Eugenics in Brave New World: A New Historicist Reading
Journal: International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science (Vol.7, No. 5)Publication Date: 2022-09-15
Authors : Mabandine Djagri Temoukale;
Page : 228-234
Keywords : eugenics; enhancement; undesirable; sterilization; technoscience;
Abstract
In Brave New World, eugenics translates into a practice that not only enhances the performance of certain social classes but also encourages sterilization, discrimination, and standardization of citizens on the assumption that anti-social behaviors are genetically inherited. However, a new historicist reading of the novel attempts to show that the eugenic practices of the leaders of the World State are inspired by classical eugenic methods. It argues that the social problems such as delinquency, alcoholism, and poverty that leaders in Brave New World seek to control stem from social injustice. The analysis, therefore, reveals that negative eugenics (eliminating the bad genetic stock responsible for anti-social behaviors) using technoscience cannot be a solution to a problem caused by social injustice. Nevertheless, the paper argues that the survival instinct pushes humans to practice eugenics in order to pass on to their descendants a genetic stock that allows them to adapt and survive in an ever-changing world
Other Latest Articles
- The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot as a modern epic
- Reading in Digital Era: A Study on Enhancing Reading Skills
- NATURAL REGENERATION CAPACITY OF VITELLARIA PARADOXA (SHEA TREE) ON THE HILLS OF BASSAR (NORTH-TOGO)
- A REVIEW ON MICROPLASTIC IN THE SOILS AND THEIR IMPACT ON SOIL MICROBES, CROPS AND HUMANS
- CHANGING ROLE OF SPECIAL LIBRARY PROFESSIONALS IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
Last modified: 2022-11-08 14:32:43