Friday, August 5, 2016
"Savage" Parenting
In the book, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, there is a reservation away from the normal society where one of the main characters is from that hosts the worlds savages. These people have a way of life similar to that of our own where mothers birth children and raise them, unlike that of the civilized world where children are scientifically made in tubes in an unnatural way. Having children is frowned upon and seen as something that should not be done. The question is why. Why would creating life be considered so wrong and deemed as a savage nature? Perhaps because of how present day families in many places come with several problems such as abuse, divorce, and alcoholism that hurt children mentally and physically. A possible conclusion is that Huxley is questioning how parents raise children in our world and that it will be the cause for many problems if something isn't changed.
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That's an interesting point that you've brought up; one that I did not even think of while I was resding the book. Huxley often brought up the issue of having a parent in Brave New World. In fact, it was considered "hilariously disgusting" to have a parent or child. After reading your post, I thought that, perhaps, it's not just a plot tool used by Huxley to further the story, but also an important concept that was added with a hidden message. That being said, it could have been the pressure put on him as a son of the Huxley family, who were known to excel in their studies, that Huxley wrote of familial relationships in a negative view. Thanks for sharing your idea, it made my view on the book signifcantly different.
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