Brave New World
Chapter 17: Seventeen
by Huxley, AldousIn the chapter “Seventeen” from *Brave New World*, the Savage questions the cost of happiness in the World State, noting the absence of art, science, and religion. The Controller, Mustapha Mond, acknowledges these sacrifices, particularly emphasizing the eradication of religion after the Nine Years’ War. The Savage struggles to articulate his feelings about solitude, nature, and death, finding no adequate words even in Shakespeare. Mond retrieves religious texts like the Bible and *The Imitation of Christ* from a locked safe, revealing their suppression as “pornographic old books,” contrasting them with the state-sanctioned worship of Ford.
The Savage challenges Mond on why these religious texts are hidden, arguing that God is unchanging. Mond counters that humanity has evolved, rendering ancient beliefs obsolete. He cites Cardinal Newman and philosopher Maine de Biran to illustrate how religion once provided comfort and meaning in the face of aging and mortality. However, Mond asserts that in the modern world, where youth and prosperity are perpetual, such sentiments are unnecessary. The Savage remains unconvinced, insisting on the innate human need for God, especially in moments of solitude and existential reflection.
Mond argues that the World State has eliminated the conditions that foster religious belief, such as suffering and solitude, by ensuring constant distraction and pleasure. He dismisses the idea of instinctual belief, attributing faith to conditioning rather than nature. The Savage, however, clings to the notion that God is a natural response to life’s mysteries, particularly death. Mond’s pragmatic view reflects the state’s prioritization of stability and happiness over spiritual exploration, as he justifies the suppression of religious texts to maintain social order.
The chapter culminates in a philosophical clash between the Savage’s yearning for transcendence and Mond’s cold rationality. Mond admits God might exist but asserts His irrelevance in a mechanized, pleasure-driven society. The Savage’s emotional appeals highlight the dehumanizing effects of the World State, while Mond’s logic underscores its efficiency. This dialogue encapsulates the novel’s central tension between individual spirituality and collective control, leaving the reader to ponder the true cost of a world devoid of deeper meaning.
FAQs
1. What is Mustapha Mond’s argument for why religious texts like the Bible are kept locked away in the safe rather than shared with society?
Answer:
Mustapha Mond argues that religious texts are outdated and irrelevant to the modern world, referring to them as “pornographic old books.” He claims they discuss God “hundreds of years ago,” not the present reality where God manifests as an “absence.” Mond asserts that religion is incompatible with the stability of their civilization, which prioritizes machinery, scientific medicine, and universal happiness. Sharing these texts would disrupt societal conditioning, as people are no longer taught to value solitude, introspection, or the existential questions that traditionally led to religious belief. Instead, the state controls all aspects of life, rendering God superfluous (e.g., “God isn’t compatible with machinery… You must make your choice”).
2. How does the Savage’s view of God differ from Mustapha Mond’s, and what does this reveal about their respective worldviews?
Answer:
The Savage views God as an eternal, unchanging presence tied to natural human experiences like solitude, mortality, and awe (e.g., “it is natural to believe in God when you’re alone… thinking about death”). In contrast, Mond sees God as a malleable concept that adapts to societal needs—or disappears when no longer useful. This clash reveals their opposing values: the Savage upholds individualism, emotional depth, and transcendental meaning, while Mond represents a utilitarian worldview where stability and control supersede spiritual pursuits. The Savage’s references to Shakespeare and personal longing (“He would have liked to say something about solitude…”) highlight his Romantic idealism, whereas Mond’s dismissal of instinctual belief (“One believes things because one has been conditioned”) underscores his commitment to social engineering.
3. Analyze the significance of the Cardinal Newman and Maine de Biran quotes Mond reads aloud. How do they support—or undermine—his position?
Answer:
Newman’s quote emphasizes human dependence on God, arguing that independence is “unnatural” and unsustainable with age, while Biran describes aging as a catalyst for religious sentiment as worldly passions fade. Ironically, these quotes inadvertently challenge Mond’s stance: they articulate timeless psychological needs (e.g., “the need to lean on something that abides”) that his society suppresses with distractions and soma. Mond uses them to mock premodern reliance on God (“What need have we of repose when our minds… delight in activity?”), yet their insights into human nature persist. The Savage’s interrupted attempts to speak of “death” and “darkness” suggest Mond’s worldview fails to address innate existential yearnings, revealing a flaw in his claim that happiness alone can replace spiritual fulfillment.
4. Why does Mond claim that “people never are alone now,” and what does this imply about the society’s manipulation of human behavior?
Answer:
Mond states that society actively makes people “hate solitude” to prevent introspection that might lead to disruptive questions or religious longing. This reflects the regime’s total control over human experience: by eliminating privacy and filling lives with constant stimulation (e.g., “the old fooleries”), they eradicate conditions where existential or spiritual thoughts might arise. The implication is profound—the society deliberately engineers shallow contentment by severing connections to deeper aspects of humanity, such as confronting mortality or seeking meaning beyond material comforts. The Savage’s silenced words about the moonlit mesa underscore what is lost: the capacity for wonder and transcendence that solitude nurtures.
5. Evaluate Mond’s statement: “God emerges as from behind a cloud… when our reason becomes less troubled.” How does this contrast with the Savage’s lived experience?
Answer:
Mond paraphrases Biran’s idea that clarity of reason reveals God, but he twists it to justify his society’s eradication of religion. For the Savage, however, God is not a late-life consolation but an immediate presence felt in nature, silence, and emotional intensity (e.g., his unspoken thoughts about the “plunge into shadowy darkness”). Where Mond frames God as an emergent abstraction, the Savage encounters the divine viscerally—through suffering, beauty, and unstructured contemplation. This contrast exposes the limitations of Mond’s detached rationalism: the Savage’s inarticulate yearning (“there were no words”) suggests some truths transcend conditioning and cannot be dismissed by social planning.
Quotes
1. “‘We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own. We did not make ourselves, we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We are not our own masters. We are God’s property.’”
This quote from Cardinal Newman, read by Mustapha Mond, captures the traditional religious worldview that contrasts sharply with the novel’s dystopian society. It represents the core argument about human dependence on God that the World State has deliberately rejected in favor of human independence and control.
2. “‘That sickness is old age; and a horrible disease it is… we feel the need to lean on something that abides, something that will never play us false-a reality, an absolute and everlasting truth.’”
From Maine de Biran’s writings, this passage articulates why humans traditionally turned to religion in later life. It’s significant as it shows the natural human inclination toward spirituality that the World State has engineered out of existence through conditioning and soma.
3. “‘God isn’t compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make your choice. Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness.’”
This blunt statement by Mustapha Mond summarizes the fundamental trade-off at the heart of the novel’s dystopia. It reveals the deliberate rejection of spirituality and religion in favor of technological progress and engineered contentment.
4. “‘People believe in God because they’ve been conditioned to. Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons-that’s philosophy.’”
This cynical view from Mustapha Mond demonstrates the World State’s perspective on religion as mere conditioning. It’s particularly impactful as it reduces all philosophical and religious inquiry to psychological programming, justifying the society’s suppression of religious thought.
5. “‘But people never are alone now… We make them hate solitude; and we arrange…’”
This interrupted statement highlights the deliberate elimination of solitude in the World State. It’s significant because it shows how the society prevents the very conditions (solitude, contemplation) that might lead to religious experience or independent thought.