If you’re not familiar with Marxism, the simple definition would be social classes create conflict. This idea was portrayed through his Communist Manifesto. Hearing his manifesto reminds me of the Unabomber’s manifesto; in that they both serve as a warning to society, but also threaten society. The Unabomber warned people of the dangers of an advancing technological world while also putting people in danger by packaging explosives. Karl Marx warned of tensions between social classes while simultaneously advocating for mass murder and dictatorship. These two influential people believed so much in something that they thought was good, but didn’t realize the impact of their decisions.
Marxism solely lies on the back of the exploited working class. Marxism advocates for a mass middle class, which leads to one class. Brave New World slightly alters this Marxist point by having a social caste system (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Epsilon) but conditioning all of them to think they are better and happier than the others while they are developing as young kids. The exploitation of their ego’s essentially makes them all believe they are the best which is equivalent to a massive single class.
Another point made by Marx is the polarization of the classes. This polarization can be shown through comparison of the World State leaders and the Epsilons. The Epsilons are injected with alcohol when they are fetuses are developing. This causes complete polarization, with Epsilons being at a disadvantage from birth, and the World Leaders being lucky by chance to be one of ten rulers. This stark contrast keeps the Epsilons compliant because their knowledge has been stunted by the abuse of the World Leaders.
The last similarity is the value of community over identity. The World State’s motto is “Community, Identity, Stability” (Huxley 3). This aligns with Marx’s idea that community is the core of the government and society in order to achieve anything as a collective.
“Brave New World and the Marxist Theory.” Prezi.com, prezi.com/1t9dsbguwqyd/brave-new-world-and-the-marxist-theory/.
Brave New World 