The Engineering of the Technological Cave and the Assassination of Meaning... A Reading of the Dystopia in Brave New World

Abstract

Assistant Professor Dr. Jawad Kadhim Abhool        

College of Arts / Mustansiriyah University

 Baghdad, Iraq

Corresponding : : dr.jawadkadhim@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq

Abstract

    (Brave New World (may not be a first-rate work of fiction from a purely artistic standpoint, nor does it achieve philosophical completeness in the sense found in some overtly philosophical novels, despite the profound philosophical dimensions it carries. However, its true value lies in its prophetic nature: the contours of its world are taking shape before our eyes day by day. The novel focuses on a fundamental warning—namely, the modern human being’s immersion in a reified reality and deep entanglement in everything superficial, entertaining, and trivial, to the extent that they risk becoming alienated from their human essence and existential core.

    Huxley’s technological cave in Brave New World has been regarded as the most advanced and terrifying version of Plato’s cave; for in this new cave, the chains are not made of iron, but of genes, hormones, and psychological conditioning slogans.

    Thus, the tragedy of (Brave New World) does not lie in the harshness of its system, but in the pleasures and comforts with which it surrounds and binds individuals. It is a world that has succeeded in eliminating pain, yet has fallen into a labyrinth of meaninglessness and loss of purpose. In doing so, Huxley leaves us with a frightening truth: a society that technologically succeeds in removing all causes of unhappiness may, unintentionally, also remove everything that makes a human being human—for humanity is born of pain and suffering, and its essence cannot be purified or fulfilled without them.

    In this study, entitled “The Engineering of the Technological Cave and the Assassination of Meaning… A Reading of the Dystopia in Brave New World,” we sought to examine the novel by approaching it through two central myths: Plato’s Cave on the one hand, and the Cretan Labyrinth on the other, in addition to comparing it with the ideal city in Plato’s Republic. We addressed this study through the following axes:

-The foundations of the technological cave.

-The dialectic of truth and happiness.

-The tragedy of exit.