Brave New World Explore the ways in which Huxley explores the idea of escapism and pleasure. Support your answer with details from the novel. In the “old world” people had to deal with melancholy and abuse, and pleasure was received in different ways than in that of the new world. Huxley depicts this in his novel, Brave New World by establishing the idea of escapism and pleasure. He portrays some people as wanting to decamp from reality and explains that people in this utopian society get their pleasure from doing the same sort of activities as one another, including visiting the feelies.
Huxley depicts that some characters try to escape from reality by taking soma so they can forget about all their fears and problems. When Lenina and Bernard are at the savage reservation they witness the consternation of a boy, Palowhtiwa being sacrificed. Lenina becomes aghast after seeing all the blood, “Too awful! That blood! ” She shuddered. “Oh, I wish I had my soma. ” This quote emphasizes the importance of soma in Lenina’s life. Huxley proves that if people like Lenina are to ajourn from these horrors they need to take soma.
Hypnopaedic teaching has taught people to ingest soma when they are feeling dismal. This is proved when Lenina says, “a gramme is better than a damn”. The rhymes from her hynopaedic teaching prove that people such as Lenina are like automatons or machines, which are forced to devour soma when they are feeling disconsolate. When Linda is in the hospital she chooses to live her life on a soma holiday because life becomes too much for her in the real world. Linda does this so she can escape from reality and so she can go into her own state of mind.
This is proven evident when she is described as having a “… broken and discoloured smile of infantile contentment. ” She is related to a delighted child because she is getting so much pleasure from her “soma holiday”. Huxley presents that people, such as Linda try to evade reality by taking soma. It is proven that some characters try to rid themselves from reality to escape abuse. When John is at the savage reservation he tries to avoid the other boys by reading his book, “The more the boys pointed and sang the harder he read. Huxley conveys that John endeavours to escape from the other boys by concentrating on his book.
The more he concentrates at reading, the easier it is for him to neglect the boys. It is communicated that people in London can get pleasure because they can get what they want whenever they like. It is false to say that one can be emotionally attached to one another in this utopian society. Everyone is taught that, “Everybody belongs to everyone else. This encourages people to not bother with relationships and to just enjoy life changing the person, who they date with every so often. It is also proven that people aren’t emotionally tied to others because they have learnt not to be burdened by death because of their death conditioning. This is a contrast to the old world where everyone saw death as a trepidation. Huxley shines a light on the fact that everyone seems to get pleasure from the same kind of activities. Going to the feelies is a popular thing for people to do.
When John and Lenina go to the feelies, Huxley points out how many people go, “‘Ooh-ah! Ooh-ah! ‘ the stereoscopic lips came together again, and once more the facial erogenous zones of the six thousand spectators in the Alhambra… “. Going to the feelies and seeing a feely like this is seen as habitual in this society. Huxley exposes to the reader that people enjoy this entertainment when the audience says, “‘Ooh-ah! Ooh-ah! “. He also highlights that it is a popular entertainment because he describes the Alhambra as having six thousand spectators.
Huxley concretes the opinion that everyone seems to get pleasure from the same sort of activities. Huxley parades the idea of pleasure and escapism in his novel, Brave New World and illustrates how some citizens of this utopian society want to be relieved from reality and explains how people get their pleasure. People escape from pain by taking soma, and John escapes by reading. These escapisms are also seen as pleasurable. People get their pleasure by taking soma and by partaking in various activities such as attending the feelies.
