Rahin Virani

Ms. Webster
ENG4U1-03
January 13th
2016

Virani 1

The Dictators Guide to Everlasting Power

All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a
volcano of revolution -Havelock Ellis. There has never been a society that
has managed to maintain peace and stability for long. History is littered with
examples of hostility, bloodshed, and war. As chaotic and random as history
may seem, in the aggregate, a clear pattern emerges: history is a cyclical
struggle between the oppressors and the oppressed. Firstly, the oppressors
take control of the state and utilise its powers to exploit the oppressed.
Secondly, the oppressed organise a revolution to the topple the state and
replace it with a new regime. Inevitably, a select few enterprising
revolutionaries form a new elite that controls the state and exploits the
oppressed, finally bringing the cycle back to full circle. The key element in
the continuation of this cycle is revolution; the opportunity for the common
man to reform the ills of society and restore justice. This view of history
aligns with the theory of Marxism which was developed by German
philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid-to-late 1800s as a
response to the industrial revolution. Marxist theory applies the longstanding historical dynamic of the oppressed and the oppressors to
economics, with the bourgeoisie being the oppressive controllers of society
and the proletariat as the oppressed working class. In addition, Marxist
theory denounces capitalism as an exploitative system where the
bourgeoisie control the means of production and live off the resources
created by the proletariat. Marxism advocates for overthrowing capitalist

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regimes and replacing them with communist states whereby the means of
production are centralised by the state and society is free of economic and
social inequality. This bimodal dynamic of the oppressors and the oppressed
can also be seen in Aldous Huxleys dystopian novel Brave New World, where
the central government known as the World State takes the role of the
oppressors and the citizens take the role of the oppressed. The novel Brave
New World takes place in a futuristic society that functions at the behest of
the World State. The World State is a governmental entity that is a controlled
by a group of elite World Controllers who have complete command over the
societys superstructure. The superstructure of a society is its political, social,
and ideological institutions such as its education system, religious
institutions, legal system etc. The plot of Brave New World follows the story
of Bernard Marx, a psychologist employed by the World State who becomes
disillusioned by its tyrannical rule over its citizens. The novel Brave New
World criticizes the deception of the totalitarian regime of the World State
because it oppresses its citizens and instills an ideology that perpetuates
false consciousness. This, in turn, creates an optimal environment for the
World State to maintain their grasp of power as the citizens have no outlet
for revolution.
In Brave New World, the World State takes the role of an autocratic
government that exercises absolute control over the lives of their citizens.
For example, the World State has outlawed natural reproduction and has
instead mandated a state-run in-vitro fertilization program called the

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Bokanovsky's process, whereby individual embryos are divided into a
hierarchal caste system, ranging from Alphas at the top to Epsilons at the
bottom. The lower-caste embryos are deprived of oxygen to limit their
intellectual and physical development so that they spend their lives working
as unintelligent labourers, incapable of doing anything else. The higher-caste
embryos develop normally and are provided with the best education and
welfare to go on to become the leaders of society. Mr. Foster, an Alpha who is
responsible for fertilization at the hatchery explains that:
[the World State] predestines and conditions. [the World State]
decants [the] babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons,
as future sewage workers or future . . . He was going to say future
World Controllers, but correcting himself, said future Directors of
Hatcheries, instead. The D.H.C. acknowledged the compliment with a
smile (Huxley 11).
From a Marxist perspective, we can see that the World State has propagated
a caste system where the Epsilons are the proletariat and the Alphas are the
bourgeoisie. The World State justifies their mandate of the Bokanovskys
process by advocating for its benefits of creating social stability and
increasing efficiency but the benefits of such a society go chiefly to the
Alphas at the expense of Epsilons. A clear example of this can be seen when
Bernard and Lenina, both of which are Alphas, are in their private helicopter
examining the scene below:

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Beneath them lay the buildings of the Golf Club the huge Lower
Caste barracks and, on the other side of a dividing wall, the smaller
houses reserved for Alpha members. The approaches to the monorail
station were black with the ant-like pullulation of lower-caste activity
(Huxley 49).
It can be seen plainly, that the level of inequality between the classes is
definitive; the higher-caste bourgeoisie enjoy the luxury of private homes
and helicopters while the lower-caste proletariat reside in barracks and use
public transportation. Furthermore, since the proletariats mental
development is purposely sabotaged, they remain perpetually trapped in a
state of exploitation whereby the fruits of their labour are disproportionately
consumed by the bourgeoisie. This state of exploitation is not inadvertent,
rather it is deliberately created by the World State to establish complete
control over the populace and to ensure the continuity of their regime. Dr.
Gregory Claeys, a professor at the University of London, explains the motive
of the World State stating that:
A society composed [predominantly] of stupid people is more likely to
be stable than one with a high proportion of intelligent people. The
[state] would therefore be tempted to use the knowledge of genetics,
not for eugenic, but for dysgenic purposes - for the deliberate lowering
of the average mental standard (Claeys).

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Consequently, the World States use of the Bokanovskys process ensures
that there is no possibility of rebellion, as the Epsilons are incapable of
rebelling due their insufficient physical and mental capacity while the Alphas
have no reason to rebel because they remain the primary benefactors of
World States surplus labour and are solely responsible for controlling the
superstructure of society. Furthermore, the World State punishes citizens who
deviate from the established doctrine and seeks to restrict the expression of
their individuality. A clear example of this can be seen in the case of Bernard,
an individual who questions the values of the World State and who refuses to
consume the state-mandated drug, soma, which provides the user with a
euphoric high allowing them to escape into a state of bliss from their
ordinary yet authentic emotions. The director of the hatcheries, a
subordinate of the World Controllers, learn[s] of Bernards exploits his:
voice vibrated with an indignation that had now become wholly
righteous and impersonal [such that it was] the expression of
disapproval [from] Society itself. If ever I hear again of any lapse from
a proper standard of infantile decorum, I shall ask for your transference
to a Sub-Centre-preferably to Iceland (Huxley 66).
As is evident from the directors condemnation, the World State upholds an
ideology of extreme conformity, those who refuse to conform are persecuted
for their beliefs and are ultimately banished to exclaves where they can no
longer influence the citizens around them. These cruel circumstances directly
cause individual citizens to repress themselves for fear of expulsion by the

Virani 6
state. We can see this in the case of Lenina, an Alpha woman who prefers to
remain monogamous in spite of the fact that the World State has deemed
monogamy to be subversive. Conversely, the World State commands their
citizens to embrace a lifestyle of promiscuity whereby they engage in sexual
relations with multiple partners without emotional commitment. When
Leninas friend Fanny discovers her preference for monogamy she
immediately warns her that she:
ought to be careful. Its such horribly bad form to go on and on like this
with one man. [] at your age, Lenina! No, it really wont do. And you
know how strongly the D.H.C. objects to anything intense or longdrawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man
why, hed be furious if he knew! (Huxley 30).
It can be observed clearly that citizens are forced to live in a state of fear; if
they oppose the state they risk being eliminated from society. The World
State exhibits unlimited control over their citizens, regulating all areas of
their life including social status, vocation, sexual preferences, and even their
underlying ideology. Aldous Huxley illustrates the objectives of totalitarian
governments in his 1931 book, Music at Night, explaining that the state
seeks that:
Individuals [be] organized out of existence; the [totalitarian] state
requires not men but cogs and ratchets in the huge collective
mechanism. [] It is not enough, in their eyes, that men should spend

Virani 7
only eight hours a day under the workshop discipline. Life outside the
factory must be exactly like life inside (Claeys).
The World States primary objective is to maintain their hold on power, and
the World State ensures this by restricting the power of the people so that
they are unable to revolt against the state. Consequently, the World State
persecutes citizens who express their individuality because their individual
expression is a direct threat to their rule. In short, the World State oppresses
their citizens by intentionally sabotaging them and by utilising force to quell
dissenters in order to render the population incapable of continuing the cycle
of revolution.
Throughout the novel, the World State uses deception and coercion to
instill an ideology of false consciousness amongst the populace. A key
example of this can be seen in the conditioning process that is employed
by the World State. The World State mandates that every citizen undergoes a
psychological conditioning process that ensures that the World State can
imprint their ideology into the minds of their citizens. This ideology governs
all aspects of the individuals life from their occupation to their sexual
partners. The Director explains the aim of the conditioning process
explaining that:
The childs mind [consists] of these suggestions, and the sum of these
suggestions is the childs mind. And not the childs mind only. The
adults mind too all his life long. The mind that judges and desires

Virani 8
and decides made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions
are our suggestions! The Director almost shouted in his triumph.
Suggestions from the State (Huxley 21).
It is evident that the absolute control the World State exercises upon the
individual takes away the individuals free will and replaces it with an illusion
of freedom. The individual then has no choice but to do what the state has
conditioned him/her to do, as doing otherwise would provoke an adverse
psychological response within the individual. Mustapha Mond, a senior
member of the elite group of World Controllers, expands on this stating that:
Only an Epsilon can be expected to make Epsilon sacrifices, for the
good reason that for him they arent sacrifices; theyre the line of least
resistance. His conditioning has laid down rails along which hes got to
run. He cant help himself; hes foredoomed. Even after decanting, hes
still inside a bottle an invisible bottle of infantile and embryonic
fixations (Huxley 152).
Mustapha Monds statement is revealing, not only does conditioning have an
insurmountable influence on citizens, but conditioning also directly leads to
citizens accepting their own bondage without even questioning whether they
are being exploited by their captors. Undoubtedly, this dynamic creates a
highly desirable outcome for the World State as they dont need to prioritise
between maintaining the wellbeing of their citizens and maintaining their
grasp on power. Given these extraordinary circumstances, they are free to

Virani 9
rule as they please without any threats of a civilian insurgency. Dr. David
Bradshaw, a professor of English literature at the University of Oxford further
affirms this notion stating that The overt use of force [is] quite unnecessary.
When every member of the community has been conditioned from earliest
childhood to think as his rulers desire him to think, [the] dictatorship [is
essentially] abandoned (Claeys). Thus, it is indisputable that conditioning is
a key tool that the World State uses to maintain their rule. In addition to
conditioning, the World State vigorously promotes an ideology that prioritises
enjoyment and indulgence above all. Citizens are even required to take soma
throughout the day to ensure that they remain in a constant state of elation,
free from the monotony of daily life. In fact, it can be said that society itself
has been designed from the ground up to ensure that every citizen remains
satiated with an abundance of narcotics, casual sex, consumerism, and
endless entertainment. Discontent is treated like a disease that must be
quickly eradicated with an intoxicating rush of pleasure. To the casual
observer, it may even initially seem that the benevolence of the World State
empowers their citizens, however, upon further analysis we can see that the
opposite is true. The World State has deliberately created this environment in
order to distract and disengage their citizens from questioning the world
around them. We can see this clearly when Mustapha Mond highlights this
goal as one of the central feats of progress orchestrated by the World State
when he recalls that:

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Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion,
spend their time reading, thinking-thinking! [] Now [with our
progress] the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have
no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think
or if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn
in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always soma
(Huxley 38).
This ceaseless state of pleasure that the citizens of the World State
experience denies them the freedom of looking at their lives objectively and
realising the injustices they are subjugated to. It is evident that the
abundance of pleasure that the citizens experience is not provided to them
for their own benefit, rather the World State actively uses these sources of
pleasure as tools to manipulate the masses. Dr. Richard H. Beckham, a
professor of English literature at the University of Wisconsin confirms this
view stating that The sole function of this society is pleasure, and the sole
function of pleasure is to guarantee the happiness of [citizens] and thus
assure a stable, controllable population (Beckham). In other words, by
conditioning the population and satisfying their hedonistic desires, the World
State is able to gain complete control over their citizens without them even
being aware of their state of serfdom. This, in turn, ensures that the World
State can govern as they wish without any threats to their regime.

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By in large, the World State proves to be an autocratic government that
exercises its power to oppress its citizens and actively promote an ideology that
gives rise to false consciousness amongst its citizens. The World States approach
to governance creates an ideal situation for them to retain their power as their
citizens are unable to revolt against them. The World State oppresses its citizens
by intentionally manipulating their mental and physical development so that they
are restricted to hierarchal castes that dictate all aspects of the individuals life. In
addition, the World State actively seeks to suppress individuality of their citizens
by punishing those who deviate from their austere ideology. Furthermore, the
World State employs psychological conditioning on their citizens so that they are
inclined to accept and agree with the World States ideology without question.
Additionally, the World State seeks to satisfy their citizens hedonistic desires so
that they remain distracted from the truth and continue to be effortless to
manipulate. What truly makes us human is our sense of justice to fight oppression,
the need to express our individuality and most importantly our ambition to improve
our situation. Throughout history, these intrinsic needs have been the catalyst for
continual revolution and change. The World State is ingenious because it is able to
completely sidestep the cycle of revolution by preventing it in the first place. For
the most part, the vast majority of citizens have no desire to revolt because they
are psychologically conditioned to comply with state-sponsored ideology and
because they are provided the means to remain in a continuous state of pleasure.
Even if some citizens do become disillusioned with the World States tactics, they
can quickly be removed from society ensuring that their heretical ideas do not
influence the citizens around them. It is evident that the values of deception,

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suppression, and appeasement allow for the World State have complete control
over society. In contrast, the values of freedom, justice, and individualism must be
restricted to ensure prolonged rule. In essence, the World State is able to create a
seemingly perfect and stable society because the humanity is removed from it.

Works Cited
Beckham, Richard H. "Huxley's Brave New World as Social Irritant: Ban It or Buy
It?" Exploring Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Canada In Context. Web. 28 Nov.
2016.
Claeys, Gregory. "Bolshevism and Brave New World." Critical Insights: Brave New
World. Ed. M. Keith Booker. Hackensack: Salem, 2014. n. pag. Salem Online.
Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Bros., 1946. Print.