Brave New World

Title: Brave New World

Author: Aldous Huxley

ISBN: 978-0060850524

Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Copyright: 2006 (1932)

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Range: 15+

Reader’s Annotation: Take a peek at the dystopian world of science gone wild to please every person to fit into society’s design.

Plot Summary: The World State is a peaceful, stable global society that is limited to two billion people in the urban areas. Food, water, and other resources are plentiful. People no longer give birth. Children are, “decanted’ by hatcheries. These hatcheries produce people that are genetically modified for detailed job specifications and intelligence levels that fit within the societal caste system. The alphas and betas rule as they were decanted from one single egg. The deltas, epsilons and gammas are the grunt workers that are limited in their intelligence and physical growth. One egg could spawn ninety-six of these children using the “Bokanovsky’s Process.” Due to the manipulated lack of intelligence and ambition, they are easier to control to keep society harmonious.

            The society is full of manipulations. For the economy to keep going, citizens are brainwashed to not fix what they have and always buy something new. They are constantly engaged in social activities and community. If someone is angry, sad, or stressed, they are to take soma. Soma is a drug that mellows people out as a personal “holiday.” Since reproduction is done by a hatchery, sex has become a social and recreational activity. It is part of the conditioning process that happens as a child like zipper play. The mantra is “everyone belongs to everyone else.” Monogamous relationships usually happen after fifty. People typically die at sixty.

            Lenina Crowne is a hatchery worker that follows the rules of society and is quite happy with her life. Bernard Marx is an alpha plus, the top caste. He is shorter and skinnier than most alpha pluses. It gives him an inferiority complex. As a psychologist, he figures out all of the beliefs that their people hold as truth are just whispers in their ears. With this knowledge and the desire to be an individual, Bernard is often a social outcast. Likewise, his best friend, Helmholtz Watson, is the more than perfect alpha plus that wants to write poetry.

            On a trip to the Savage Reservation, Bernard and Lenina witness native ceremonies that they think are savage. They also meet Linda. She worked for Bernard’s Boss and came there with him. She became pregnant and gave birth to John the Savage living with the natives out of shame. They lived a hard life. Bernard decides to bring them back. Linda goes straight to the hospital and is put on a constant stream of soma. John becomes a spectacle, and Bernard finally gains the acceptance he is looking for. As quickly as the fame came, it was gone. Lenina tries to seduce John but fails as he attacks and accuses her of being an “imprudent strumpet.” Linda falls into a coma and passes away in front of John. A group of children that are being conditioned about death annoys John to the point where he throws soma out of the window and starts a riot.

           Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are all brought before the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. They do not know their fate, but they are pretty sure it involves banishment.

Critical Evaluation: Brave New World is an important piece of literature to the world abroad. It warns of reproductive technology, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that create a society of sheep that is neatly ordered and divided. The Modern Library Editorial Board ranked it number five on its list of best English language novels of the twentieth century. It is an important book to read as a teen. It uses an adverse moral system to teach them about how to find themselves as an individual when most teens are just trying to fit in. It also points out that individuals are rewarded in some ways and damned in others. While it is a satire about what the world could be like, it also serves as a reminder to those tens to embrace each others differences. What makes us different makes us strong. It is through diversity that we are able to overcome adversity.

Author Information: Aldous Huxley was born July 26, 1894, in Godalming, England. He published his first book in 1916 and worked on the periodical Athenaeum 1919–1921. Thereafter he devoted himself largely to his own writing and spent much of his time in Italy until the late 1930s, when he settled in California. He established himself as a major author in his first two published novels, Crome Yellow and Antic Hay. Author Aldous Huxley expressed his deep distrust of 20th-century politics and technology in his sci-fi novel Brave New World, a nightmarish vision of the future. Source - http://www.biography.com/people/aldous-huxley-9348198#synopsis&awesm=~oDwPf0Tka99eoa

Curriculum Ties: Censorship, Political Science, Social Science,

Challenge Issues: Anti-Family; Anti-Religion

Booktalk Ideas: Utopia – Draw teens in by explaining the rules of the utopian society and flip it on them to talk about the dark seedy side of society. Soma – Explain what soma is and what it makes one feel, but also explain what it blocks and how it affects their life.