Throughout Brave New World, there is a huge emphasize on being happy, but how can these people feel happiness if they've never felt pain? Last year in Ms. Colln's class we discussed the topic of what does it mean to be truly happy. I believe this is an important question to ask ourselves, but I don't think anyone has the right answer to that. Happiness comes in many forms and can last for a short amount of time or for a while, but it's impossible to always experience happiness every second of one's life.
However, in the novel the "civilized" people seem to be able to achieve infinite happiness. A drug they take called soma to get rid and numb them of any situation they are not fond of. They then believe to feel on top of the world, but I disagree. In my opinion, soma doesn't make anyone happy, but instead it rids them of pain. Does stripping someone from pain make them happy? I do not know the answer to that, but it's impossible to feel happy if you have never felt pain. The people have no worries, like caring for a family, or finding a place to sleep at night. They have never really felt pain before, so what are they feeling?
The whole civilization is based around this idea of living in a world where everyone feels content with life. Yet, I don't believe the controllers have achieved this. Instead they have created a world where people are numb. They are numb to reality and what life truly is. This just makes me question my own happiness and if I'm numb to reality like them.
-Xela Dinh
I agree that when the civilized people are using soma they are numb to the situations they are in and what they might be truly feeling. I feel as though the happiness they are feeling is artificial because it is based on taking soma. I also believe that they think that what they feel is true joy because most of the society has never known happiness without soma. Also I believe it is normal to question what true happiness is because there is no exact definition and happiness looks different for everyone. However, I don't think we are numb to situations like the society in BNW because we do not have a "happy drug" like soma that we take constantly, we may have no feelings toward specific situations but we are aware of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I questioned if we are numb to situations in our reality, I was referring to entertainment rather than an actual drug. Sometimes I question if I really am happy sitting around binge watching a show on Netflix, or watching a youtuber vlog about their day. In a way I see entertainment as a form of soma, because it distracts us from whats really going in the world. In the novel the people seem to forget everything that is happening at that moment and are filled with great joy. We watch movies to feel like we are in that universe, but the truth is after we finish watching the movie we are back to reality. We may not feel as numb as soma makes us, but maybe the effect is the same. Like I said I believe my soma is entertainment. Do you think we have a soma in our reality?
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