Social criticism toward capitalism in the 1920s American Society revealed through characters in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

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ABSTRACT
FRANSISCA NOVITASARI, 2015. Social Criticism toward Capitalism in the
1920s American Society Revealed through the Characters in Aldous Huxley’s
Brave New World. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis analyzes one of Aldous Huxley's works entitled Brave New
World. The central focus of the thesis is social criticism toward capitalism in the
1920s American society. One important aspect of capitalism criticized in this study
is the capitalist exploitation aspects that occur in the processes of mass production
and interpellation.
This graduate thesis analyzes two main problems. The first problem deals
with the condition of the 1920s American capitalist society as represented through
the characters of Aldous Huxley’s futuristic society; the World State. The second
one deals with the subject of the social criticism revealed through the experiences of

the characters in the novel.
To conduct this study, Marxist criticism was employed as the approach of the
investigation. This thesis applied a library research to collect the data from books
and internet resources. The Marxist theory of hegemony as formulated by Antonio
Gramsci and the theory of ideology as formulated by Louis Althusser were used to
analyze the problems.
The result of the study shows that the working class people of the 1920s
American society represented in the novel lives under the exploitation of capitalist
state that manages the mass through consent. In the novel, the state manages their
consent through materials and ideological instruments, especially in the realms of
mass production and interpellation. The subjection of the individuals to the ruling
ideology is clearly seen through the experiences of the characters. They are used as
the means to criticize the capitalist state, especially related to exploitation. In the
process of mass production, through the description of Mustapha Mond’s
experiences, Huxley criticizes the capitalist exploitation on the ground that the
citizens are treated as objects that can be produced massively on the assembly lines.
This makes them look like robots that do not have freedom to make their own
choice. In the process of interpellation, through the experiences of the Director of
Hatcheries and Conditioning, Lenina Crowne, Linda, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz
Watson, John the Savage, and Mustapha Mond, Huxley criticizes the capitalist

exploitation in the sense that the citizens are manipulated to believe that they are
happy and they live in a perfect society. The consequences of their satisfied life are
the lost of spiritual authenticity, human values, and individuality.

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ABSTRAK
FRANSISCA NOVITASARI (2015). Social Criticism toward Capitalism in the
1920s American Society Revealed through the Characters in Aldous Huxley’s
Brave New World. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Tesis ini menganalisis salah satu novel karya Aldous Huxley yang berjudul
Brave New World. Fokus utama dari tesis ini adalah kritik social terhadap kapitalisme

di masyarakat Amerika pada tahun 1920-an. Satu aspek penting yang dikritik dalam
skripsi ini adalah aspek-aspek eksploitasi oleh para kapitalis yang muncul dalam
proses produksi massa and interpelasi.
Tesis ini menganalisis dua masalah utama. Permasalahan yang utama
berkaitan dengan kondisi masyarakat kapitalis Amerika pada tahun 1920-an yang
diwakili oleh tokoh-tokoh di dalam novel. Permasalahan yang kedua berkaitan
dengan subjek dari kritik sosial yang diungkapkan melalui pengalaman-pengalaman
tokoh di dalam novel futuristik karya Aldous Huxley.
Dalam proses analisis, penulis menggunakan kritik Marxis digunakan sebagai
pendekatan dalam pembahasan tesis. Tesis ini menggunakan metode kepustakaan
untuk mengumpulkan data-data yang dibutuhkan dari berbagai buku dan sumber
online. Teori Marxis yaitu teori hegemoni yang dirumuskan oleh Antonio Gramsci
dan teori ideology yang dirumuskan oleh Louis Althusser digunakan untuk
menganalisis permasalahan.
Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa masyarakat kelas pekerja di Amerika pada
tahun 1920-an yang diwakili oleh para tokoh dalam novel mengalami eksploitasi oleh
negara kapitalis yang mengatur hidup masyarakat melalui persetujuan masyarakat. Di
dalam novel, negara menjaga persetujuan masyarakat melalui beberapa instrumen
yang berupa materi dan ideologi. Penaklukan para individu oleh ideology kelas yang
berkuasa dapat terlihat melalui pengalaman-pengalaman para tokoh yang digunakan

untuk mengkritik negara kapitalis terutama yang berkaitan dengan eksploitasi. Dalam
proses produksi massa, penggambaran pengalaman-pengalaman Mustapha Mond
digunakan Huxley untuk mengkritik eksploitasi para kapitalis dengan dasar bahwa
para warga negara diperlakukan seperti barang yang diproduksi secara masal di atas
lini perakitan. Keadaan ini membuat mereka tidak memiliki kebebasan untuk
membuat pilihan mereka sendiri. Dalam proses interpelasi, pengalaman-pengalaman
Direktur Pembenihan dan Pengkondisian, Lenina Crowne, Linda, Bernard Marx,
Helmholtz Watson, Si Buas John, dan Mustapha Mond digunakan Huxley untuk
mengkritik eksploitasi para kapitalis dengan dasar bahwa para warga negara
dimanipulasi untuk percaya bahwa mereka bahagia dan mereka hidup di dalam
masyarakat yang sempurna. Akibat dari kehidupan mereka yang memuaskan adalah
hilangnya kebenaran batiniah, nilai-nilai kemanusiaan, dan individualitas.

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SOCIAL CRITICISM TOWARD CAPITALISM IN THE 1920S
AMERICAN SOCIETY REVEALED THROUGH CHARACTERS
IN ALDOUS HUXLEY’S BRAVE NEW WORLD

A T H E S IS
Presented to The Graduate Program in English Language Studies
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M. Hum.)
in English Language Studies

by
Fransisca Novitasari
Student Number: 096332017

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015

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A

TIS$S

SOCIAL CBMKJT,Silil TOIilAil} CAPXTALISIH IN IHE lg2OS
AMERICAIiT S(rcIETY REVEALED TEROUGH CHARACTERS
IN ALIIOUS HIIXI,EY'S ERAW NEV WORLD

.,

.-

Approwd by

S* M. A.. Ph" D,
Supervisor

Pautug Sssrl.So. F.

Yogdrta,

Sepficdrbtr l?, 2015

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A THESIS
SOCIAL CRITICISM.TOWARI} CAPITALISM IN THE TY'OS
AMERICAI\{ SOCIETY ?EYEALEI} TIIROUGII CHARACTERS
IN ALDOUS HIIXLEY'S BX,4I1E NEW YORLD

by
FRANSISCA NOYITASARI
Student Number: 0963320 I 7

Defended before the Thesis Committre
and Declared Acceptable

TT{ESIS COMMITTEE

Chaiqperson : Dr.Benedictus Bherman Dwijatmoko.Iv{.A.

Secretary

Member
Member

: Paplus Sarwoto. S.S..

#

fr"r*

MA.. Ph.D

: Patrisius Mutiara Andalas. S.J.. S.S.. S.T.D.
: Dewi lVidyastuti. S.Pd.. M.Hum

:ti'Rep

@'$tw,
pgyakarf& September 17, Z0l5

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This is c.€rtiry to all idtrs, phmsesr scntences, unless odrenrrise

""d
ideas, dr8scs, and sc,ffetrss of the tbesis rvriter. The writer urderstmds
colts€quences

ircluding degrrc of cancslhion

if

are the

the full

she took sorcbody else's ideaq

plnases, or sentencc wi*rout proper refErcnscs.

Yograkarta Sryt€rrb€r 17, 2015

@

FRA}ISISCA NOVTTASARI

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LEMBAR PER}I"YATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI
KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama

: FransiscaNovitasari

NomorMahasiswa : 096332017
Demi pengembangan ilmu pigetahuan saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

SOCIAL CRITICISM TOWARD CAPITALISM IN THE 19205

AMERICAI\ SOCIETY REVEALED THROUGH CHARACTERS IN
ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BRAVE NEW WORLD
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan

kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau

media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta

ijin dari saya

maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selamatetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Yogyakarta, 17 September 2015
Yang menyatakan,

Fransisca Novitasari

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to send my gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ for blessing me
with strength and faith to keep going on during the process of writing this thesis.
I owe a big gratitude to my thesis supervisor Paulus Sarwoto, S. S., M. A., Ph.
D. for his advice and suggestions throughout the process of writing my thesis that
would be useful for correcting and improving my thesis. I also would like to express
my gratitude to the board of examiners; Dr. Benedictus Bherman Dwijatmiko, M.A.,
Patrisius Mutiara Andalas, S.J., S.S., S.T.D., and Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.
who have helped me with many insightful questions and constructive criticisms
during the thesis defense.
I would also share my happiness and gratitude with my beloved ones. I thank
my husband for his huge support in almost every journey I took to finish this work. I
thank my daughters, Nadine and Ellen, for always radiating love and happiness every
single day. My gratitude also goes to my parents, brothers, and sister for their love,
help, and trust. It is always great to be around wonderful people like them.

Fransisca Novitasari

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE.......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGES................................................................................................ ii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY...................................................................... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS................................................................. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................ ix
ABSTRAK............................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION........................................................................
A. Background of the Study.....................................................................
B. Scope and Limitation of the Study......................................................
C. Research Questions.............................................................................
D. Objectives of the Study.........................................................................
E. Method of the Study............................................................................
F. Urgency of the Study..........................................................................

1
1
7
10
10
11
12

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................... 14
A. Object of the Study............................................................................. 14
B. Review of Related Studies.................................................................. 15
C. Review of Marxist Theory.................................................................. 23
D. Theoretical Framework....................................................................... 32
CHAPTER III: CAPITALIST EXPLOITATION OF THE 1920S AMERICAN
SOCIETY REVEALED THROUGH CHARACTERS IN ALDOUS HUXLEY’S
BRAVE NEW WORLD......................,,................................................................... 33
A. Mass Production..................................................................................... 33
B. Interpellation........................................................................................... 36
1. Hypnopaedia..................................................................................... 37
2. Artificial Pleasures............................................................................ 48
3. Neo-Pavlovian Techniques.........................................,..................... 54
CHAPTER IV: THE SOCIAL CRITICISM TOWARD THE EXPLOITATION
OF CAPITALIST STATE...................................................................................... 63
A. Capitalist Exploitation through Mass Production................................... 64
B. Capitalist Exploitation through Interpellation..,...................................... 67
1. Hypnopaedia..................................................................................... 67
2. Artificial Pleasures............................................................................ 75

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3. Neo-Pavlovian Techniques............................................................ 79
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION........................................................................... 83
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................. 93

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ABSTRACT
FRANSISCA NOVITASARI, 2015. Social Criticism toward Capitalism in the
1920s American Society Revealed through the Characters in Aldous Huxley’s
Brave New World. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis analyzes one of Aldous Huxley's works entitled Brave New
World. The central focus of the thesis is social criticism toward capitalism in the
1920s American society. One important aspect of capitalism criticized in this study
is the capitalist exploitation aspects that occur in the processes of mass production
and interpellation.
This graduate thesis analyzes two main problems. The first problem deals
with the condition of the 1920s American capitalist society as represented through
the characters of Aldous Huxley’s futuristic society; the World State. The second
one deals with the subject of the social criticism revealed through the experiences of
the characters in the novel.
To conduct this study, Marxist criticism was employed as the approach of the
investigation. This thesis applied a library research to collect the data from books
and internet resources. The Marxist theory of hegemony as formulated by Antonio
Gramsci and the theory of ideology as formulated by Louis Althusser were used to
analyze the problems.
The result of the study shows that the working class people of the 1920s
American society represented in the novel lives under the exploitation of capitalist
state that manages the mass through consent. In the novel, the state manages their
consent through materials and ideological instruments, especially in the realms of
mass production and interpellation. The subjection of the individuals to the ruling
ideology is clearly seen through the experiences of the characters. They are used as
the means to criticize the capitalist state, especially related to exploitation. In the
process of mass production, through the description of Mustapha Mond’s
experiences, Huxley criticizes the capitalist exploitation on the ground that the
citizens are treated as objects that can be produced massively on the assembly lines.
This makes them look like robots that do not have freedom to make their own
choice. In the process of interpellation, through the experiences of the Director of
Hatcheries and Conditioning, Lenina Crowne, Linda, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz
Watson, John the Savage, and Mustapha Mond, Huxley criticizes the capitalist
exploitation in the sense that the citizens are manipulated to believe that they are
happy and they live in a perfect society. The consequences of their satisfied life are
the lost of spiritual authenticity, human values, and individuality.

ix

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ABSTRAK
FRANSISCA NOVITASARI (2015). Social Criticism toward Capitalism in the
1920s American Society Revealed through the Characters in Aldous Huxley’s
Brave New World. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies,
Sanata Dharma University.
Tesis ini menganalisis salah satu novel karya Aldous Huxley yang berjudul
Brave New World. Fokus utama dari tesis ini adalah kritik social terhadap kapitalisme
di masyarakat Amerika pada tahun 1920-an. Satu aspek penting yang dikritik dalam
skripsi ini adalah aspek-aspek eksploitasi oleh para kapitalis yang muncul dalam
proses produksi massa and interpelasi.
Tesis ini menganalisis dua masalah utama. Permasalahan yang utama
berkaitan dengan kondisi masyarakat kapitalis Amerika pada tahun 1920-an yang
diwakili oleh tokoh-tokoh di dalam novel. Permasalahan yang kedua berkaitan
dengan subjek dari kritik sosial yang diungkapkan melalui pengalaman-pengalaman
tokoh di dalam novel futuristik karya Aldous Huxley.
Dalam proses analisis, penulis menggunakan kritik Marxis digunakan sebagai
pendekatan dalam pembahasan tesis. Tesis ini menggunakan metode kepustakaan
untuk mengumpulkan data-data yang dibutuhkan dari berbagai buku dan sumber
online. Teori Marxis yaitu teori hegemoni yang dirumuskan oleh Antonio Gramsci
dan teori ideology yang dirumuskan oleh Louis Althusser digunakan untuk
menganalisis permasalahan.
Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa masyarakat kelas pekerja di Amerika pada
tahun 1920-an yang diwakili oleh para tokoh dalam novel mengalami eksploitasi oleh
negara kapitalis yang mengatur hidup masyarakat melalui persetujuan masyarakat. Di
dalam novel, negara menjaga persetujuan masyarakat melalui beberapa instrumen
yang berupa materi dan ideologi. Penaklukan para individu oleh ideology kelas yang
berkuasa dapat terlihat melalui pengalaman-pengalaman para tokoh yang digunakan
untuk mengkritik negara kapitalis terutama yang berkaitan dengan eksploitasi. Dalam
proses produksi massa, penggambaran pengalaman-pengalaman Mustapha Mond
digunakan Huxley untuk mengkritik eksploitasi para kapitalis dengan dasar bahwa
para warga negara diperlakukan seperti barang yang diproduksi secara masal di atas
lini perakitan. Keadaan ini membuat mereka tidak memiliki kebebasan untuk
membuat pilihan mereka sendiri. Dalam proses interpelasi, pengalaman-pengalaman
Direktur Pembenihan dan Pengkondisian, Lenina Crowne, Linda, Bernard Marx,
Helmholtz Watson, Si Buas John, dan Mustapha Mond digunakan Huxley untuk
mengkritik eksploitasi para kapitalis dengan dasar bahwa para warga negara
dimanipulasi untuk percaya bahwa mereka bahagia dan mereka hidup di dalam
masyarakat yang sempurna. Akibat dari kehidupan mereka yang memuaskan adalah
hilangnya kebenaran batiniah, nilai-nilai kemanusiaan, dan individualitas.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Throughout centuries, in many cultures, religions, and societies, people
have been dreaming and longing for the ideal societies in which every aspect of
the society goes perfectly well and all citizens are happy and prosperous with the
absence of pain, poverty, conflict, and death. The concept of heaven and the
Garden of Eden are the Islamic, Jewish, and Christianity ideas of ideal places in
which freedom exist because of some enlightenments. Similar concepts of perfect
places can also be found in Hinduism with the concept of Moksha and Buddhism
with concept of Nirvana. However these concepts relate to the state of mind,
which may lead to enlightenment through continuous meditation, instead of a
concrete place.
Some of the works of literature has been reflecting the desires of humanity
and ideal life for centuries. The mythical Arcadia as depicted by Sir Phillip
Sydney in his prose romance The Old Arcadia (1580) is also a well-known
description on an ideal place which created the images of perfect civilizations in
the past. This kind of narrative and society is identified as utopia. In 1516 the
notion of “utopia”1 meaning “no place” has been common knowledge since the
1

The term utopia refers to the genre of fictions that represent an ideal but nonexistent political and
social way of life. It derives from Utopia (1515-16), a book written in Latin by the Renaissance
humanist Sir Thomas More which describes a perfect commonwealth. More created his title by
fusing the Greek words "eutopia" or good place and "outopia" or no place. The first utopian
literary work was Plato's Republic (latter fourth century B.C.), which depicts the eternal Idea or
Form of a commonwealth that can be imitated by political organizations in the real world. Most
utopias represent their ideal state in the fiction of a distant country reached by a venture some

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publishing of Thomas Moore’s book entitled Utopia. This stimulated people to
start imagining the worst possible societies, which caused the creation of a
counter genre to utopia, namely dystopia.
Aldous Huxley’s dystopian2 novel, Brave New World (1932), was the first
widely recognized literary work which depicted future in a pessimistic way. The
society, which exists at a time 600 years from now, is ruled by the World
Controllers who maintain the primacy of pleasure and happiness of the subjects.
However these rulers assume that being happy and free at the same time is
impossible. The citizens, therefore, are subjected to processes of controlling in
which they are physically and mentally conditioned to voluntarily sacrifice their
freedom for the sake of happiness.
To control the citizens, the Controllers set the society based upon three
principles—Community, Identity, and Stability. These become the motto and
ideology of the society, and these principles move them to ensure efficiency and
stability. The society is established through mass production and consumption,
education, and isolations. Mass production is applied to produce commodities.
These commodities do not only consist of things, such as daily needs,
traveler. The utopia mainly aims as vehicles for satire on contemporary human life and society.
Samuel Johnson's Rasselas (1759) presents the "Happy Valley," which functions as a gentle satire
on humanity's stubborn but hopeless dream of a utopia. It is depicted that Rasselas finds out that
no mode of life available in this world guarantees happiness. He also figures out that the Utopian
satisfaction of all human wishes in the Happy Valley is maintained simply to replace the
unhappiness of frustrated desires with the unhappiness of boredom. See M.H. Abrams, A Glossary
of Literary Terms: Seventh Edition (Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle, 1999) 327-328.
2

The term dystopia or "bad place" refers to works of fiction, including science fiction, that
represent a very unpleasant imaginary world in which unpleasant tendencies of our present social,
political, and technological order are projected into a disastrous future society. Examples are
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), George Orwell's 1984 (1949), and Margaret Atwood's
The Handmaid's Tale (1986). See M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms: Seventh Edition
(Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle, 1999) 328.

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transportation, entertainments, and drugs, but they also include humans. To
control the number and quality of the citizens, the Controllers apply rigid control
of reproduction; people are no longer born. They are produced in the laboratory
inside thousand of tubes and they are under certain biological processes over the
assembly lines. Therefore different types of people are created and conditioned to
take certain places in society. The political structure is controlled by Alphas, and
the society runs well because of the works of Betas, sub-human Gammas, Deltas,
and Epsilons who are poisoned with alcohol during production so that they can
work but not think independently.3 Consumerism is also encouraged among the
citizens in order to gain more economic power. Education is very crucial since
through this process the Controllers are able to dominate the society without
force. The ways they educate the children, basically, depends on two major
techniques; Neo-Pavlovian process and hypnopaedia. Isolations are essential to
control the population of the savages so that they would not disturb the stability of
the civilization of the World State and it is also important to keep off those who
oppose the restrictions of the World State. As the result, the citizens live in
prosperity and stability. However, they do not realize of the exploitation they
experience under the capitalist society since the Controllers have masked the
exploitation through mind conditioning processes which are inserted, especially,
through education.
Related to the above depiction on Huxley’s futuristic society, it is
indicated that dystopia is not merely one sub-genre of literary works, but it is also
3

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1959) 19.

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a criticism toward the exploitation of the dominant class.4 Moreover, International
Reading Association states that although dystopian novels usually present a
futuristic world, these novels are actually closely related to the contemporary
social and political conditions of the society the authors live in.5 As Huxley
mentions in the introduction part of Brave New World that the main reason he
writes this novel was his concern to the rising domination of the USA right after
the end of the First World War.6 Huxley was terrified by the emerging economic
power and social stability in the USA that brought unpleasant consequences to the
citizens, such as they are subjected to propaganda, more couples reduced the
values of marriages that increased the number of divorces, and more people
agreed and got involve in free sex. Propaganda was very useful to tackle frictions
in the society7 and free sex was increased to compensate the restricted freedom in
politic and economic.8 Thus, the rulers encouraged the use of propaganda and the
freedom of sex promiscuity in order to maintain the servitude of the citizens.9
Huxley considered the USA as the model of dystopian society that will
come true, perhaps, only in the matter of fifteen years from his time writing Brave

4

Duygu Ersoy, “Manipulation of History and Language in Three Dystopias,” diss., Middle East U,
online, Internet, 24 Jan 2014. Available FTP: http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607679/index.pdf.

5

“Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics.” Read, Write, and Think, online Internet, 8 May
2013. Available FTP:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson926/DefinitionCharacteristics.pdf.

6

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1959) 13.

7

Huxley 12.

8

Huxley 13-14.

9

Huxley 14.

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New World. In this novel, Huxley projected the futuristic world six hundred years
in the future so as the readers would see the book as some kind of prophecies
about the future. In the future, according to Aldous Huxley, the leaders would
have to choose between a number of national, destructive, militarized
totalitarianism or welfare-tyranny of one supra-national totalitarianism in order to
establish and maintain socio-economic stability.10 Meanwhile, in the novel,
Huxley chooses the later. He depicts the society as an economically secured one
and under the need for efficiency and stability the rulers control the citizens’
minds through some techniques of conditionings.
My hypothesis states that the society depicted in Huxley’s Brave New
World is a representation for capitalism in the 1920s American society. It portrays
the capitalism issues of the American society in the sense that the Ten Controllers
are the representations of the dominant class or exploiters who build their
domination through the hegemonic process in which they manage the society
through consent. In this case, the Controllers develops certain policies that enable
the society to maximize economic power, especially through mass production and
consumption. As stated in the previous paragraph, Huxley’s dystopian novel
Brave New World can be seen as a criticism toward contemporary social and
political condition. Due to this argument, this thesis develops a study about
criticism toward capitalism of the 1920s American society. The significant points
criticized through the characters in the novel are the ruling class’ exploitations
toward the lower class through the means of mass production, consumption,

10

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1959) 14.

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education, and isolations. The controls of these domains are proven to be effective
in creating absolute stability in the imaginary society. The capitalist exploitation
can be seen through the characters depicted in the novel; the Director of Hatchery
and Conditioning, Lenina Crowne, Mustapha Mond, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz
Watson, Linda, and John the Savage. Their experiences also give clear
descriptions about the effects of the exploitation toward the citizens and their
reactions toward the ruler’s exploitation.
How Huxley depicts the complex phenomenon of capitalist state in the
period of 1920s by exaggerating the process of human reproductions, market
economy, education, sexualities, media, technology, drugs and intertwines them
with everyday life story into a satirical novel of ideas, raise my interest to do
research based on his work. Although he projects the story as if it happens in the
future, the issues revealed in the story are relevant to today’s issues related to
capitalism. Therefore, reading his work on the issues of capitalism will open the
readers’ minds that literature is not merely an expression of art, but it also the
expression of dissatisfaction with and criticism of social and political realities. It
will inspire the readers in Indonesia to reflect and study the everyday social and
political conditions as they will get into the realm of the state controls towards the
citizens through physical and mental manipulations concealed under the perfect
and happy society. Understanding Huxley’s work may also raise the awareness of
the readers toward the power of language in the society, thus the readers need to
be mindful and careful to any kind of government’s policies related to laws and
orders, news-reports, entertainments, and so forth as these realms can be the

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medias to fabricate the real social and political conditions and to persuade the
civil society to follow the state’s ideology.
The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction
where the writer displays the beginning which tells the background of the study,
the scope and limitation of the study, the research questions in the study, the
intention of the study, the method of the study, and the urgency of the study. In
the second chapter, the object of the study, the related studies, the literature
theories, and theoretical framework are presented. In the third chapter the
exploitations undergone by the citizens in the society under the regime of
capitalist state as depicted in the novel are examined through the depictions of the
characters’ experiences mentioned above. The fourth chapter elicits the criticism
toward capitalist state by revealing the impacts of state controls toward the
citizens, and their reactions toward the controls. Finally, the fifth chapter
summarizes and concludes all of the answers of the research questions explained
in the third and fourth chapter.
B. Scope and Limitation of the Study
The research is limited in such a way to clarify the scope of the issues,
theories, and points of views elaborated in it. Mainly, this research tackles the
issues of exploitations undergone by the citizens of the exaggerated futuristic
society depicted in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, namely the World State.
Another point tackled in this study is the social criticism towards the exploitations
done by the ruling class through the means of mass production and interpellation.

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As stated in the background of the study, Brave New World is a dystopian
which functions as a criticism of the trends of social and political conditions
where the author lived in. This means that a dystopian novel is closely connected
and conditioned by the social dimension of the author. In this case, it is influenced
by Huxley’s fear of the new emerging capitalist world in the early 1920s; the
USA. Huxley saw the USA as a capitalist society where the citizens’ freedom is
restricted in certain ways in order to maintain stability and progress.11 They are
exploited so that the cycles of production and consumption keep going on. To
maintain this condition, the state conditioned the minds of the citizens through
various kinds of media and institutions.12 As the results, some moral and social
issues came up in the society, such as the increasing number of divorces, free sex,
and drugs users. These issues arose as the compensation of the citizens’ limited
freedom, and in this case, the state encouraged the freedom of getting marriage
licenses as well the freedom of getting divorce, having free sex, and using drugs
since these freedoms would maintain the citizens’ servitude.13
In relation with the issues of exploitation, in this study, the writer applies
the perspectives of Marxist theory in order to identify the issues of exploitations
and to clarify the social criticism directed to the rulers’ exploitations toward the
lower class citizens. Marxist perspectives lead to an approach that shows the
relationship between the socio-economic base and literature, and it shows that the

11

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1959) xv.

12

Huxley xv.

13

Huxley xv.

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author is influenced by his or her social class.14 Marxist perspectives also confirm
that the social reality of the author will always be part of the text since authors can
never completely escape ideology and their social background.15 It means that
Marxist criticism is an approach concerned with understanding texts in social and
historical context. Marxist approaches to language, literature, and culture tend to
be developed from the models of economic and political change as formulated by
Marx, Engels, and the other founders of Marxism devised rather than from the
few and incidental things they said about literature and art. Thus, this approach
gives much attention to modes of production, relations between the economic base
and superstructure, power, powerlessness, and empowerment.16
To identify the issues of exploitation conducted by the capitalist state, the
writer uses Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. The hegemonic process is closely
related to ideology since hegemony is a process in which the dominant class
attempt to make the dominated class believe to their ideology through consent. To
identify the role of ideology, especially its role to maintain exploitation through
mind conditioning processes, the writer applies the theory of “Ideology and
Ideological State Apparatuses” by Louis Althusser. The theory of Althusser
provides the background knowledge supporting the evidences found in the novel
on the issues of government controls, their techniques, and also the impacts of
their techniques toward the citizens. These theories are also very useful tools to

14

Hans Bertens, Literary Theory: The Basics (New York: Routledge, 1995) 89.

15

Bertens 90.

16

Rob Pope, The English Studies Book: An Introduction to Language, Literature, and Culture.
(London: Routledge, 2002) 105-106.

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assist the process of eliciting the social criticism toward capitalism. The issues
elaborated in this thesis can be seen through the points of views of the characters
portrayed in the novel; Mustapha Mond, the Director of Hatchery and
Conditioning, Lenina Crowne, Linda, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and John
the Savage. These characters picture the characteristics of capitalist society in
which they have to live under the stable but nightmarish society without
questioning the truth.
C. Research Questions
In conducting this research, two questions are formulated to scrutinize the
absolute controls of government undergone by the individuals in the totalitarian
society as depicted in Huxley’s Brave New World. The research questions are:
1. How do the characters in Huxley’s Brave New World portray the
exploitation of the capitalist state?
2. How is the capitalist exploitation criticized through the characters in
Huxley’s Brave New World?
D. Objectives of the Study
This study was conducted with the aim to reveal how people in the
capitalist society are exploited. By the means of the concepts of Marxist criticism,
this study is aimed to reveal the injustice as the result of dominant class’
exploitation through the processes of mass production and interpellation in the
society. It is also aimed to uncover the impacts of the government exploitations to
the society in general and to the individuals living in the society. Besides the
analysis of these points shows that the government techniques of exploitation are

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effective strategies to create conformity and social order in the society through
new and fabricated values of humanity by which the government does not need to
involve any physical oppressions.
E. Method of the Study
This thesis applied a library research to find important sources for the
analysis of the problems formulated. The sources are divided into two types. The
first was the primary source and the second was the secondary sources. The
primary source of this study was Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932). The
secondary sources were books and sites from the internet which discussed the
objects of the study, the review of related studies, and the theories of hegemony
formulated by Antonio Gramsci, and the theories of ideology and social function
by Louis Althusser.
The review of related studies presents the reviews of studies conducted
toward Huxley’s Brave New World as retrieved from internet sites, Gramsci’s
theories of hegemony were taken from books entitled Selected of Prison Notebook
(1971) and Antonio Gramsci (2006) by Steve Jones. The theories of Louis
Althusser on “Ideology and Ideological Apparatuses” were taken from his book
entitled Lenin and Philosophy, and Other Essays (1971).
There were certain steps used in analyzing this work. First, the writer
began with reading the main source comprehensively in order to understand the
story. In reading the primary source, the writer examined the characteristics and
the issues of the society revealed by the characters in the novel. After that the
writer figured out the impacts of capitalist model of government to the society and

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the reactions of the individuals to the exploitative government as depicted in the
literary work.
In attempt to look for the answers of the research questions formulated in
the first chapter, the second step was done by collecting the data about several
studies conducted on the novel, theories of hegemony by Gramsci and theories on
the role of ideology by Althusser. The third step was answering the problems that
had been formulated in the first chapter. This step was done by applying the views
of Marxist analysis on exploitation in order to examine the characteristics and
issues of the society. Further the theories formulated by Marxist philosophers,
especially the theories of hegemony and “Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses” were applied to analyze the impacts of the exploitation through the
means of absolute controls over mass production and minds of the citizens as the
result of the rulers’ desire over social stability and efficiency.
F. Urgency of the Study
Particularly, this study is meant to give a contribution to the English
Language Studies by presenting a new insight on Huxley’s Brave New World
through the perspective of Marxist philosophers, especially through the view of
Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci and French Marxist Louis Althusser. This
approach reveals the issues on the social injustices caused by the exploitation of
totalitarian regime as seen in Huxley’s Brave New World. In this case this study
may function not only as a medium to express the imagination of the author on a
certain fiction, futuristic society, but it also may function as a medium to voice the
silenced issues of contemporary society. Thus, through the findings of the

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analysis, this study is also presented to enrich the kinds of researches in the
English Language Studies and literary research in general. Finally, the study is
significant to open the awareness of the readers on the issues of humanity found in
the exaggerated contemporary society with the hope of creating a better society in
the near future.

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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Object of the Study
This thesis deals with one of Aldous Huxley’s novels Brave New World.
This work was written in 1931 and published in the following year; it is a
dystopian or anti-utopian novel. In it the author questions the values of the
London society in 1931. He used satire and irony to portray a futuristic world in
which often considered extreme by many of the contemporary critics in British
and American society. This novel brought him international fame. Although it
was written just before the rise of Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin, the novel was
not framed with the kind of dark and grim vision of totalitarianism as seen in
George Orwell’s 1984.
The story is set in London six hundred years in the future. People all
around the world are part of a totalitarian state, free from war, hatred, poverty,
disease, and pain. They enjoy leisure time, material wealth, and physical
pleasures. However, the ten people in charge of the world, the Controllers,
eliminate most forms of freedom and twist around many traditionally held human
values in order to maintain the smoothly running society. They primarily value
standardization and progress.
It can be seen that the Controllers attempt to standardize and control the
quality and population of human beings through controlled mass production in
factories. They use technology to make ninety-six people from the same fertilized

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egg and to condition them for their future lives. The babies are raised together and
their mind and behavior are conditioned through sleep teaching. Therefore, as
adults, they are able to fulfill their roles as part of five social classes, from the
intelligent Alphas, who run the factories, to the mentally challenged Epsilons,
who do most of the labor in the factories. Since their life is controlled, they spend
their time in accordance to the activities that are allowed to do by the Controllers.
After working in the factories, they are indulging themselves with harmless and
mindless entertainment and sport activities.
The peaceful and stable society of London is shaken by the coming of
John the Savage, a man from the uncontrolled area of the world located in an
Indian reservation in New Mexico. John with his unorthodox ideals questions the
society and instantly becomes the center of attention. Mustapha Mond, one of the
Controllers, insists John to stay in the civilization in order to be able to perform an
ongoing experiment towards him. In the end John cannot stand with the
Controller’s judgment and flees to the countryside to live in solitude and close to
nature. When his hideaway is discovered, his privacy destroyed. Finally, he has to
choose between conformity and death. He chooses death to escape from the public
pressure.
B. Review of Related Studies
Aldous Huxley was considered a prodigy; he was an intelligent and
creative author. His writings are rich in themes; from satires of the lives of upperclass British people after World War I to the experiments with mysticism,
parapsychology, and hallucinogenic drugs and LSD. Basically, his works speak

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much about humanity, technology, politics, and ideology. The following part is
the analysis of some studies on his phenomenal work Brave New World in order
to settle grounds in which this study is going to be built.
David Bradshaw‘s The Hidden Huxley (1994) is a collection of Huxley’s
opinions on the issues of his time and it tries to argues on his distinctive evolution
of thinking. He suggested that there is still a great works that critics had yet to
discover about Aldous Huxley. In his writing, Bradshaw provides Huxley‘s
unfamiliar essays, interviews and broadcasts during the 1930s. The Hidden Huxley
also reveals a systematic process of censorship in which critics deliberately
marginalize, obscure, and hide the works of Huxley. It seems the material
contained within Bradshaw‘s volume has remained completely untouched as
Bradshaw states:
Above all ... the current view of the inter-war Huxley derives from a
standard bibliography of his writings which is as incomplete as it is
unreliable. Concealed behind the deficiencies of this principal check-list of
his work, the authentic 1930s Huxley has languished misunderstood and
unread for over fifty years. 17
Bradshaw explains that within The Hidden Huxley he compiles the main materials
from the transcripts of national BBC broadcasts, articles written for the Evening
Standard and for Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine, and it is shocking that these works
have never been discussed by any serious critic of Huxley.
Bradshaw also points out Huxley‘s interest with psychoanalysis and this is
clearly seen in Brave New World. In this work, Huxley shows his concerns about
the ability of individuals to transform and improve the inadequate social systems

17

David Bradshaw, The Hidden Huxley (London: Faber and Faber, 1994) vii.

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in order to prevent a complete destruction of civilization. Huxley declared in
Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine in 1931: “We must either plan or else go under ...
force has got to be used.”18 In this case, Huxley turns to Freud for answers as he
claims that “Psychology is the key to science.”19 This is also the key to exercising
control in a civilization emphasizing the importance of scientific and
technological progress. Huxley views that psychoanalysis is a powerful tool for
manipulating and indoctrinating the masses, and he claims that if the state
intervenes in the development of its children, it will be able to exercise mass
control.
As seen in the BBC broadcast ‘Science and Civilization‘ which was aired
only two weeks before Brave New World was published, Huxley perceives that
stability can be effectively achieved through a practical application of
psychoanalytic theory:
Freud and his followers ... have proved that our adult mentality, our whole
way of thinking and feeling, our entire philosophy of life may be shaped and
molded by what we experience in earliest childhood ... Such are the scientific
facts waiting to be applied to the solution of political problems.20
The above quote describes that Huxley was convinced that psychoanalysis and
behaviorist techniques could be the key to stability. This is projected in Brave New
World in which Huxley takes Freudian teachings to their logical conclusions in the
form of the rational state with two different societies; one is civilized and modern yet
it is manipulated and the other is isolated and traditional since it develops without
intervention.
18

David Bradshaw, The Hidden Huxley (London: Faber and Faber, 1994) 28.

19

Bradshaw 111.

20

Bradshaw 109.

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Similar to David Bradshaw, Harold Bloom’s Aldous Huxley’s Brave New
World (Bloom’s Guide) (2004) provides some insights and opinions on Aldous
Huxley’s Brave New World written by some literary critics. Bloom also shares his
own perception due to the Savage’s, as well as Huxley’s passion for Shakespeare. In
the novel, Shakespeare offers a possible wisdom, an education in irony and the power
of language. Although read