Aldous Huxley's Impact On Society

Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894, in England (Aldous Huxley Biography). He had two older brothers, who he was close with, and one younger sister. Both of his parents came from prominent and intelligent families. His grandfather on his father’s side was T. H. Huxley “the noted biologist and naturalist,” and his mother’s father was an English poet (Aldous Huxley Biography). His parents followed the academic trend. His father was a teacher and a writer, and his mother graduated with honors with an English degree.

Aldous was raised in a time when the middle class represented only one-fifth of the population, and only a few families composed the elite. From growing up in this age, Aldous “inherited culture and its requisite obligations

His time at Garsington Manor proved to be more influential to his writing career than college. Garsington would later become “the gathering place for some of the most influential writers and intellectuals of the twentieth century” (Sawyer 38). One particular topic of discussion at Garsington shaped Aldous’ outlook on life. Social Darwinism was taking root in Europe, and its profound effect on intellectuals, “including Aldous Huxley, was an aggravated pessimism and a loss of confidence in the direction of society” (42). After finishing college, Aldous married a woman he had met at Garsington, and his writing career burgeoned (Aldous Huxley

Another viewpoint Huxley held was a dislike for the laziness of society. He saw pastimes as mere distractions which “created for the worker the illusion that the goal of work, and the purpose of leisure, is pleasure and pleasure only” (76). Huxley blamed “the incessant and manipulative advertising and entrepreneurs” for these lies. Another point of view that contributed to Huxley’s novels includes his opposition to the rise of mass production. These “ready-made distractions” robbed people of creativity (76-77). Huxley recognized this as the “bread and circuses” before the downfall of the Roman Empire. He believed that “placating the working class was a much more effective tool for controlling” than brute force