Soma Brave New World Analysis

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The people living among dystopian society in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, accept soma’s ability to create superficial happiness and manage their thoughts, but only through control over one’s own mind can true happiness be achieved. With the drug soma, the government maintains its stability through control over the people. The citizens think they are happy, but true happiness can only come from within. From the very start, the people are taught how to behave and that emotional connections with others were not necessary in life. When an individual uses soma, they become overwhelmed in happiness and all of the negativity disappears from their life. Some characters depend on soma, while others abstain from it because they want to be able to own their mind and feel what real happiness is. The characters who maintain their own control have the ability to threaten the stable society, because not everyone will be exactly how the government wants them to be. Huxley used soma to satirize people who allow stimulants to create happiness by avoiding their problems, because true happiness can only be obtained through control over a person’s own mind. In order to retain a thriving society, the citizens must sacrifice control over their emotions and individual thoughts so …show more content…

When the characters consume soma, they surrender their emotions to the drug, and they no longer control their own thoughts. Bernard is one of the few who avoids soma, so he is able to control himself, but he decides to conform to the society. Lenina is almost constantly high off soma, but her profound love for others is unable to be taken from her. The characters have different dependencies when it comes to soma, but they both end up with individual feelings that are abnormal in their