Through studying people and politics how has your understanding of the relationship between representation and meaning been developed?
Political tensions are rife within the 21st century, sparking conflicts and large scale changes to individuals’ lifestyles. It is the way composers present these contrasting political views, however, that allow us to truly understand both their personal ideologies, and our own political beliefs. Through satirical language devices, Huxley, in his novel Brave New World, is effectively able to present his own political beliefs by contrasting two extreme political structures. This allows him to comment on the role of technology in societal development, the cost of individuality for stability, and then ask us to choose between the two political ideas. Through his criticism of both, however, he calls upon his readers to re-evaluate their current political structures, and form ideologies of their own. Therefore, it is through the composers careful choice of language and textual form that we see the true meaning behind their representation, which is ultimately their own, personal views.
By presenting a personal comment on the state of politics in the 20th Century, Huxley attempts to warn the reader of the possible detrimental effects on society with the rising importance of technology. Influenced by the rise in mass production and the development of technology in 1930’s England, Huxley presents a satirical view of his own political era. The audience is therefore made to question the possible future of their society if this technological expansion continues. This is evident through the extensive use of scientific jargon, especially in the first 3 chapters of the novel, and the use of oxymoron. Huxley comments on the rapid scientific advancements in his world, and how technology is beginning to become more dominant than natural human processes. Through oxymoron, Huxley satirically describes light as “frozen, dead, a ghost”, which is immediately quite startling, and contrary to what we normally associate ‘light’ with. It is “only from the yellow barrels of the microscopes [that it did] borrow a certain rich and living substance”. The uneasy juxtaposition between the mechanical ‘barrels of the microscopes’ and the ‘rich and living substance’ it produces, forces the reader to question the degree of importance that is placed on technology/machinery in the novel. We are made to be confused by this, which is indeed Huxley’s view as well. This encourages us to think of technological expansion in a negative light, and understand the importance of natural processes in society. Furthermore, the continual picture of the ‘wheels’ in society is reflective of the Brave New World’s consumerist values, in which mass production and constant consumption are central. As Mond states, “universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t”, which is a clear reflection of these values, as the ‘wheels’ serve as a symbol...
