Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New Worldby Aldous Huxley

“O wonder!How many goodly creatures are there here!How beautious mankind is!O brave new worldThat has such people in’t!”-- William Shakespeare, The Tempest (V, ii)

Aldous Huxley • 1894-1963 • Family had many notable members, including great uncle, poet Matthew Arnold • Plagued with vision problems throughout his life • Attended Oxford University, became a teacher • Published Brave New World in 1932 • Lived in the US in later life, died while living in L.A. • His “novels of ideas” have sometimes been criticized as being “too intellectual”

What is the Brave New World ? A dystopian tale about a possible future world where human faith in scientific progress, freedom, dignity, and individuality are all called into question. Set in two locations in the 26th century: London and a New Mexico Indian reservation

A Utopia is a place or society that appears perfect in every way. The government is perfect, working to improve societies standards of living rather then their own, social aspects of the community run perfectly. There is no war or disease, only peace and happiness. Everyone outside this Utopian society looks to this place in wonder and awe, believing it is completely perfect in every such way. What is a Utopia?

Dystopia came from the term Utopia. It defines a place or society which is in complete chaos. The citizens are all suffering and are miserable. Often times in novels what appears to be a Utopian society it first by the visiting protagonist is actually revealed to be a dystopian society. The citizens are often revealed to live in terror, under complete control by the government, unaware of corrupt world in which they actually live in, or suppressed by the society as a whole. What is Dystopia?

“Utopias appear to be much easier to realize than one formerly believed. We currently face a question that would otherwise fill us with anguish: How to avoid their becoming definitively real ? The utopias are attainable. Life marches towards the utopias. And it can be that a new century begins, a century where the intellectuals and the educated class will dream means to avoid the utopias and to return a non-utopian society, less ‘perfect’ and ‘free’.” Nicolas Berdiaeff Inside the front cover of Brave New World – translated from French

Historical Influences of BNW • Sigmund Freud (1886-1905 – major time of influence) • Psychiatrist • Psychoanalysis • Mental health and illness spring from a child’s upbringing, not his heredity • Freud argued that awareness of the unconscious mind is essential to understanding conscious thought and behavior. • Eugenics - It is a social philosophy advocating the improvement of human genetic traits through the promotion of higher reproduction of people with desired traits (positive eugenics), and reduced reproduction of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics). • Brave New World describes a world where Human embryos and fetuses are conditioned via a carefully designed regimen of chemical (such as exposure to hormones and toxins), thermal (exposure to intense heat or cold, as one's future career would dictate), and other environmental stimuli… • The Industrial Revolution (1900-1920’s) ~ mass production and technological advancement • 1930's-40's: Rise of Fascism and Communism • Henry Ford: The Model T was the world's most successful car of the pre-WWII era. Between 1908 and 1927, sales outstripped any other with over 15 million cars and commercial vehicles produced world-wide... approximately 100,000 Model-Ts survive... they were available in a variety of body styles, however the basic mechanical specification was the same in each.

What is the Brave New World ? • Religion of the World State based on the life and philosophies of Henry Ford. • American car manufacturer, inventor of the assembly line • Invented the Model T car – designed to be affordable to everyone; only available in black • Mass production & mass consumption • Assembly line = improved efficiency • Vertical structure = self sufficient “Our Ford”

Important People, Terms, and Concepts • Utopia – perfect society • Dystopia – dreadful, dysfunctional society • Satire – writing intended to ridicule and arouse contempt – especially by using irony and exaggeration • Caste System – social structure which divides people on the basis of inherited social status • Soma – an anti-depressant, semi-hallucinogenic drug introduced by the World State • Orgy Porgy – group sexual experience to unify all people (sex is not the focus, unity is) • Solidarity Service – group of men and women who gather to take Soma and have a spiritual experience

Setting: 2540 AD; referred to in the novel as 632 years AF (“After Ford”), meaning 632 years after production of the first Model T car • Narration: Third-person omniscient • Point-of-View: Narrated in the third person from the point of view of Bernard or John, but also from the point of view of Lenina, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond

What does this mean? • “Reading Brave New World elicits the same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has vanquished.”

What is the Brave New World ? Caste System: • Alphas (Α)– highest, grey • Betas (Β)- mulberry, bottle green • Gammas (Γ)- leaf green • Deltas (Δ)- khaki • Epsilons (Ε)– lowest, black • There are also plusses and minuses, so one can be an Alpha Plus or a Gamma Minus. • Differentiation achieved through oxygen deprivation

What is the Brave New World? Some individuals are created using the Bokanovsky Process • Fertilization process used to create Deltas & Epsilons • Divide fertilized eggs to produce identical twins • Produces up to 96 embryos, but 72 is the average • Primary instrument of social stability

What is the Brave New World ? • A society where all aspects of an individual's life are determined by the state, beginning with conception and conveyor-belt reproduction. • A government bureau, the Predestinators, decides all roles in the hierarchy. • Children are raised and conditioned by the state bureaucracy, not brought up by natural families. • Citizens must not fall in love, marry, or have their own children.

1. brain-numbing advances in technology and the internet; 2. our tendency to waste time on meaningless diversions such as television and video games; 3. consumerism 4. promiscuity 5. issues of eugenics, cloning, stem-cell research and genetic engineering; 6. overly-prescribed and overly-used medications such as anti-depressants and sleeping pills, so like the fictional “Soma” of Huxley’s novel. Although the novel was originally published in 1932, the themes in Brave New World are quite relevant to the world in which we live today. Some would even call this novel prophetic, considering the present state of things:

“Manmade utopia is an oxymoron.”- Mike Duran

Are you living in a Brave New World? Is it better to be free than to be happy? Is freedom compatible with happiness? Is the collective more important than the individual? Can children be taught effectively to think in only one certain way? Can young people be taught so well that they never question their teachings later? Is stability more important than freedom? Can alterations made by advanced science to mankind be made permanent at the DNA-level? Can mankind be conditioned by science? Should the individual be limited/controlled for the greater good? If so, how much?

Brave New World Community Identity Stability

Works Cited Edmondson, Elizabeth. “Brave New World Powerpoint.”Gilmour Academy. 8 May 2007. PDF file. Web. 19 Apr 2010. A Guide to Brave New World. Austin, Texas: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, 2003. Print. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Collins, 1998. Wood, Lisha. “Brave New World Intro.”Sprayberry High School. Typepad. 6 Sept 2006. Web. 19 Apr 2010.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley