2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

to be formed between two people and eradicating the family unit, which is further used to control population growth. In place of natural reproduction, the World State developed a mass cloning technique called the ‘Bokanovsky process’ with the fertility centre director describing how “a bokanovskified egg will bud, proliferate, divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow, where only one grew before.” (p.3). This technique allowed for population growth to be wholly controlled by the government. However, for fertile females to conform with the hypnopædic lesson, “civilisation is sterilisation,” these women wore a Malthusian belt as a form of compulsory contraception. These belts, of which their name is an allusion to the Malthusian League, allowed for complete control over reproduction by the World State – one can see how Huxley intertwines an aspect of his society, the Malthusian League and their beliefs, into Brave New World. Brave New World utilises the progress in scientific understanding and the development of medical technology in Huxley’s society by taking the new ideas of genetic evolution and radicalising them to encapsulate such concepts as genetic manipulation to create the optimal being and genetic cloning, portraying an exaggerated future outlook on Huxley’s scientifically and technologically advancing society.

The Loss of Individual Identity

Set in a bleak society with all forms of personal identity dismantled, Brave New World serves as a warning on the dangers imposable if our individuality is threatened, which was a growing concern in the early 1920’s as a result of the first red scare, which became prominent in American society due to fears over the rise of communism, which promoted the collective and suppressed the individual. Thus, it becomes perceivable as to why the loss of individuality is a key theme in Brave New World.

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