In Aldous Huxley’s Brave
New World, Soma is a drug that is given to those who work as a reward. The
people often would say things such as “half a gramme for half a holiday” and so
on due to the happiness that befalls anyone who takes it. If Soma, which is an
incentive for people to work, is a metaphor for happiness, then it would mean
that Soma is not just a mere plot tool, but an entirely hidden lesson.
Huxley is suggesting that people are lusting for this false happiness and that
the people would work for their whole lives just to receive a gramme of
happiness. In addition to that, Huxley is also suggesting that people are
addicted to that false happiness while true happiness was available to them all
along in the form of love and literature. Discreetly, Huxley was tackling the
mentality of the working class, as well as the false happiness that they
pursue.
The incentives of the drug soma is one that made me question the way in which the government handles its people. To give them a way out of their struggles is not the right way to go about it. Instead, those in charge should listen to the problems of the public and find a better way to deal with them to give the people a chance at gaining actual happiness.
ReplyDeleteI viewed soma as a reward that people were given for their work. I viewed it as a conditioned reward that happened over time (like when they use hyponopedia). People were then accustomed to it and gained pleasure, that is emotionally and physiologically, when ever they took a gramme of the soma. Personally, I think the entire soma idea is absurd because it allows the people to find pleasure whenever they desire, thus they are not being given the full experience of life.
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