Perfect World
...se she swallowed six half-gramme tablets of soma, lay down on her bed, and within ten minutes had embarked for lunar eternity (140 Huxley). As soon as people in the new world feel stressed, sad, or just generally unhappy they take this drug to improve their mood. On the complete contrary Thomas More’s Utopia does not use any drugs or physical conditioning to control the people. The people in Utopia are actually encourage to read and educated themselves in their free time. They do not use drugs to alter their mood; they do not even drink alcohol. Another important contrast in the utopias of the two worlds is how they deal with class systems. In Huxley’s utopian world the people are divided into five castes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon. When the embryos are being procedure the decision is made which embryo will go into which caste. The Alpha embryos are the strongest, smartest and will hold the most important positions in the World State. Each of the other castes is made slightly less intelligent and less physically capable through a process that adds chemicals to the embryos and distinguishes each caste from the other. The castes are also distinguished by the clothes they wear and the jobs they do. In More’s Utopia the idea behind the utopia is that all the people of the island are equal. They all wear the same clothes, live in similar houses, receive the same food, and have just as much supplies in their homes as their neighbors. However, even though all the people are meant to be completely equal some expectations exist. The elders are considered to be above the younger population and get respect from the youth. Also the land does have system of government which requires that some people have control over others. “The population is divided into groups of thirty households; each elects an official called a Styward every year” (54 More). The modern name for the Styward is a District Controller. “For every ten Stywards and the households they represent there is a Bencheater, or Senior District Controller” (54 More). Similar in Brave New World there are ten world controllers that monitor different portions of the world. Utopia and the World State have system of government that requires superiority of certain individuals. However, unlike in Brave New World the rest of the Utopian population is equal. Contrasts between the two worlds exist in their stance on marriage and intercourse. In Utopia “Girls aren’t allowed to marry until they’re eighteen-boys have to wait four years longer. Any boy or girl convicted of premarital intercourse is severely punished, and permanently disqualified from marrying…” (83 More). In the World State sexual promiscuity is encourage in all ages. A nurse becomes worried when a small boy “seems rather reluctant to join in the ordinary erotic play” (32 Huxley). She immediately takes him to see a physiologist to see if anything is wrong. Furthermore, marriage, love, and monogamy are all words that are regarded as shameful and shocking. In the World State “Every one belongs to every one else” (40 Huxley). No man and woman can be inclusive with each other or have and extensive relationship. Life is considered simpler without all the emotional attachments of relationships and marriage. When Lenina and Fanny are talking and Lenina says her relationship has only been four months Fanny is shocked and exclaims “Only four months” (40 Huxley)! Although the two worlds described are greatly different they do have a trait in common. Both worlds have similar attitudes towards death. In Brave New World people do not see death as something that would cause grieving or sadness. At one point in the novel John is grieving by his mother’s bed (Linda) as she is slowly dying. When John realizes that Linda is gone he rushes off to find the nurse, drags her to the bed, and urges her to help Linda. The nurse is puzzled and fears the children watching will have their death co...