The boy is then sent to a psychologist and the Director starts to discuss reproduction when he is interrupted by Mustache Mood, who is one of the ten World Controllers. Huxley creates a tone of irony which is tied to the novel’s theme of not assimilating to society’s norms and regulations shown by the use of repetition, metaphor, and diction. In this scene, Mustache Mood uses a metaphor to help the children gain a better understanding of what he is trying to explain.
Mood compares a pipe with flowing water to emotions. Mood continues to explain that the water flowing in the pipe represents human emotions. Mood tells the children to, “Think of water under pressure in a pipe. ” Mustache Mood pierces a hole in the pipe and describes the water shooting out as, “a Jet! ” Mood then pierces the pipe twenty times causing twenty, “piddling little fountains. ” The strong Jet represents a strong emotion which is out of control and not calm like the twenty holes which pour out evenly.
From this metaphor, Mood insinuated that strong emotions are unsound because, “The urge has but a single outlet” causing instability. The twenty holes in the pipe represent stability because there was more than one outlet for the water to pour out of. This metaphor allows the children to grasp a better understanding for the creation of the World State and the regulation it imposes on society. This was the reason for the creation of the World State because they believed emotions were the cause of destruction in the world before.
From Mood’s metaphor, the ironic tone is portrayed because the World State believes that emotions need to be repressed to achieve a utopia. By removing all the flaws in society, the World State created a society where there is no individuality and restricted everyone from expressing themselves the way he y wanted to. In the passage, Mood describes the lives of the people living in the past world saying, “These pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. ” Huxley use of words such as, “mad”, “wicked” and “miserable” furthermore emphasizes the new view the World State has towards society.
The World State believes if your emotions were like the “High spurts “of a fountain shooting out like a “wild Jet” then you wouldn’t be, “sane, virtuous, happy. ” Mustache Mood’s lack of understanding of society is seen here as he is basing these statements from his own values. This again wows the ironic tone of the novel as Mustache Mood blind to the fact that his values how it is in the World State, emotionless. Mood fails to understand how society was able to enjoy life back then without the use of the drug soma to repress human emotions.
You can tell Mood does not understand how the citizens of the past society were able to enjoy life as he lists the flaws seen in the past society saying, “What with mothers and lovers, what with the prohibitions they were not conditioned to obey, what with the temptations and the lonely remorse, what with all the sissies and the endless isolating pain, what with the uncertainties and the poverty ?they were forced to feel strongly. And feeling strongly ( and strongly, what was more, in solitude in hopelessly individual isolation. From this list, you can tell Mood viewed the past society as very flawed and unable to operate as a functional society due to lack of regulation. From Huxley use of repetition in this quote by repeating, ” what with ” , it accentuates Moods misunderstanding of society past which allows us to see the ironic tone of the novel. Through Aloud Huxley use of literary devices such as repetition, metaphors, and action, we are able to see the ironic tone of the novel which directly ties into the overall thematic meaning of the importance of being an individual.
Aloud Huxley views towards society are that people need to strive for individuality and not follow what society think is best for you. Huxley sees emotions as a part of what makes us who we are and not something that should be repressed. The theme represented in the novel which is helped conveyed from the tone and use of literary devices is that if you fall deep into society’s regulations you will lose the person you are and what makes you an individual.
