What Is Soma in Brave New World?
Soma is the drug that everyone in the World State of Brave New World takes to stay happy. Swallowed as tablets, it produces calm, pleasant feelings or a dreamy holiday from reality, with no hangover and no apparent side effects. The government hands it out freely, because people who take it never feel angry, sad or rebellious.
In Huxley's novel soma is one of the main tools of control: it keeps citizens content without the need for force.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is it? | A legal, government-supplied drug |
| How is it taken? | Usually as small tablets, measured in grams |
| What does it do? | Removes bad moods; larger doses give a dreamlike holiday |
| Side effects | None noticeable, though heavy use shortens life |
| Who uses it? | Almost everyone in the World State |
| What it means | Control through pleasure instead of fear |
What is soma?
Soma is a perfect drug invented by the World State's scientists. Small doses lift the mood and remove anxiety; larger doses send the user on a soma holiday, a long, peaceful dream. Citizens are taught from childhood to reach for soma whenever they feel any discomfort, and they repeat rhymes that praise it. Workers in the lower castes receive their daily ration at the end of each shift.
↑ Back to the topWhy does the World State give people soma?
The World State is built on stability. Everyone is conditioned to love their place in society, but strong emotions could still upset that order. Soma removes them. Mustapha Mond, the World Controller, explains that it offers all the advantages of alcohol with none of its drawbacks: you can take a holiday from reality whenever you like and come back without a headache. Because of soma, the State never needs secret police or violence.
↑ Back to the topWhere does soma appear in the story?
Lenina takes soma constantly, even on her trip to the Savage Reservation, where she uses it to escape the dirt and old age she sees there. Bernard takes it to ease his loneliness. Linda, John's mother, has lived for years on the Reservation without it, and when she returns to London she sinks into a soma haze and slowly dies of it in a hospital. In the climax, John, grieving, throws a box of soma out of a hospital window and urges a crowd of lower-caste workers to choose freedom instead. They riot, and the police calm them with soma vapor.
↑ Back to the topWhat does soma represent?
Soma represents control through comfort. Where Orwell's 1984 imagines a state that rules by pain and fear, Huxley imagines one that rules by pleasure, keeping people too contented to ask questions. Soma also stands for any easy escape, from drugs to endless entertainment, that numbs people to their real lives. When John demands the right to be unhappy, he is rejecting soma's promise.
↑ Back to the topMore about Brave New World
This guide discusses the whole plot, including the ending.