Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This book took me a while to read.  It goes along great with 1984 and actually my husband has these two grouped together for the AP summer reading assignment.  Unlike 1984, where sex and feelings are repressed, Brave New World conditions it's citizens to focus on sex and materialistic things.  It is a little appalling at first to read how these people are conditioned at a young age to play sex games and have no sense of family.  By the end of the book you can understand why they have set up society as they have and they even give a few good arguements that support their reasoning.  All of a sudden it does not seem quite as appalling.

With that being said, I still do not agree with their society, however, have I been conditioned to believe this, or am I really feeling this way?  A major purpose to these two books is pointing out how people are conditioned to believe a certain way.  It may or may not be right, but the citizens do not realize this because in their eyes life is normal and there is nothing wrong with it.  They are happy and content with their life not wanting anything to change.  They have no desire to have anything else.  As the reader, we feel appalled at their thinking and the things they go through.  We would never allow that to happen to us so how can this person really be happy.  It is great to question yourself and try to decide what you really believe and understand that many things you grow up with to believe as truth may in fact just be something you are conditioned to believe.