Like Two Unhurried Compass Needles

In Technopoly, Neal Postmen explains that in this technopoly, which is, “driven to invent…an ‘unseen hand’ will eliminate the incompetent and reward those who produce cheaply and well the goods that people want.” This description perfectly characterizes the futuristic society in Brave New World. Incompetence does not even exist, as children are conditioned since infancy to devote themselves to the principles of efficiency and orthodoxy. They are also conditioned to want the right things, the things mass produced “cheaply and well.” And this society has perfected the art of mass producing what people should and, as a result, do indeed want. Factories and assembly lines work relentlessly to cheaply and swiftly manufacture key essentials such as clothes, happiness, and human life.

Additionally, Shakespeare’s The Tempest provides some insight on control and conditioning which can be applied to Brave New World. Caliban and John parallel each other in many ways. They are both considered savages, oddities, in their environments, and they both fight violently against the conditions they are thrust into. However, Caliban was born and developed in this environment. He has been conditioned to believe that he is inferior, that he must always be subject, and, though he knows he deserves more respect from Prospero- or at least more humane treatment- he is unable to entirely grasp the injustice of his slavery. In contrast, John spent his entire life to be conditioned by “savages” before being thrown into the “After Ford” society. Like Caliban, he fought against the perversions of this culture and what he inherently knew to be right. However, despite their differing backgrounds, they both reached the same demise. Caliban submits to Prospero, acknowledges his wrongdoings, and crawls back into his place of servitude. John, no longer strong enough to resist a society which flips his version of reality and morality upside down, finds escape in death. Ultimately, the cultures which they fought so passionately against subdued them, put them back in their place, and reminded them who exactly held the power before them, who holds it with them, and who will continue to hold it forevermore after.