monogamy vs promiscuity

I don’t know much about the 1930s, during which this book was written, other than that it was the time of the Great Depression. But, it seems that during this time there must have been a fear or at least skepticism and curiosity of what the assembly line would bring, given that this book poses the absurd notion of babies being produced along a slow moving assembly line that creates perfect humans made to fit their jobs. But what is even more striking in some ways then the assembly line is the question of sexuality. Brave New World talks about how in the old world, before Ford Motors took over, monogamy was stressful to follow and that having a family of mother, father, and children was like a cult, with everyone in close proximity and the mother stressing over her children. The new society got rid of this presumed problem of family by having babies scientifically made and raised and getting rid of monogamy altogether. In this society, every one belongs to each other and as such they are expected to have sex with many people. Even while in a relationship, which shouldn’t last more than a few months, the people involved are seeing others on the side. Also this sexuality is started as young as six where the children in the facility are enjoying “erotic games” with each other.

This look at society seems very different from The Handmaid’s Tale, and today’s societies which are both concerned with the idea that society is too promiscuous.  Today’s society is trying to teach kids about abstinence, as well as trying to keep married couples from turning to divorce through counseling and other means. The Handmaid’s Tale on the other hand took sexuality and allure out of the process and made relationships and sex strictly a way of procreating. These methods are very different from Brave New World where procreation isn’t necessary and being promiscuous is which talks of the differences between the two time periods. The 1930s thought being promiscuous would help society while today’s period thinks it hurts. This leads me to wonder which is better or worse, because neither way of looking at it looks preferable. It also questions whether humans are destined to continuously go from one extreme to another, as we did in reality move from monogamy to promiscuity, all the while wondering if the other way was better.

The Conveyer Belt History

After reading the first 2 chapters of Brave New World, it is very obvious that the conveyer belt is an important piece of the book. It stretches for two kilometers and everything happens around it. After having a discussion in class about the conveyer belt, I decided to do a little research on it. It was first majorly used by Henry Ford at Ford Motor Company in 1914 to mass produce cars which was a big change. Before, everything had to be done by hand which caused varieties in some things. Once they started to use the conveyer belt, everything was the exact same. Brave New World was first published in 1932, which is not too long after the conveyer belt was started to be used by everyone.

It seems that Aldous Huxley took this new idea of everything being the exact same and brought it to the extreme. His thought process probably went something like this; 'If everything is now being made on a conveyer belt, what will the future of it look like? What if humans were created like this in the future?' Huxley took this idea of human creation on a conveyer belt and wrote Brave New World. Humans are now created to be the same person to do a single job, just like things on a conveyer belt.

Brave New World Ch. 1-3

The first three chapters of Brave New World show similarities and differences with the other dystopian novels we have read. The overarching theme of fertility parallels that of The Handmaid's Tale. In both books, fertility has been institutionalized in a way that prevents the idea of parenthood with which we are familiar. However, in The Handmaid's Tale, the institutionalization of fertility restricts sexual expression in the society. Brave New World paints the picture of a society where procreation is no longer a goal of sex, so people are expected to engaged in free sexual activity. 

Brave New World also hinges on the idea of a universal human morality, much like The Road. In The Road, the post-apocalyptic circumstances forces the characters to weigh their morality against their survival. The book is a constant conflict to preserve the goodness of human nature. In Brave New World, the institutionalization of fertility weights the society's morality against progress. While the advancements in the society are accepted by the characters as good, the reader must question the moral justifications for such progress. 

There is a fundamental difference that sets Brave New World apart from the other novels. The dystopian nature of the society is a byproduct of its advancement whereas in both The Handmaid's Tale and The Road, a catastrophic event causes society to regress to a less developed state. In some ways, the book paints an even grimmer image of the future by creating a society based on the scientific and technological advancement that we value so highly.