Island (novel)
Eiland (English: Iceland ) is the last novel by the British author Aldous Huxley . It appeared in 1962 (in German 1973) and tells of the cynical journalist Will Farnaby, who ends up injured on the fictional island of Pala. Eiland is the utopian counterpart to Huxley's well-known dystopian novel Brave New World , which was published in 1932 and is often compared to George Orwell's 1984 . The ideas that would later become Eiland can already be found in a foreword by Huxley to a new edition of Brave New World from 1946:
“If I were now to rewrite the book, I would offer the Savage a third alternative. Between the Utopian and primitive horns of his dilemma would lie the possibility of sanity… In this community economics would be decentralist and Henry-Georgian, politics Kropotkinesque and co-operative. Science and technology would be used as though, like the Sabbath, they had been made for man, not (as at present and still more so in the Brave New World) as though man were to be adapted and enslaved to them. Religion would be the conscious and intelligent pursuit of man's final end, the unitive knowledge of immanent Tao or Logos, the transcendent Godhead or Brahman. And the prevailing philosophy of life would be a kind of Higher Utilitarianism, in which the Greatest Happiness principle would be secondary to the Final End principle - the first question to be asked and answered in every contingency of life being: 'How will this thought or action contribute to, or interfere with, the achievement, by me and the greatest possible number of other individuals, of man's final end? '"
“If I wanted to write the book all over again, I would offer the savage a third option. Between the utopian and the primitive alternative of the dilemma would be the possibility of normal life […]. In this community the economy would be decentralized and Henry-Georgian , politics kropotkinesque and cooperative. Science and technology would be used as if, like the Sabbath , they were made for man, not as if man (as it is now and even more so in the "brave new world") should be adapted and subjected to them. Religion would be the conscious and intelligent striving for the highest goal of man, for the unifying knowledge of the immanent Tao or Logos , the transcendent deity or Brahman . And the prevailing philosophy of life would be a kind of higher utilitarianism, in which the principle of the greatest happiness is subordinate to that of the highest purpose - for the first question to be asked and answered in every situation would be: 'To what extent would this thought or action promote or hinder that I and the greatest possible number of others achieve the highest goal of man? '"
action
The Englishman William Asquith "Will" Farnaby is intentionally shipwrecked on the Polynesian island of Pala, whereby he gains access to the "Forbidden Island". Farnaby, journalist, political profiteer and lackey of the oil baron Lord Joseph Joe "Aldehyde", has the task of convincing the Queen of Pala - the Rani - to sell the rights to the island's oil reserves to Lord Aldehyde. Farnaby wakes up on the shores of the island with a leg injury and several times overhears a Maina shouting the word " Achtung" , whereupon two small children, a boy and his sister, notice him. The girl asks how he is in perfect English and gives the hungry shipwrecked man a banana. Shortly afterwards, an older man, whom Will estimates is in his late fifties, appears, who turns out to be Dr. Robert MacPhail introduces and is obviously the grandfather of the two children. Dr. MacPhail and a young man named Murugan Mailendra carry Farnaby to Robert's house for a surprisingly successful hypnotherapy for Will with Susila, Roberts' daughter-in-law and mother of the two children. At this point, Susila is still struggling with the death of her husband - Robert's son - who died shortly before in a climbing accident.
Will and Murugan recognize each other because they had previously met at a meeting with Colonel Dipa, the dictator of a nearby military state called Rendang-Lobo and another interested party in Pala's oil deposits. In a private conversation, Murugan Farnaby explains that he is the son of the Rani of Pala and that he will shortly be appointed Raja and thus ruler of the island. Murugan and his mother, the Rani, were both raised outside of Pala and therefore mainly pursue Western values. Murugan is mainly characterized by its materialism and greed, which is in direct contrast to the philosophy of life of the Palanese natives. The Palanese cultivate a peaceful lifestyle based on deeply rooted intellectual spirituality without being superstitious. The Kingdom of Pala has no military and its inhabitants have created an almost utopian society in which the most efficient practices of Western medicine are mixed with Far Eastern Mahayana Buddhism. The children of the island are raised bilingually in English and Palanesian in child care associations, which each consist of twenty families. The Palanese philosophy of life is to live in the now, to confront suffering and death directly and to meditate daily. The islanders are also very open about their sexuality and their tantric sexual practices. Another core of Palanese culture consists of taking moksha medicine, a psychedelic substance that is supposed to show you the world in a state of enlightenment. The Rani, however, who comes to visit Farnaby, tend to pursue traditional religious values based on Western models. She despises Palanese culture and wants to reform the country. Farnaby convinces her that Joe Aldehyde's money could help her free her nation from its blasphemous condition.
In the further course of the book Farnaby travels around the island and learns about the local education system, which combines science, art and self-control techniques with the personal search for self-realization. Robert tells him the history of the island and explains how his grandfather, Dr. Andrew MacPhail was brought to the island by the then Raja to treat the ruler's facial tumor. He achieved this treatment with a mixture of hypnotherapy and surgical treatment. This brought the first scientific practices as well as the English language to Pala.
Farnaby gets to know other aspects of Palanese society, among other things he sees a puppet version of the play King Oedipus , which was rewritten and given a happy ending . He also learns that the concept of the here and now is so central to the Palanese that they taught the local Mainas to shout “Respect” and “ Karuna ” in order to always remind the population to focus on the moment to focus and have compassion. The Palanese are aware that an invasion by Colonel Dipa's forces is imminent, but they are not abandoning their pacifist attitude. Farnaby is also aware of the possible downfall of the island and painfully realizes that he played a decisive role in it.
Under Susila's guidance, Will begins to grapple with his troubled past, with the death of his wife Molly and his difficult childhood. Susila, with whom Will is beginning to develop a deep bond, guides him through his painful memories. At the same time, Susila's mother-in-law, Dr. Robert's wife Lakshmi, who has cancer. One night Farnaby receives a letter from the Rani urging him to meet her, whereupon Will decides to oppose the exploitation of the island by Lord Aldehydes and Colonel Dipa and ignores the Rani’s request . Instead, he goes to Lakshmi's deathbed, who then dies with her family.
Susila finally invites Will to try the mocha medicine. His hallucinatory visions are presented very philosophically and extremely vivid; he experiences an ego death and feels the unity of everything, a "ignorant understanding". Horrified, he observes a praying mantis as she eats her partner after mating, before Susila admonishes him to let medicine help him to see the beauty in all things. At dawn they suddenly hear pistol shots and see military vehicles approaching from the beach. Murugan's voice is heard over a loudspeaker telling the islanders to remain calm and welcome the invaders, while at the same time proclaiming the new united kingdom of Rendang and Pala, of which he declares himself monarch and Colonel Dipa his prime minister. As the military vehicles move away towards the center of the island, the Maina can be heard shouting: "Attention".