Reflections on Brave New World X: Blissful Death

Trey Smith

As with many other aspects of life in Huxley's futuristic world, death is treated far differently than it is today. No one physically grows old nor suffers any falloff in their mental or physical capacities. Around age 60, people check in to the Hospital for the Dying and are given enough soma (the mythic pleasure drug) that they blissfully slide into death.

Not only is death painless, but their is no mourning from the living. From an early age, the people are conditioned to see death as no big deal and so no tears are shed when a friend or colleague disappears from the scene. The minions go about their daily lives, not skipping a beat.

I have very mixed feelings about this specific aspect of Huxley's Brave New World. On the one hand, a society without love and reverence seems ghastly. Grief, while painful, is one of those human emotions that has the potential to bring about great insight. While most of us do not like sorrow and misery, without them, pleasure and happiness would be devoid of any real meaning.

On the other hand, the removal of the fear of death as a natural part of life wouldn't be so bad. If we didn't spend so much time dreading the deaths of our loved ones and ourselves, we might find that we could lead more vibrant lives!

In considering this particular aspect, I am hearkened back to the story in the Zhuangzi of how he reacted to his wife's death. A dismayed friend found him outside his house merrily banging on a drum. Zhuangzi explained that he initially grieved for his wife like anyone else, but came to realize that life and death go hand-in-hand. So, he was celebrating her transition of the cycle of the cosmos from one season to another.

Needless to say, I think Huxley's vision, in this regard, goes too far. A world without any modicum of mourning would be lifeless. That said, a world that doesn't wallow in mourning would be more life-full. I suppose it would be nice if we could arrive at a place somewhere between these two extremes.