2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Literature is beautiful in all its manifestations. The main indicator of its quality is the talent of the writer. The novel "The Island" is a variety of lessons that humanity can learn for itself. Acquaintance with the work of Aldous Huxley should happen in the life of every educated person.
Introducing the book
Huxley's novel "The Island" was written in 1962 in the genre of social fiction. In fact, the book can be called a utopia with some elements of ecotopia. It is noteworthy that this was the last novel that Aldous Huxley wrote. Also of note is the fact that it was based on some of the ideas from the last chapter, Brave New World Revisited.
Aldous Huxley's personality
The novel "The Island" is the author's farewell message, in which he described the world of the future. A terrifying utopia that amazes with realism and scope. Huxley was considered a satirist and a pacifist. At a more mature age, he was interested in questions of psychology, philosophy and mysticism. As he lived out his final years, he was recognized as a great intellectual by his circle.
"Island" Huxley: summary
In order to retell the plot of the book, you must havegood fantasy because there is no storyline in the book. This greatly complicates the perception of everything that is happening, but nevertheless gives a more extensive picture of the world. The protagonist of the book is the journalist Will Farnaby. A young man travels by ship. Suddenly there is a storm and the ship is wrecked. There is almost no mention of other victims in the book. All that is known is that Will Farneby ends up on the fantastic island of Pala (a place from the fictional world of Huxley).
Further events in the book are Farneby's life on the island. To be more precise, not even life itself, but acquaintance with it. The subsequent chapters of the book are devoted to the fact that the inhabitants of the small island of Pala tell the arriving Will Farnaby about the structure of their own world.
If you describe this world succinctly, it turns out that the hero falls into a space where people have created an almost ideal society with the help of a powerful philosophical system. It surprisingly combines various elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and Gnosticism.
Dive into another reality
In order to better understand the world in which the hero of the book found himself, you should take a closer look at him. Aldous Huxley created in his imagination the World State. There is now the Ford Era going on and 632 years of complete stability and confidence. The novel "The Island" tells that the most revered figure, akin to God, for the inhabitants of the World State is Ford - the very real person who created the most powerful automobile company in the world at the beginning of the last century. The most interesting,that they call it “God our Ford.”
The New Generation in The Island Novel
Children in the World State are not born - they are obtained from test tubes. This creates completely different people. The whole society is divided into 5 parts: alpha, beta, gamma, delta and epsilon people. This classification is very similar to the castes in India. Alpha are people of the highest grade, they are engaged in mental work, they despise the rest of the castes and are considered the crown of creation. All other castes, respectively, occupy a much worse position. The lowest caste - epsilons - are people who are intended only for physical labor, and very monotonous and primitive.
The process of the appearance of children from test tubes is called Uncorking. Each caste adheres to certain colors in clothing. Interestingly, the motto of a perfect state is "community, sameness and stability." Children are brought up in a standardized way. It is provided that in adult life a person does not encounter anything that goes beyond his understanding. In any situation, it is enough to resort to childhood experience and remember how it is prescribed to behave in certain conditions.
It is also worth noting that the history in the World State is completely absent. It is believed that this is garbage that only interferes with development. Also, any emotions and passions are absent, since they are not productive. From childhood, the child is taught that the object of the opposite sex is a means of obtaining pleasure. Growing up, a person continues to see in others only waysyour satisfaction. Children are taught to flirt and erotic games. It is better to have more partners, because in this world everyone belongs to everyone. Monogamy isn't scorned - it just doesn't exist.
The novel "The Island" introduces the reader to a world in which art is completely absent. Instead of music, movies, paintings, there are primitive substitutes that carry no significance. If the mood of a resident suddenly deteriorates, then this is easily solved - it is necessary to take a small dose of a light drug, which will immediately return joy and carelessness. Dramas, tragedies, feelings - all this is unfamiliar to the inhabitants of the World State.
The novel "The Island" plunges the reader into the near future, which the author himself foresaw. Interestingly, the author was nominated for the Nobel Prize 7 times in different years. Huxley's "Island" is an amazing world of variable future that everyone should experience in order to avoid it in reality.
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