Happiness In Brave New World Essay

The pursuit of happiness is the driving force for all human beings. We continually seek out ways to make our lives more enjoyable, whether it’s by pursuing an unachievable dream or living simply. Unfortunately, in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, the State gives the characters a false sense of happiness. Bernard, the first protagonist in the novel, feels that he does not conform to society’s ideas on happiness. Later, John the Savage enters the “brave new world,” Bernard’s world, but is unable to confirm his truths about life and happiness with the new world’s truths. The State in the novel deceives the characters to believe that “Everybody’s happy nowadays” (Huxley 91). Not everybody is happy; Soma and promiscuity do not satisfy Bernard, and, as he tells Lenina, Bernard would “like to be free to be happy in some other way… In [his] own way, for example; not in everybody else’s way” (Huxley 91). When John enters the “civilized” world, he is unable to align his truths with the truths of the State. John’s truths match up

Although our society has not fallen to Huxley’s futuristic Sodom and Gomorrah, some of the trends are becoming evident. Promiscuity is quickly becoming acceptable in society, with the inventions of more accessible contraceptives, and drugs like marijuana are becoming our soma. Is Huxley’s dystopia the best way to happiness? A study conducted by Harvard over a 75-year period, “following 268 male Harvard undergraduates from the classes of 1938-1940,” would say just the opposite (Gregoire). Huxley’s theme of promiscuous happiness is completely contrary to Harvard’s findings; “The study found strong relationships to be far and away the strongest predictor of life satisfaction” (Gregoire). Although many people find drugs and promiscuity pleasing in the moment, research shows that it is in our nature to only be truly happy when we have strong, meaningful relationships with people we