An Interpretation of Brave New World from Foucault’s Theory of Power and Discourse

The British novelist Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is regarded as one of the three major dystopian science fiction novels of the 20th century. The novel describes a future World State where the world is superficially rich, but, the rulers have gutted the spiritual world. Brave New World is not only Huxley’s satire and critique of reality but also a reflection and a warning about the future world. Taking Foucault’s power discourse theory as the theoretical framework, this thesis explores how power operates in Brave New World; by analyzing the construction process of the “beauty”: through technological manipulation and ideological manipulation, people are deprived of discourse. It aims to reveal that the nature of the ruler is numbness, bondage and manipulation, disregarding individuality and freedom. At the same time, under the oppression of mighty power discourse in the World State, the awakening of a few individuals occur. Thus, based on the inseparable relationship between power and discourse, the analysis provided here will end with some conclusions on the meaning and ways in which individuals from the “marginalized group” of society, represented by John, resist the totalitarian domination of the power and discourse. This thesis employs close reading to provide readers with a new angle on this novel and to further understand power control in the World State and the identity crisis of some main characters. This analysis aims to stimulate discussion and thinking over modern people’s self-existence, self-awareness and the understanding of future human development.