Problems Of Today’s Society In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

The novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley is relevant to multiple problems in today’s society. A major problem in modern society is substance abuse. Substance abuse is a major problem because it leads to addiction, both mental and physical health problems, and makes us lose control of our own lives. In the novel, Soma is a drug that the characters are constantly returning to as a coping mechanism. They use Soma to escape any feelings that are not positive, like pain, discomfort, and sadness. It also allows them to feel instant happiness. Similarly, in the real world, many people turn to drugs with a similar effect as Soma has for the same reason so that they don’t have to face whatever is bothering them.

In “Brave New World” they continually use a drug known as soma. This drug is used for anyone who is feeling unhappy or depressed. Throughout the novel, there are many times we see the characters using Soma as a solution. Just like in the novel the government used Soma to keep the citizens happy, things such as ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana in today’s society have very similar effects to soma as they all give you a euphoric feeling.

People in today’s society are very dependent on drugs. People use them for all different things but many are used as a way to escape from the harshness of reality and to leave behind problems and difficulties. These drugs are used to escape reality and replace it with happy illusions. Instead of achieving happiness through facing and dealing with our problems many people are dependent on drugs to provide happiness for themselves.

Mental illness has become something extremely common in this day and age, and rather than finding real help for these issues, many people resort to the use of drugs. People use medication, many times illegally since it is the quickest and easiest way to find ‘help’. In the book, we see an example of how easy it is to get dependent on these drugs rather than getting actual help.’Drying her eyes, Lenina walked across the roof to the lift. On her way down to the twenty-seventh floor, she pulled out her soma bottle. One gramme, she decided, would not be enough; hers had been more than a one-gram affliction. But if she took two grams, she ran the risk of not waking up in time tomorrow morning. She compromised and, into her cupped left palm, shook out three half-gram tablets,’.

After getting turned down by John, Lenina, feeling sad and embarrassed, turns to soma rather than getting help from a professional. Throughout the novel, people encourage each other to take soma whenever life isn’t perfect. Therefore, the people refuse to face their issues and simply ease their minds with drugs.

People resort to drugs mainly when they are unhappy with how their life is going. Happiness is temporary and artificial when it is created by a drug. In Brave New World, the government creates an image of soma as a way to achieve happiness, but really it gives them more control. In the real world, people resort to drug abuse when they don’t want to deal with the struggles that make up reality. In both Brave New World and real-life, drug abuse does not fix problems and often makes the situation worse.

Just like in the novel Brave New world every day our society is becoming more and more dependent on the consumption of drugs. People use drugs today for some of the same reasons why people used them in the Brave New World, to take away bad feelings and keep them happy. Although taking these drugs will relieve the pain temporarily, you will eventually become addicted and it will cause more problems than your initial problem that led you to it. Overall, these pain-relieving drugs are not the answer to your problems and will only make your situation worse.