Revista de Letras - Utad

Two Perspectives of Euthanasia in English Literature… 209
filled sleep. Non-writers of utopian fiction frequently express similar fears that
psychological and scientific knowledge of the most polished and sophisticated
sort could fall into the hands of evil and power-starved men, thereby gravely
threatening an individual’s dignity and freedom to think rationally and
independently.
Manifestly, two of man’s greatest desires stretching far back in time must
be; firstly, to live a long, healthy and happy life, and secondly, to have an easy
and dignified death. Every society known to us advocates some standing
prohibiting the taking of life. Yet, ironically, it is one aspect over which man’s
control is greatly limited. Throughout time, thinkers from all walks of life have
striven to find answers and solace to man’s many incapacities and doubts above
all through rhetorical and artistic devices.
More’s Utopia has not done away with illness or old age, but it has made
death pretty much effortless. Unlike his England, which is barely out of the
Middle Ages, Utopia enjoys the privilege of spacious, comfortable and clean
hospitals. Utopian understanding of medical procedures is sufficient to ensure
that its citizens are knowledgeable in such practical matters as cleanliness, good
diet and exercise. Furthermore, they are also well-aware of the importance of
balancing intellectual and spiritual pursuits with pleasures of the body, for only
in doing so can a man really be virtuous and happy.
Also lying in the realm of fantasy is Huxley’s Brave New World, a bleaker
antithesis to Utopia, but it also addresses those much acclaimed desires of man.
For, in this brave new world, unhappiness has found a cure in soma, disease has
all but been stamped out and old age has been amazingly pushed back by
stubborn youth. The New World state has espoused a policy of advanced genetic
manipulation, which includes the most sophisticated scientific techniques such
as eugenics, hypnopaedia and drug inducement, to guarantee happiness and
stability. Indeed, happiness is the very marrow in this society’s backbone. So
much so, that the prospect of death is embraced with the willing rendition of its
own citizens’ bodies, happy in the knowledge that they will continue to be useful
to society long after they have been vaporised into phosphorous. Ultimately, “the
social body persists although the component cells may change” (Huxley 1994:
87).
The human desire for a lengthy, happy and healthy life must indeed stretch
out from the very first day of creation, when man caught his second reflection in
the water and did not like the change, or, perhaps when he felt his first
unpleasant twinge foreboding oncoming illness. Indeed, it is the fear of pain and
dying that has mostly driven man to seek alternatives to his miserable lot, and in
the process of his search, he has actually half-stumbled upon half-toiled towards
advancements in science and technology. And, behold: antibiotics that can