to maintain this futuristic economy. One of the ten world controllers in the "Brave New World" portrayed in the novel is Mustapha Mond. Mustapha is a driving force behind the utopian society that keeps everyone happy, yet empty inside at the same time. In fact, Mustahpa Mond has been interpreted to mean "the chosen one," for he is like a God to the people (McGiveron 29). People are created in laboratories such as the "Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre," where peo... ... through life without ever truly having to face reality or make logical decisions. Soma symbolizes and shapes many parts of society and is arguably the main symbol in Huxley's satirical masterpiece. The truth is that this utopian society is synthetic and massed produced like soma, and society is cowardly while soma is a crutch to humanity. Works Cited Clareson, Thomas. "The Classic: Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World.'" Extrapolation. 3.1 (1961): 33-40. Hoffman, Nicholas. "Huxley Vindicated." The Spectator 249.8036 (1982): 8-9. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: HarperPerennial, 1989. Jog, D.V. Aldous Huxley The Novelist. India: Book Centre, 1979. McGiveron, Rafeeq. "Huxley's 'Brave New World.'" Explicator 57.1 (1998): 27-30. Meerloo, Joost. "How Will Man Behave?" The New York Times Book Review. New York, 1958: 22-23.