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Brave New World

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For other uses, see Brave New World (disambiguation).
File:Bravenewworld.jpg
Original book cover of Brave New World.

Brave New World, published in 1932, was first intended as a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in London in the 26th century, the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, biological engineering, and hypnopædia that combine to change society. The world it describes could also be a utopia, albeit an ironic one: Humanity is carefree, healthy and technologically advanced. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and everyone is permanently happy. The irony is that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things people currently derive happiness from — family, cultural diversity, art, literature, science, religion and philosophy. It is also a hedonistic society, deriving pleasure from promiscuous sex and drug use.

Brave New World is Huxley's most famous novel. The title comes from Miranda's speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act V, Scene I:

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beautious mankind is!
O brave new world,
That has such people in't!"

History and context

Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1932 while he was living in France and England (a British writer, he moved to California in 1937). By this time, Huxley had already established himself as a writer and social satirist. He was a contributor to Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines, had published a collection of his poetry entitled The Burning Wheel in 1916 and published four successful satirical novels; Crome Yellow in 1921, Antic Hay in 1923, Those Barren Leaves in 1925 and Point Counter Point in 1928. Brave New World was Huxley's fifth novel and first attempt at a utopian novel.

Brave New World was inspired by the H.G. Wells utopian novel Men Like Gods. Wells' optimist vision of the future gave Huxley the idea to begin writing a parody of the novel, which became Brave New World. Contrary to the most popular optimist utopian novels of the time, Huxley sought to provide a frightening vision of the future. Huxley referred to Brave New World as a "negative utopia", somewhat influenced by Wells's own The Sleeper Awakes and the works of D.H. Lawrence. Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel We has been suggested as an influence but Huxley stated that he had not known of the book at the time.

Although the novel is set in the future, it contains contemporary issues of the early 20th century. The Industrial Revolution was bringing about massive changes to the world. Mass production had made cars, telephones and radios relatively cheap and widely available throughout the developed world. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the first World War (1914-1918) were resonating throughout the world.

Huxley was able to use the setting and characters from his futurist fantasy to express widely held opinions, particularly the fear of losing individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future. The event that gave Brave New World much of its character was an early trip to America. Not only was Huxley outraged by the culture of youth, commercial cheeriness and inward-looking nature of many of the people (source: the Vintage Classics edition of Brave New World), he also found a book by Henry Ford on the boat to America. There was a fear of Americanisation in Europe, so to see America firsthand, as well as read the ideas and plans of one of its most foremost citizens, spurred Huxley on to write Brave New World with America in mind. The "feelies" are his response to the movies, and the sex-hormone chewing gum is parody of the ubiquitous chewing gum which is something of a symbol of America (especially at that time) as well as the music that they listen to: American jazz, as well as the fact that the people all live in tall buildings.

Structure

Template:Spoiler Brave New World is a novel of ideas. The characters are often ill-defined, serving mainly to advance the themes Huxley wishes to explore. The novel is roughly split into three sections.

The first section introduces the reader to the World State and the characters that inhabit it. Bernard Marx begins the novel as the apparent protagonist, portrayed as one of the few dissatisfied individuals in a world of conformity.

In the second section, Huxley defies traditional utopian novel structure as he introduces a separate and contradictory version of the future, the pueblo of Malpais in the New Mexican Savage Reservation. This "uncivilized" nation is a version of the present. Both are presented in an equally convincing fashion, allowing Huxley and the reader to contrast his futuristic utopian vision with contemporary society. This contrast is made evident by his introduction of the character John the Savage. Huxley defies convention by introducing the novel's real protagonist nearly halfway through the novel. An outcast in both the Savage Reservation and the World State, John replaces Bernard Marx, becoming a heroic (albeit flawed) figure. With John's arrival in the World State, a place already somewhat familiar to the reader, Huxley is able to provide a new perspective for the reader to consider.

The third section deals almost entirely with John's reaction to and inevitable destruction by The World State.

Characters

Of The World State

Listed in order of appearance-

  • Thomas, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C.) for London and father of John the Savage.
  • Henry Foster, administrator at the Hatchery and Lenina's current partner.
  • Lenina Crowne, most likely a Beta-Plus; Embryo Worker, loved by John the Savage.
  • Mustapha Mond, World Controller for Western Europe.
  • Assistant Director of Predestination.
  • Bernard Marx, Alpha-Plus psychologist.
  • Fanny Crowne, Beta Embryo Worker, friend of Lenina.
  • Benito Hoover, an Alpha-Plus friend of Lenina, disliked by Bernard.
  • Helmholtz Watson, Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing), friend and confidant of Bernard Marx and John the Savage.
  • At the Solidarity Service: Morgana Rothschild (woman whose unibrow haunts Marx), Herbert Bakunin, Fifi Bradlaugh, Jim Bokanovsky, Clara Deterding (the President of the group), Joanna Diesel, Sarojini Engels, and "that great lout" Tom Kawaguchi.
  • Miss Keate, Headmistress of the high-tech glass and concrete Eton College.
  • Arch-Community Songster, a semi-religious figure based in Canterbury.
  • Primo Mellon, a reporter for the upper-caste newssheet Hourly Radio who attempts to interview John the Savage and gets kicked in the coccyx for his troubles.
  • Darwin Bonaparte, a paparazzo who brings worldwide attention to John's hermitage.

Of Malpais

  • John the Savage, son of Linda and Thomas, an outcast in both primitive and civilized society
  • Linda, John's mother, previously a Beta-Minus Embryo Worker in London
  • Warden of the Reservation, an Alpha administrator
  • Kiakimé, loved by John the Savage
  • Kothlu, who married Kiakimé
  • Old Mitsima, who teaches John about Indian lore
  • Palowhitwa
  • Popé, Linda's lover, whom John detests and tries to kill

Historical characters

These are fictional and factual characters who died before the events in this book, but are of note in the novel.

  • Henry Ford, who has become a messianic figure to The World State. "Our Ford" is used in place of "Our Lord", as a credit to his invention of the assembly line.
  • William Shakespeare, whose works are quoted throughout the novel by John "the Savage." The plays quoted include The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello.
  • Reuben Rabinovitch, the fictional boy in whom the effects of sleep-learning, hypnopædia, are first noted.
  • Sigmund Freud, "Our Freud" is sometimes said in place of "Our Ford" due to the link between Freud's psychoanalysis and the conditioning of humans, it is also implied that citizens of the World State believe Freud and Ford to be the same person.
  • George Bernard Shaw one of the few ancient writers left uncensored.
  • Ivan Petrovich Pavlov whose conditioning techniques are used to train infants.
  • Thomas Malthus whose name is used to describe the contraceptive techniques practiced by women of The World State.
  • Jesus used as a foil to the technologically advanced, hedonistic future. The reservation's population follow a syncretic mix of indigenous beliefs and Catholicism, which highlights the absence of spirituality elsewhere.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler

Introduction to The World State & Lenina and Bernard (Chapters 1-6)

The novel begins in London in the "year of Our Ford 632" (AD 2540 in the Gregorian Calendar). The planet is united as The World State under a peaceful world government established in the aftermath of an apocalyptic global war in the 21st century; a government which has eliminated war, poverty, crime and unhappiness by creating a homogeneous high-tech society across Earth, based on the industrial principles of Henry Ford. Fordism forms the bedrock of the new society, gaining a quasi-religious status and forming the backbone of political and economic ideologies. Society is rigidly divided into five classes and all members of society are trained to be good consumers to keep the economy strong. All citizens are expected to be involved socially; spending time alone is discouraged and sexual promiscuity is norm. Recreational drug use has become a pillar of society and all citizens regularly swallow tablets of soma, a narcotic-tranquilizer that makes users mindlessly happy. A significant aspect of the society is the mechanisation of reproduction. Citizens of the World State do not reproduce naturally; people are taught to view natural reproduction as a primitive act. Instead, all children are created from embryos grown in factories: production of embryos is planned according to the economic capacity of society. For the embryo, the womb is replaced by an artificial life support mechanism referred to as a bottle. Significantly, each individual's destiny is determined long before he or she is "decanted".

Huxley reveals the world through the eyes of the protagonists, Lenina Crowne and Bernard Marx (their names allude to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and founder of communism Karl Marx). Lenina, a member of the Beta-Plus caste is a laboratory worker in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. She is a personification of the new society, happy and "pneumatic", conformist in her behaviour, fulfilling her function in society, which seems to be to sleep with as many men as possible but largely incapable of free thought. Government indoctrination is the source of her worldview. Bernard, an Alpha-Plus psychologist serves as antithesis to her. Despite being a member of the upper caste of Alphas, Bernard is intellectually gifted but physically smaller than is typical for an Alpha. This has caused him to be unhappy with his life and to dislike society. He feels deeply insecure and is something of a joke to members of his own caste and others for his odd physical appearance and rejection of social norms.

The first half of the novel describes life in the World State and the personalities of Lenina and Bernard. It also introduces the character of Helmholtz Watson, an Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing). While Bernard's physical defects had isolated him from society, Helmholtz is isolated by his mental and physical excess. This isolation brings Bernard and Helmholtz together and they remain friends throughout the story. Bernard's unacceptable behaviour lands him in trouble with his boss, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning. But Bernard secures his permission to visit the Savage reservation in New Mexico where he takes Lenina on a date.

The Reservation and the Savage (Chapters 7-9)

The second half of the novel begins with the visit to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where they see Malpais, an ancient society that has been fenced off and ignored by The World State. In the reservation they encounter Linda, a woman from The World State who through an accident, came to live as a savage in Malpais, having given birth to a son named John, the novel's protagonist. While Lenina is disgusted by the dirty, neglected and viviparous society of Malpais, Bernard is fascinated by it and by John, who grew up with the life of the Zuni Native American tribe and a religion that is a blend of Zuni and Christian beliefs. However, he is also influenced by his mother's education (she taught him to read) and by his discovery of the works of William Shakespeare, unknown in The World State. Like Bernard, John is an outcast in his society and is eager to see the world outside of Malpais. Bernard agrees to take Linda and John back to London, where he manipulates society's fascination with them to boost his social position.

The Savage Visits The World State (Chapters 10-15)

The culture shock which results when the "savage" is brought into the society of the "Brave New World", as he initially calls it, provides a vehicle for Huxley to contrast the values of The World State society with ours and point out the Brave New World society's flaws. The moral point of the book revolves around opposing problems. The first is that in order to ensure continuous and universal happiness, society has to be manipulated, freedom of choice and expression curtailed and intellectual pursuits and emotional expression inhibited. Citizens are happy but John the Savage considers this happiness to be artificial and "soulless". John, who has fallen in love with Lenina, is appalled by the World State and Lenina's promiscuity. While in London, John meets and quickly becomes friends with Helmholtz Watson. They meet often to discuss writing, especially that of Shakespeare. When his mother Linda dies, John is unable to understand society's reaction to death and reacts violently by attempting to "free" a group of Delta caste menial staff members at the hospital by throwing their daily soma ration out the window. The result is a near riot, to which Bernard and Helmholtz arrive in an attempt to rescue John. Unfortunately the police arrive at the melee and after subduing the crowd with vaporized soma and hypnotic music, they quickly take all three into State custody.

Resolution (Chapters 16-18)

This leads to a confrontation between the three and Mustapha Mond, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. The heated argument between Mustapha and John leads to the decision that John will not be set free because Mustapha considers him an experiment. Bernard and Helmholtz in a twist of fate are sent to live in the Falkland Islands, one of several island colonies reserved for exiled citizens of the World State, where Helmholtz can become a serious writer and Bernard can live his life in peace. John attempts to isolate himself from society on the outskirts of London; however, he is unable to live without lusting for Lenina and constantly punishes himself physically and mentally. This causes him to be harassed by sightseers. At the very end of the novel, John attacks Lenina and succumbs to an orgy of drugs and sex. In the morning John, horrified by what he has done to Lenina and disgusted by himself, commits suicide in grief, mirroring Shakespeare's Othello.

Fordism and society

Main article: The World State

The World State is built around the principles of Henry Ford, who has become a Messianic figure worshipped by society. The word Lord has been replaced with the similar-sounding Ford. The assembly line process is present in many aspects of life and the symbol "T" has replaced the Christian cross, a reflection of the Model T. Ford's famous phrase "History is bunk" has become The World State's approach to the past.

From birth, members of every class are indoctrinated, by recorded voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called "hypnopædia" in the book) to believe that their own class is best for them. Any residual unhappiness is resolved by an antidepressant and somewhat hallucinogenic drug called soma.

Contrary to what modern readers would expect, the biological techniques used to control the populace in Brave New World do not include genetic engineering. Huxley wrote the book in 1932, twenty years before Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA. As the science writer Matt Ridley put it, Brave New World describes an "environmental not a genetic hell." 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.

Possible symbolism

It has been discussed by several literary critics and backed up by Aldous Huxley, that the book, while satirizing the development of society, also provides a suicidal outlook on the future. In the novel, the reservation (which is associated with the past and all the squalor and disease in it) and the futuristic society come together in the protagonist John. In a metaphorical sense, this coming together could represent the present, as John is neither fully part of the past or future societies. At the end of the novel John commits suicide out of remorse but it can also be inferred that he commits suicide because there is nowhere left for him to go. All he has is the disease-ridden past or the conformist future.

In other themes, the book attacks assembly line production as demeaning, the liberalisation of sexual morals as being an affront to love and family, the use of slogans or thought-terminating clichés, the concept of a centralised government and the use of science to control people's thoughts and actions. Indeed, the use of modern science, technology and pharmacy to replace violence in keeping people chained in pleasurable (and thus unperceived) servitude was the main point of the book. While Huxley attacks the emergence of socialist and communist attitudes, he also opposes capitalist consumer society. Indeed, the latter motifs are stronger than the former: in the novel, the legendary founder of the society was Henry Ford, whose writings occupy Mustapha Mond's bookshelves. The letter T (a reference to the Ford Model T) has replaced the cross as a quasi-religious symbol.

As a method of underscoring similarities to his fictional dystopia and his culture, Huxley incorporates several sly satirical references to targets such as the Church of England (which he refers to as a "community sing"), the BBC or British tabloid The Daily Mirror ("The Delta Mirror"), "Christian Science Monitor" ("The Fordian Science Monitor"), Henry Ford, George Bernard Shaw and Sigmund Freud. Brave New World's London propaganda centre is at Fleet Street, the traditional home of the British press and the pseudo-religious Arch-Community Songster is based at Canterbury where the clerical head of the Church of England sits.

Huxley's characters are given names chosen from significant individuals in the World State's past. Bernard Marx refers to Claude Bernard and Karl Marx. Because the World State embodies traits typically attributed to opposite ends of the political spectrum, some of the names Huxley coined refer to opposed individuals or ideologies. For instance, we find a young girl named Polly Trotsky and a woman named Morgana Rothschild, echoing Communist leaders and a dynasty of bankers. Henry Foster draws a parallel to William Foster, an American communist who ran for President in 1924, 1928 and 1932, all around the time of the book's publication. Among these references are the following:

  • Lenina Crowne: Crown is a turn of phrase referring to the monarch and monarchial government; her first name recalls Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution of 1917, a radical overthrow of a monarchy.

Two characters are named after a blend of fascists and industrialists:

Furthermore, there are references to the emerging communist state of the Soviet Union in the 1930s:

Other minor characters who take their names from scientists, political leaders and industrial leaders:

"Ford" is used as a replacement for the word Lord or God; the starting date for their calendar is the date on which Henry Ford introduced the Model T (equivalent to 1908), their dates are prefaced by A.F., for After Ford and in dialogue, the word Ford is used in expressions such as "Oh my Ford!", in a substitution for Lord. These details allude to the religious level in which mass industry is treated in Brave New World. Henry Ford also designed the assembly line which has reference to Brave New World.

Controversy

Comparison with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

One could say that in Nineteen Eighty-Four people are dehumanised by the state controlling their natural instincts such as sex or free thought, the World State of Brave New World infantilises the masses by giving free rein to basic human instincts and ceding responsibility to herd mentality. Huxley described the difference in means of punishment and reward. Nineteen Eighty-Four's world is ruled with hate and fear, while the World State uses constant rewards for model behavior to control the masses.

Both novels incorporate a class of people (in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the "proles" and in Brave New World, the "savages" of the "Savage Reservations") who exist on the periphery of the dystopian society in a state of relative squalor with little interference outside of an enforced state of non-education who serve as an important device for contrast between the dystopian society in question and what the author arguably perceives as a better society.

Superficially, the societies depicted in the two books take opposite attitudes to sex. In Nineteen Eighty-Four sex is acceptable solely for the purpose of procreation and women are encouraged to join the "Anti-Sex League"; in Brave New World children are encouraged from a young age to play sexual games in preparation for a life of promiscuity, women take pride in being "pneumatic" and procreation is taken over by machines. However, a deeper look would show that by opposite routes both regimes aim at the same goal: to eliminate romantic love and the creation of permanent, exclusive emotional bonds between individuals, which both regimes evidently consider highly undesirable. The love between Winston and Julia which is such a central theme in Orwell's book would be just as much out of place in the society depicted by Huxley - but rather than rooting such a love out by force, this society resorts to conditioning which would prevent it from starting as evident for example in the character of Lenina.

Both regimes view the family with disfavor. The Orwellian regime weakens the family and constantly interferes with it - selection of marriage partners is largely done by the Party; with the telescreens they never have any privacy; most devastating to family life, children are encouraged to spy on their parents. The society described by Huxley has a far more thorough solution: the family is abolished, with children born and bred in the "bottles" and the terms "father" and "mother" surviving only as obscenities.

The novels also contrast in many ways. The nightmare world of Nineteen Eighty-Four is dominated by suffering. Slavery, torture and war are societal norms and the overriding theme is one of hatred. That of Brave New World is one of euphoric love. War, crime and pain have been eliminated, allowing all citizens of the World State to live happy lives in peace and plenty. The ghoulish fascination London's citizens have in John's self-abuse highlights the extent to which society has been conditioned to abhor negative feelings.

The society presented in Brave New World is to some extent tolerant of outsiders as it respects the idea of there being an "outside". The dystopian world of 1984 is all-encompassing, the world Brave New World includes "savage reservations" and "the islands". The latter are places of exile for freethinkers but they are also to some extent a haven. No such places exist in 1984.

Social Critic Neil Postman contrasts the worlds of 1984 and Brave New World in the foreword of his 1986 book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He writes:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

Quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World

Main article: List of quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World

Brave New World Revisited

Brave New World Revisited
Brave New World Revisited

Brave New World Revisited (Harper & Row, 1958, 1965), written by Huxley almost thirty years after Brave New World, was a non-fiction work in which Huxley considered whether the world had moved towards or away from his vision of the future from the 1930s. He believed when he wrote the original novel that it was a reasonable guess as to where the world might go in the future but in Brave New World Revisited he concluded that the world was becoming much more like Brave New World much faster than he thought.

Huxley analysed the causes of this, such as overpopulation as well as all the means by which populations can be controlled. He was particularly interested in the effects of drugs and subliminal suggestion. Brave New World Revisited is different in tone due to Huxley's evolving thought and his conversion to Vedanta between the two books.

Literature

  • The Scientific Outlook by philosopher Bertrand Russell. When Brave New World was released, Russell thought that Huxley's book was based on his book The Scientific Outlook that had been released in previous year. Russell contacted his own publisher and asked whether or not he should do something about this apparant plagiarism. His publisher advised him not to, and Russel followed this advice.
  • The 1921 novel Men Like Gods by H.G. Wells. A utopian novel that was a source of inspiration for Brave New World.
  • The 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman alludes to how television is goading modern Western culture to be like what we see in Brave New World, where people are not so much denied human rights such as free speech and expression but conditioned to not care.

Adaptations

Main article: Brave New World in popular culture

The cultural influence of Brave New World has been extensive and most modern dystopic fiction owes at least something to the influence of the novel. An incomplete list of secondary references can be found in the related article.

Publications

Brave New World title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

  • Brave New World
    • Aldous Huxley; Perennial; Reprint edition (September 1, 1998); ISBN 0-06-092987-1
  • Brave New World Revisited
    • Aldous Huxley; Perennial; (March 1, 2000); ISBN 0-06-095551-1
  • Huxley's Brave New World (Cliffs Notes)
    • Charles and Regina Higgins; Cliffs Notes; (May 30, 2000); ISBN 0-7645-8583-5
  • Spark Notes Brave New World
    • Sterling; (December 31, 2003); ISBN 1-58663-366-X
  • Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (Barron's Book Notes)
    • Anthony Astrachan, Anthony Astrakhan; Barrons Educational Series; (November 1984); ISBN 0-8120-3405-8

Also publications for NSW HSC Students.

Listen to

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Brave New World.

References

  • Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 (1998). Brave New World (First Perennial Classics ed. ed.). New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-092987-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 (2000). Brave New World Revisited (First Perennial Classics ed. ed.). New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-095551-1. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Postman, Neil (1985). Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. USA: Penguin USA. ISBN 0-670-80454-1.
  • Higgins, Charles & Higgins, Regina (2000). Cliff Notes on Huxley's Brave New World. New York: Wiley Publishing. ISBN 0-7645-8583-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • {{[3]}}
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