Happiness in Aldous Huxleys Brave New World Essays -- Brave New World

When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Websters New Collegiate Dictionary uses triple definitions for happiness good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can define happiness through the governments manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, belongings a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it the ability to pursue and enjoy idiosyncratic desires.The conditioning of minds allows the government to impress its ideas upon maturing children. The process used is hypnopdia, or repetition of sayings during sleep. After many repetitions of one phrase, the idea is hardened within the human mind, proving about difficul t to undo. Evidence of this method to provide artificial happiness surfaces in both Lenina and Bernards actions. Huxley states this coldly during Leninas trip home with Henry Foster, What a hideous color khaki is, remarked Lenina, voicing the hypnopdic prejudices of her caste (62). Khaki is a color worn by lower castes in the society and the higher castes argon taught not to associate with them. Bernards hypnopdic lessons did not work as well as most. He sees everything in this artific...