Dystopia In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

There were many so-called “prophetic” dystopian novels released throughout the 20th century: Orwell’s 1984, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar, etc.. These books certainly have their moments of divination, but even casual readers see that western governments are not going down the path of totalitarian control, book burning, or mind control. However, one dystopian novel does stand in the minds of readers out as having frighteningly accurate predictions: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. On an initial read, Huxley’s novel sounds incredible prophetic. Readers attempt to draw parallels between every aspect of the novel and the real world - the decline of religion, drug use, open sexuality, government control, mass conformity,
Huxley grew up in a conservative, rich, and elite English family during the early 20th century. He lived through World War I, the roaring 20’s, and part of the Great Depression before he began writing Brave New World, giving him a wealth of issues to expound upon in the novel. As a conservative Englishman, Huxley feared both rapid progress and the growing communist and fascist powers in Europe, giving rise to his predictions about the future of art and the role of government. The terror instilled in him by nearby change and unrest likely lead to the inaccuracy and, in some cases, the reversal of his predictions. Huxley was able to see the importance of the issues addressed in Brave New World, but ultimately the predictions themselves are actually inaccurate due to the perspective of
John Attarian, in his article “Brave New World and the Flight From God,” characterizes Huxley as a deeply reverent man. He asserts that religion is, if a little understated, the actual main purpose of the book, as shown by the highly secular society and classification of high art and religious texts as “smut.” Attarian believes this to be highly accurate, stating, “In its essentials, Brave New World is dangerously near fulfilled prophecy.” conversely, Attarian and Huxley himself are wrong in this matter; we are not even on the path Huxley predicted. Huxley in fact had a profound misunderstanding of where the modern world was headed, and it permeates into Brave New World. At one point in the story, the savage, which is intended to be Huxley’s “voice of sanity,” does something that sounds like self parody to the modern reader: in trying to woo Lenina he states that he wants to do something noble for Lenina, crying out “No, of course it isn’t necessary. But some kinds of baseness are nobly undergone. I’d like to undergo something nobly. Don’t you see?” (195). The modern reader, like Lenina, does not see; but why would they? The role of religion, struggle, and art in modern society has changed drastically, and not in the direction predicted. Its importance never diminished, only changed. Most of the western world, remains deeply religious and even