Juxtaposition In Brave New World

Complicated notions of people and politics become apparent through the representations of divergent viewpoints. Aldous Huxley’s 1932 science-fiction novel, ‘Brave New World’, and Pablo Picasso’s 1951 expressionist painting, ‘Massacre in Korea’ showcase differing political perspectives through composers addressing issues about the future wellbeing of the human race through the interpretations of the current world events in the 20th century. Huxley criticizes the social planning evident in communism, Freud, eugenics and the development of technology, while Picasso shows his disapproval of the America’s involvement in the Korean War. These events allow the composers to be obligated to display their concerns about possible outcomes that lead the

His use of pallid oil colors on canvas and the compositions of figures facing one another exemplify the contradiction within the nature of the different individuals. The venerable group of naked women and children to the left are portrayed to be standing on the foot of their mass grave, opposing the fully armored ‘robot-like’ soldiers ready for execution. The juxtaposition of the two kinds of individuals portrays different political perspectives; the soldiers representing the political benefits of the war, while group of women and children represent the catastrophic outcome of war. Picasso’s political perspective of the war is portrayed through his composition of the defenseless group, showcasing their grief-stricken faces over the idea of their and their children’s deaths. The lack of human faces on the soldiers signifies their lack of emotions and conscience, hence the degradation of humans in the future from the artists’ perspective. He achieves representing the idiocy of the war, which is only for the benefit for political welfare without the consideration of the loss of life of the innocent civilians. Picasso’s purpose in composing ‘Massacre in Korea’ achieves the revelations of the consequences of political involvement in war, leading the audience to consider conflicting views about the close problematic

Huxley’s creation of ‘Soma’ and the way it is used in the world state establishes the satirical values accentuated throughout the faulty utopian setting of the ‘Brave New World’. Many characters, in particular Linda and Lenina, are seen to be under the influence of ‘soma’, to replace the distress they experience with pleasure stimulated by the drug-like substance. Chapter seventeen illustrates the power of ‘soma’ on the society through Mustapha Mond’s statement about soma being “Christianity without the tears.” Due to its sedative and calming effects on the users, it is the most powerful tool for the political leaders to control the large population of individuals, by distracting them from the realization of the immoral nature of the society they reside in; hence they are enslaved in a trance of false happiness. The metaphoric use of Christianity replaced by ‘Soma’ indicates the author’s view of the religion offering the same effects of the drug; provide comfort at the expense of individuality. Diverging viewpoints are accentuated as the complexity involving individuals and political acts that affect them through use of satire as such individuals succumb to the alternative that provides pleasure over the knowledge of the cruel