No Subject

[SPHS - Stevens]

In the novel "Brace New World" many themes develop almost immediately from the get go. One of the main themes that Huxley chooses to include in the novel is the idea of monotonous sexual intercourse. In the society that we find ourselves in now, sex is a very private, special, and almost sacred act. It is meant to be shared between two individuals who are deciding to spend the rest of their life together for the purpose of reproduction. Already in our society however, we can see that sex is becomming less of a precious act as more and more people are expanding their sexual lives and becoming more and more active with just about anybody. The schocking thing about this theme is that Huxley may in fact be right in terms of his predictions as to where and what this lifestyle may become in the not too far future. In the novel, we are exposed to what this has become within the first few chapters. We read that at a very young age, the kids are encouraged to learn as much as they can about the opposite sex. In the playground of the "school" the kids are free to interact with all of the others as they frolic in their birthday suits here and there. As they grow up, we see in examples such as the man that Bernard Marx picks (considered to be Marx's "opposite") that sex no longer has any meaning to him. In telling us that he has had over six hundred partners in roughly two years, we begin to see how all of the meaning, importance, feelings, and even orginal purpose of sex has become obsolete. In realizing this, maybe this is in fact an important connection between the two society's as which people need to be alot more conscious of.