Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World Theme of Spirituality
Considering this is a novel about a dystopian future, there sure is a whole lot of spirituality in Brave New World. We see a mix of Christianity, the tribal beliefs of Native Americans, a non-denominational interest in the soul, a spiritual unity with the natural world, and a frenzied, orgiastic parody of religious rites. One character goes all emo on us and starts to believe his spiritual life is deepened through self-mutilation. But in the mind of the powerful world leaders, religion simply isn't needed in a world of science and machines. Comfort comes in a bottle and morality is taught in sleep-session brainwashing. In the world leaders' minds, God is obsolete.
Questions About Spirituality
- If religion is obsolete, what's with the strangely cultish Solidarity Service? What does this provide to citizens that they aren't getting elsewhere?
- How does Brave New World present the rituals seen on the Savage Reservation? With respect? Disgust? How does this compare to the way the Solidarity Service is shown?
- Did John learn morality from the Indians on the Reservations, from Linda, from Shakespeare, or from another source? Is John's system of morality religious in nature?
Chew on This
Brave New World argues that distinctions between one type of religion or another are frivolous, because, at the end of the day, all religions serve the same purpose: pacification.
Religion is mocked in Brave New World as a less scientific form of hypnopaedia.