New Clothing In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

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In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley conveys issues occurring in today’s world through his description of the World State, namely consumerism and recreational drug use. To begin, the practise of consumerism is almost second hand in society in both the World State and today’s society, especially in regards to clothing. In the World State, the citizens are taught through hypnopaedia that “ending is better than mending” (43), and the clothing provided by the state is purposely made of acetate, a material that is easily torn and cannot be mended. Though this practise is not common in today’s society, the concept of fast fashion encourages the similar practise of throwing away older clothing and continually buying new clothing through making older …show more content…

John disagrees with the way the State is run as he desires the right to be unhappy and also disagrees with the various restrictions placed on the State’s citizens while Mustapha Mond speaks from the World State’s point of view and justifies these restrictions. John claiming the right to be unhappy develops his character as he reveals that he is passionate through his use of parallel structure and his acceptance of the repercussions associated with the rights he desires to have. In this passage, John lists each the rights he wants starting with the words “I want” (211) and later claims the associated consequences of these rights as well using a similar structure. Through the repetition of this grammatical structure, John demonstrates how strongly he feels about having these rights and freedoms. Additionally, John is clearly aware of the severity of the consequences associated with these rights but he still is adamant about his desire for freedom. While the majority of people in the World State have never seen people “grow old and ugly and impotent” (212), John sees his own mother age and grow ill. Similarly, while the citizens of the State are not permitted to experience “unspeakable pains of every kind” (212), John experiences such pains living in the Savage Reservation, namely when the other inhabitants of the island hit him and pelt him