Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a novel about the governments control over the civilized population. The government accomplishes this in many ways, including manipulating embryos, repetition of rules and regulations, and allowing sex to be a main form of entertainment. The population becomes addicted to following specific habits and acting a certain way, so any actions abnormal are blasphemy. In this section, the reader may observe that the population is also addicted to soma when the Deltas thought, "Deprivation of soma -- appalling thought!" (Huxley 210). This scene where the Deltas become overly aggravated about the soma being thrown away is a perfect example of the government control. Since the government expects specific behavior and traditions, this change in schedule caused an uproar. The government chose to use a drug to control the population, which led to a massive riot. The civilized people have an addiction that must be fed, and only the government can feed that desire. By making this drug a necessity to the society, the government is better able to regulate the happiness of the population. Soma helps the reader to better understand the theme of government control.