Aldous Huxley's Society remains entangled in a web of maintaining artificial contentment. The view of the law is apparent: old is painfully obsolete and new is satisfyingly better! Old things remind people of instability, and no one desires unstable thoughts in Utopia. In a perfect world, "People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get. They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they're plagued with no mothers or fathers; they've got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they're so conditioned that they practically can't help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there's soma." (220) Old behaviors, ways of thinking, and anything outdated would disrupt this "perfect" way of living according to Huxley's plot. In Brave New World, Society seems to believe that reality's current way of living is unsatisfactory. Oftentimes while reading this book, I find myself wondering if ALL of the unpleasant parts of life are worth ejecting from the equation in order to achieve complete happiness. For the most part, characters in the book seem to enjoy the lives they lead, with the exception of a few oddballs. However, they still experience times where their lives aren't completely happy, which is why they need soma. Are the bad parts of life (getting sick every once in a while, pain, loneliness, instability, sadness, regret) what prevent people in reality from achieving consistent happiness, or is it because of these things that we truly appreciate the good times in life?
-Aijah Johnson
I believe that the only things capable of preventing people from achieving consistent happiness are themselves. After all, happiness is intangible and cannot be given or taken. People are responsible for their own happiness because everyone has a different idea of what makes them happy or not. For example, commenting on blog posts doesn't make me happy, but it may very well be absolutely delightful to you. By looking objectively at life, you can see that there aren't any good parts or bad parts. Events in life are considered good or bad based on how they are interpreted. As a result, having a different outlook on life can change your ideas about happiness. Even in the most hopeless situations, someone with an optimistic mindset is able to remain happy by looking at the positive aspects of their predicament.
ReplyDeleteIt's understandable to believe that happiness is determined by the way a person interprets their situation. I agree with you, being optimistic is always beneficial if one wants to remain happy. But if a person chooses to see the positive aspects of their predicament, wouldn't that still be considered looking objectively at life? What one person deems positive based on their opinion could very well be negative to someone else. So isn't it still a matter of opinion?
DeleteIf a person chooses to see the positive aspects of their predicament, that would not be considered looking objectively at life because they have already decided that something is positive or negative, therefore revealing their personal opinion.
DeleteI definitely think that we need the bad days in order to fully appreciate the good days. Concepts like fear, regret, and getting sick once in a while, like you mentioned, are seen as negatives to the majority of people. However,there's always something positive to be found in the negatives. Fear keeps us from making dumb mistakes. Regret helps us to think before we act and to make careful decisions. Getting sick once in a while reminds us that we should wash our hands often and that we shouldn't abide too passionately by the Five Second Rule. Although happiness is indeed intangible, I think that it actually can be given and taken, figuratively at least. You can be the reason that someone smiles or frowns, but I'm sure that if you have a positive and joyful attitude, it will rub off on others!
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