Huxleys Critique of Capitalism in Brave New World

In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley confronts the way in which mass production and capitalism serve to disempower the individual by cementing a self-reinforcing system of consumption and production wherein the individual is reduced to his or her utilitarian function. Although the novel touches on a number of ways in which the individual is disempowered and commodified in contemporary society, from pacifying drugs to an overreliance on technology, Huxleys critique of capitalism remains the most prominent, if only because the novel includes explicit references to the father of modern capitalist production, Henry Ford. Huxleys critique of capitalism becomes most apparent in the third chapter of the novel, when the tour group is taken over by Mustapha Mond, his fordship and the Resident Controller for Western Europe. Examining Monds discussion of the time before the institution of the World State, Huxleys creative demonstration of capitalist reduction, and the function of the ind ividual within capitalist society reveals the ways in which the novel seeks to highlight the dangers of unrestrained capitalist and the consumer culture is perpetuates. Before examining Huxleys critique of capitalism in detail, it will be useful to briefly discuss the concept of planned obsolescence. In short, planned obsolescence means intentionally designing a product so that it will become obsolete within a determined period of time, such that the consumer will be forced to purchaseShow MoreRelatedHeart of a Dog - Mikhail Bulgakov3407 Words   |  14 Pages2 to the farcical revolution of 1917 and its misguided attempt to create a new Soviet man. The novella chronicles the life of a stray Moscow dog, Sharik, who, upon being rescued by a seemingly benevolent surgeon, Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, finds himself subjected to a gruesome operation in which both his pituitary gland and testes are replaced with those of a proletarian by the name of Klim Chugunkin. The new creature, insisting that he be addressed as Polygraph Polygraphovich SharikovRead MoreEssay on Analysis of George Orwells 19844218 Words   |  17 Pagesfiction which is timeless in interpretation. This is the reason that 1984 remains a relevant work of social and philosophical commentary more than fifty years after its completion. The fictional world of 1984 is best described as bleak. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. The novel takes place in London, which has become a part of Oceania, the nation state comprising the Americas and western