Prose Close Reading Essay 1 (227-229)

Prose Passage 1: (227-229)

            The citizens of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World follow their leaders so blindly, so unquestioningly, that it is almost to the point of brainwashing, and though Huxley may have been a staunch opponent of such conformist attitudes, he wasn’t afraid to use the same techniques in his own works. In Brave New World, Huxley employs the language of propaganda in the dialogue of his authority figures through repetition, purposeful logical fallacy, and paradox in order to warn of the ease with which minds can be unconsciously conditioned.

            Huxley frequently uses repetitive rhetorical devices such as polyptoton, anaphora, and anadiplosis to subtly convey the power such repetition holds. Phrases like “truth and beauty” are repeated multiple times, and though they are first used within their original meaning, they are gradually placed within different, more sinister contexts (Huxley 227). Eventually, after so many minor distortions have been made to the meaning of truth and beauty, they become, to the other characters, the “menace to society” the authority figure preaches them to be (Huxley 227). By inserting the same phrases over and over again within one passage, the original meaning of the phrase is twisted to something entirely different. Rather than using repetition simply to emphasize a point, the repetition itself is Huxley’s point. In such a sense, repeated ideas give way to what seems to be fact, especially when they are from the source of a supposedly trustworthy authority figure—once something has been heard enough times, it begins to sound like truth, and it is this point that Huxley argues through the use of repetition.

            Huxley’s emphasis on warped truths continues in his purposeful use of logical fallacy, which permeates the entirety of the novel. The description, for example, of “truth as a menace, science a public danger” is never fully explained; the threats that truth and science pose can be inferred from the New World society’s obsession with conformity and comfort, but in that regard, truth and science are threats only to the status quo of the New World society, not necessarily to the citizens. Those who are forced into a life of happiness could benefit from truth. The people within the novel, however, believe that science and truth must be negative simply because that’s what their officials tell them, and as such, it must be true. The citizens of the New World have been conditioned so much that they can no longer distinguish between what is logical and what is not: if they hear something from someone that they’re told to believe, then they will believe it.

            The final mistruth Huxley crafts to warn of the possibility of unconscious conditioning is within paradox. Though it’s argued that conditioning of happiness gave the New World society “the stablest equilibrium in history”, the very next line mentions that “Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning”, a statement in direct opposition to the one just made (Huxley 227-228). The citizens do not question this logic; even though it is never elaborated on what defines stability or what defines the wheels steadily turning, the New World citizens are content to adhere to these statements because that’s what they’ve been conditioned to do—to listen to what their higher-ups tell them.

            Desperate to conform to the thoughts of their authorities, the Brave New World citizens are duped by repetition, purposeful logical fallacy, and paradox into believing what their officials have designated for them to believe, allowing Huxley to portray just how easily the human mind can be conditioned.