State of Dehumanized Man

The concepts of surrogate, pneumatic, animality and soma have an important function on the allegorical level for their repetition strengthens the allegorical meaning. These words symbolize the state of dehumanized man the condition to which man in a totalitarian society might easily be reducec. And our society has traits of the totalitarian in it. Bernard has stirrings of being an individual, but never quite makes it, because he is a victim of his surroundings and of people who have become completely dehumanized by their surroundings.

As these concepts symbolize the state to which man, degraded by complete totalitarian and mechanistic devices, has fallen, an examination of what they mean on the level of reality will help in understanding the meaning of the allegory.

The emphasis on the quality of surrogate and its peculiar connections with all the vital and physical qualities of the surrounding world help the reader to realize the synthetic values of so many things around us. The excessive repetition of "blood-surrogate" makes us realize that in our world many of the basic substances of life are substitutes.

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That much emphasis is placed on such things as leather-surrogate and Carrara-surrogate seems to indicate that we place values on our homes, physical surroundings, money and such like, not for their worth, but for their appearance. Appearances count, whether the principle behind them is a valid one or not, and this is what the reader realizes with the emphasis on the external, and on the facade, not on reality itself. So many things in our world have lost their true value and the author brings this out with his emphasis on substitutes.

The "pneumatic" quality of Lenina, which on the literajl level assured her of popularity, takes on a different meaning in reality. On the literal level, it meant that sum total of poise, attractiveness and bodily appeal which would interest the Fordian male. Here, it indicates that too much emphasis is being placed today on the physical attractiveness which a person has for a member of the opposite sex. That, rather than character or virtue, is the criterion by which popularity is judged. Lenina's pneumatic quality, in which the Fordians were interested and of which they had experiential knowledge, suggests our world, for many people believe in the necessity of sexual experience, with or without marriage, in order that physical satisfaction may be obtained and neuroses prevented, Much of the emphasis on the sexual union in our world is physical; any proposal of a union of minds and of spirit before a union of bodies is consummated is not to be suggested.

There is much irony in the use of the word "pneumatic to suggest this quality, for it derives from the noun "pneu", originating in the Greek word for soul, or spirit. There is no suggestion of spirit or soul in the Fordian world, and a spiritual quality ascribed to a person would be unheard of.

At one time, a union of minds and of spirit was considered an aid in achieving satisfaction in sexual relationships, but with the emphasis on the physical qualities, such things are no more; thus, the emphasis on this pneumatic quality which is not spiritual, but earthly, is excellent irony. The degraded lower castes of the Fordian world compared to animals have their meaning in reality. The lines of Deltas, queued for railway tickets or for soma distribution, have their counterparts in the long lines of people in front of their soporifics of this world, whether it be the soap operas, ball games or wrestling matches.

The Bokanovsky Groups working in their factories are prototypes of the individuals in factories who have become numbers, and, day in and day out, turn the same screw, cap the same bottle or adjust the same bolt. The movements and actions of the Fordian Deltas and Gammas become automatic, but we find the same thing in our society. Much work done by semi-skilled and unskilled labour requires little thought. Fordian Epsilons are directed by voices for everything which they are to do. Their similar fellows are found in the many people who make no decisions foi themselves but are delegated everything from above the time to come, the time to go, and the work to do. Thus this emphasis on animality has its basis in fact. On the level of reality, the use of soma best illustrates dehumanized man. Soma symbolizes man's attempt to escape from his troubles and yet it is the agent which assists his escape. Thus it signifies all the things which man uses in an effort to escape whether it be by alcohol, drugs, pleasure or work, and it signifies man attempting to escape from unpleasantness and boredom, from suffering and loneliness.

The present-day trend is to avoid all these things, get rid of them in some way, rather than endure and suffer them. This, of course, is tied up with the theme of animality, which runs through the work also, for when man, by the use of soma (the sum total of means of escape) removes himself from the qualities which distinguish him from the animal world, he is becoming like to an animal. These four concepts, then, illustrate the dehumanized state to which man can be degraded in a society strictly totalitarian. In our society, we can see traces and indications of this dehumanization