Essay on Brave New World and Gattac

While new technology and genetic engineering represent our fondest hopes and aspirations, they also allude to our darkest fears and misgivings because they can be the ultimate expression of human control. The text Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and the film Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol are dystopic texts that express fears and doubts about the future direction, progression and governance of society. As such they are regarded as ‘cautionary tales’ because they offer a warning about how civilisation might lose touch with those ideals that traditionally added meaning to and gave individuals a sense of zest and passion for living. Both Huxley and Niccol were concerned about the direction they saw the world moving in and thus their texts communicate the universal concerns about the impact of technology, lack of individuality, political control and. As such, their texts provide a dire warning about the possible consequences for society, when political power and scientific research are allowed to go beyond convention moral limits resulting in devastating outcomes.
Technology has extended its reach and asserted great dominance over mankind in society. Brave New World portrays the impact of technology in a parodying manner in the society created by Huxley. This is evident throughout the text through the constant reference to Ford, which creates a satirical view of the assembly line, which Ford invented; in Brave New World the production of humans is portrayed as taking place in a laboratory that uses the ‘assembly line’ principle which is a direct link to the context out of which the text arose. There is reference to Henry Ford as ‘Our Ford’, this being an example of religious allusion where Ford is regarded as being a ‘creator’ or ‘God-like’ figure, that entity also being referred to as ‘Our Lord’.. Similarly, through the use of narration, Gattaca conveys the idea of dystopia through the parody of the key elements within the dysfunctional society. This is...