2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

Introduction

In the United States of America, the period between World War I and World War II (1918 - 1939) has been described by Historians as a time of deep societal division, highlighted by the “culture war” between traditionalist and modernist groups. Traditionalists held a deep respect for long-held cultural and religious values and wanted to preserve the pre-war lifestyle, etiquette and traditions. These values were anchors that provided a stable and ordered society. Whilst others, typically the post-war generation, were gripped by an overwhelming sense of hopelessness that humanity was doomed by its own self-destruction and adopted post-war attitudes, which were centred around the aphorism “carpe diem.” ‘Modernists,’ embraced new ideals, trends and values – with traditional values viewed as chains that restricted their freedoms (Murphy, 2012). Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963), an English philosopher and novelist living in America during the post- world-war-one period was an eloquent transcriber of the tumultuous climate of the 1920’s. His critical distrust in 20 th century trends in societal behaviours, politics and technology made him a firm traditionalist. With his stance on society clearly illustrated in many of his works, scholars of Huxley point out his use of wit and pessimistic satire to expose “the spiritual disease of the post-war generation” (Maurini, 2017). Huxley’s magnum opus, Brave New World, published in 1932 paints an image of a radicalised futuristic society in which psychological conditioning forms the basis for a scientifically determined and indelible caste system that erases individuality and human connection, and endows all control to the World State. Despite being a satirical piece of dystopian literature, scholars of Brave New World criticise it for “reading like a treatise in the form of dialogue” (Meckier, 1979), that Huxley uses to promote his own philosophical beliefs rather than sticking to the novel form. Vividly exhibiting the author’s resentment of 20 th century trends, the novel explores the immorality of the social classes in their defiant abandonment of traditional values, and the vulnerability of the modern man in his quest for happiness based on superficiality and materiality.

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