Soma

• the drug soma is a tool that the government uses in order to control the population with instant satisfaction
• has sedating, calming and distracting qualities that ensure that no one realizes that they are actually enslaved by the World State
• as World Controller Mustapha puts it, soma is "Christianity without the tears." (Chapter 17, p. 210)
• he suggests that Christianity functions in the same way as soma since it controls through pacification

Ford

• although the World State does not have a religion, it considers Henry T. Ford a father and idolized figure
• because he invented mass production including the assembly line and the specialization of workers, he can be seen as some kind of god for the World State society
• the World State is basically an assembly line that produces people who are conditioned to fit into a single specialized caste and job
• Ford is used as a substitute in phrases containing the word "Lord"
• thus, religion has been replaced by technology

Shakespeare

• Shakespeare within Brave New World is a symbol for the art that has been banned by the World State in order to stabilize the society
• values such as passion, love, and beauty in Shakespeare‘s plays stand for all of the noble aspects of human life that have been sacrificed by the World State in that same quest to stabilize humanity
• through his language, John has the opportunity to understand the world
• contrasts the utilitarian and simplistic language of the World State and its propaganda

The Electric Fence

• an electric fence separates the Savage Reservation from the World State and thus, it divides the primitive world from the civilized
• however, it is debatable which one is the civilized world as they both carry out uncivilized rituals and traditions
• in the World State, people are submissive to their desires
• in the Reservation, people ritualistically execute self-mutilation
• the electric fence is surrounded by animals‘ carcasses
  
  • a pilot mentions that the animals never learn from the mistakes of others and can thus not be conditioned
  • conditioning is used as a dehumanizing process in the World State