Dystopia: Drugs in Brave New World

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Title: Dystopia: Drugs in Brave New World
Aldous Huxley delved into the depths of his mind to create on e of greatest works of literature ever. The fact that he was able to create a fictional world that was supposed to be a haven for all mankind by virtue of being a utopia is representative of his ingenuity. In Brave New World, Huxley pays close attention to all the factors that would create a utopia, and how these factors can be manipulated to create the perfect society (Izzo & Kirkpatrick, 61). However, his book satirizes the concept of a global utopia, and right at the epicenter of this book is drugs. In Brave New World, drugs are essentially used to control the human populace, assisted by precision-perfect genetic re-engineering. Drugs play a central role in this book, as is evidenced by how the use of drugs affects the lives of the characters in the book. While Brave New World may be a fictional book, the undertones addressed by the book are real-time problems that continue to affects the society today. Drugs are literally used to control the entire society in Brave New World. They are used to manage mental states such as depression, anxiety, as well as any other emotion that is undesired due to its ability to cause instability within the ‘utopia’ that is the Brave New World.
In Brave New World, as in the society today, drugs are central players in propagating addiction and escapism. The fact that the characters in the novel are used to display the extent to which drugs have been used to facilitate escapism and addiction satirizes the social problem of drug abuse (Miller). In the Brave New World, the human population is forced to rely on drugs, chiefly Soma, to address and emotions that they develop, as well as prevent the development of any unintended emotions, as well. Soma is a drug that is used to elicit feelings of satisfaction and happiness within the population. Whenever individuals in the society of the Brave New World wish to feel satisfied and happy, the consume Soma. The amount of Soma consumed is proportional to the level of happiness and satisfaction that one experiences. While the rulers of the Brave New World tout Soma as essential to the establishment of the alleged utopia, it is in reality that facilitates escapism and addiction. In order to alleviate feelings of depression or stress, individuals consume Soma, rather than address the core factors that facilitate their depression or stress or both (Bloom, 82). The individuals are wired to escape the reality of the problems that they face, emotional, mental or otherwise, through the consumption of Soma. This reliance on Soma is an escapist mechanism that only serves as a precursor to the addiction that follows.
Seeing that the citizens of Brave New World are conditioned to use Soma to ‘cure’ any personal problems, they end up becoming addicted to the drug. This is even witnessed in the life of Jo...