《美丽新世界》这本书在国内没有《1984》有名。
下面的长篇大论是我读过这本书的感想，先说我的结论：幸福感在两个世界都很重要，社会希望人们感受到幸福。
下面我讲这本书和现实社会的联系。
Happiness is of great importance. The real world emphasizes on people’s happiness as the Brave New World does. People are expected to find happiness in life, and be happy with who you are. The pleasure of consumption is created in people, and also medicine that makes people happy. It is in people’s nature to desire happiness, and it is being used to make the society better, to create a perfect world of civilization which is beneficial to the government.
The psychology of being happy with who you are is highly valued in both worlds. In the Brave New World, people are conditioned to follow the motto of the World State, “Community, Identity, Stability” (Huxley 1). Individual is prohibited in the World State, everyone belongs to the community, and the government encourages promiscuity to ensure that people are loyal to the community. People attend the Solidarity Service, even children takes part in the erotic play so that they feel included as a part of the community, also give them a sense of happiness as they are entertained by the games. As Clair Wallace states that “Through being a part of the workforce, membership of clubs and associations and also families — those in such partnerships are generally happier.” (Para. 17). In reality, people worship teamwork, which indicates that working as a group is more efficient than working by oneself. Being in a group tends to make people happier for they feel more involved in a community and that they get more self-approval by participating with others, which arouses happiness for being who they are. Being happy in the moment is an important part to be happy with who you are, as you should find happiness in life as much as possible. “‘Never put off till tomorrow the fun you can have today,’ she said gravely” (Huxley 81). Is being said by Lenina in the Brave New World. It is clear from which that happiness should not wait, it should be instantly gratified, and that happiness is of necessity, so people should look for ways to make oneself happy. It is almost alike in the real world, as Kubzansky states in her report, “‘Everyone needs to be in the moment,’ she says, ‘to find s restorative state that allows them to put down their burdens,’” (Para. 24). People need to create happiness in life, to do what you want to do, to satisfy your needs as Kubzansky tries yoga and classic piano to enjoy herself. In Brave New World people can have whoever they want in order to be happy, desires should be satisfied in the real world as well due to the importance happiness.
Happiness in conspicuous consumption is important as well. It is believed by everyone in the World State that “I do love having new clothes.” (Huxley 41). They find old clothes disgusting, so they usually show the away for new ones. “‘Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches; the more stitches…” (Huxley 42). People in the World State think of conspicuous consumption as normal, while mending clothes as wrong and strange. The need to buy things is in their nature, the have no concept of keeping old things. The government of the World State wants people to buy more than they need because of the mass production, which makes replacements cheap. Also it keeps the lower castes working and the factories running, which results in economical growth. In order to keep the people under control, the government conditions the people to like shopping, to program them by teaching them to keep saying that they love new clothes since babies, so that they will desire to shop and find happiness in their hearts as they shop. The emphasis on making ourselves happy through buying products of the real world is similar to the World State. “As Adallah et al. (2009) ‘we are constantly bombarded with messages from advertisers and marketers, all pushing the idea that buying this or that new product will make us happier.” (Proschle Para.3). This is almost like the World State conditioning people to be consumers, the advertisements shows people the good side of a product and how it can change your life, being influenced by them, people becomes interested in the products and finally get into the habit of buying things that seems useful, only because they like the process of shopping which brings happiness to them, but ignore whether it is truly needed. As Proschle states in the research paper, “but in countries where consumerism is embedded in the culture, people with higher income have the tendency to consume more, even those with an environmental awareness (Pacala, 2008 fide Assadourian, 2010).” (Para. 7). It is clear that people with desires for shopping their nature is more likely to be conspicuous consumers, so the more they earn, the more they spend, and it is hard to change this characteristic of them as they ignore environmental issues for own happiness. In the real world, large consumptions also results in increased economics, so that some countries view consumerism as part of their culture, leading people to fall into the habit of loving and keep buy-in new things. Happiness that causes by shopping is being stuck in people’s minds, so that they find themselves enjoying it more and more. In both worlds, consumption is essential to make people happy.
The creation of medicine is another way to make people happy. Soma is created in the World State to help people feel better when encountering bad feelings. “There is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gramme for a weekend, two grammes for a trip to the gorges East…” (Huxley 47). People like soma because it is their solution to almost everything, they use it to avoid thinking and it gives them happiness instantly. The government in the World State creates soma to satisfy people’s wishes of having no sadness or anger, also for the benefit of the society too. After taking soma, people stop thinking about things, and have a wonderful time of taking a vacation and maybe have someone they like, which gives great pleasure to people. Except providing happiness, soma prevents some problems for the government too, because people who do not think are easier to control for they do not have any ideas of their own, only do what is being told. Not thinking is easier for people as well, it obviously seem easier when solution is provided for you, so people enjoy soma, which provides great happiness. Another saying of people in the World State is that “A gramme is better than a damn.” (Huxley 100). It indicates that people think happiness is better than other things, which explains how much they like soma and how much it makes them happy. In today’s world, stress is common in people’s lives. However, happiness cannot be lost, so that there are drugs to deal with this situation. “There are already drugs that brighten moods, and other antidepressants that control levels of a brain chemical called serotonin.” (Pollack Para.2). People with a bad mood may cause problems for the society, so medicine is created to make them feel better, not only to prevent incidents, but also because of the importance of happiness for people. Said by Eric Endlich, “Antidepressants can help jump-start mood and give people the boost they need to get over the symptoms of their depression.” (Greenlaw Para.2). Depression affects oneself as well as the people around you, and people with depression tends to think too much which causes them to feel uncomfortable and anxious. With the purpose of making people happier and stop thinking too much, the scientists help to provide medication to make people happy. It is clear that either in the World State or the real world, pills are developed to help people feel happy for it is better when people are in a good mood.
People are expected to be happy with who they are, and they are conditioned to enjoy shopping, also medicine is provided for people to be in a better mood. In both worlds, the government wants people to be happy. If people are happy, they are more of a community than individual, and they finds happiness in life so that they are contented with the state of their lives, which results in better control. People’s happiness can be beneficial to the society, as they consume more, the factories produce more and the economy grows as well, also with the medicine, less people will be overthinking due to bad feelings, so they cause less problems. In conclusion, happiness is the most important in Bothe worlds.
Work Cited
“Happiness & Health”. Winter 2011
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/happiness-stress-heart-disease/
Wallace, Claire. “What makes a happy society?”. 05, November, 2014
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/11/makes-happy-society/
Proschle, Karen. “Consumption and Happiness: How do they relate?”.
https://www.megforum.uni-freiburg.de/prevfora/Forum%202012/SOE%202012%20papers/Consumption%20and%20Happiness
Pollack, Andrew. “Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Smarter?” 11, November, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/can-drugs-make-us-happier-smarter.html
Greenlaw, Ellen. “How Your Depression Medicine Can Affect Your Life”.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/antidepressant-effects#1