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= Brave_New_World =
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Introduction
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'Brave New World' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous
Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a
futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered
into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates
huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology,
sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning
that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by
the story's protagonist. Huxley followed this book with a reassessment
in essay form, 'Brave New World Revisited' (1958), and with his final
novel, 'Island' (1962), the utopian counterpart. This novel is often
compared as an inversion counterpart to George Orwell's 'Nineteen
Eighty-Four' (1949).
In 1998 and 1999, the Modern Library ranked 'Brave New World' at
number 5 on its list of the 100 Best Novels in English of the 20th
century. In 2003, Robert McCrum, writing for 'The Observer', included
'Brave New World' chronologically at number 53 in "the top 100
greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 87 on
The Big Read survey by the BBC. 'Brave New World' has frequently been
banned and challenged since its original publication. It has landed on
the American Library Association list of top 100 banned and challenged
books of the decade since the association began the list in 1990.
Title
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The title 'Brave New World' derives from William Shakespeare's 'The
Tempest', Act V, Scene I, Miranda's speech:
Shakespeare's use of the phrase is intended ironically, as the
speaker is failing to recognise the evil nature of the island's
visitors because of her innocence. Indeed, the next speaker--Miranda's
father Prospero--replies to her innocent observation with the
statement Tis new to thee".
Translations of the title often allude to similar expressions used in
domestic works of literature: the French edition of the work is
entitled 'Le Meilleur des mondes' ('The Best of All Worlds'), an
allusion to an expression used by the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz
and satirised in 'Candide, Ou l'Optimisme' by Voltaire (1759). The
first Standard Chinese translation, done by novelist Lily Hsueh and
Aaron Jen-wang Hsueh in 1974, is entitled "美麗新世界" (Pinyin: 'Měilì Xīn
Shìjiè', literally "'Beautiful New World'").
History
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Huxley wrote 'Brave New World' while living in Sanary-sur-Mer, France,
in the four months from May to August 1931. By this time, Huxley had
established himself as a writer and social satirist. He was a
contributor to 'Vanity Fair' and 'Vogue' magazines and had published a
collection of his poetry ('The Burning Wheel', 1916) and four
satirical novels, 'Crome Yellow' (1921), 'Antic Hay' (1923), 'Those
Barren Leaves' (1925) and 'Point Counter Point' (1928). 'Brave New
World' was Huxley's fifth novel and first dystopian work.
A short passage in 'Crome Yellow' foreshadows 'Brave New World',
showing that Huxley had such a future in mind already in 1921. Mr
Scogan, one of the earlier book's characters, describes an "impersonal
generation" of the future that will "take the place of Nature's
hideous system. In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid
bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The
family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will
have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly
free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a
sunlit world".
Huxley said that 'Brave New World' was inspired by the utopian novels
of H. G. Wells, including 'A Modern Utopia' (1905), and as a parody of
'Men Like Gods' (1923). Wells' hopeful vision of the future gave
Huxley the idea to begin writing a parody of the novels, which became
'Brave New World'. He wrote in a letter to Mrs. Arthur Goldsmith, an
American acquaintance, that he had "been having a little fun pulling
the leg of H. G. Wells" but then he "got caught up in the excitement
of [his] own ideas". Unlike the most popular optimistic 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' (dealing with
subjects like corporate tyranny and behavioural conditioning) and the
works of D. H. Lawrence.
For his part, Wells published, two years after 'Brave New World', his
utopian 'Shape of Things to Come'. Seeking to rebut the argument of
Huxley's Mustapha Mond--that moronic underclasses were a necessary
"social gyroscope" and that a society composed solely of intelligent,
assertive "Alphas" would inevitably disintegrate in internecine
struggle--Wells depicted a stable egalitarian society emerging after
several generations of a reforming elite having complete control of
education throughout the world. In the future depicted in Wells's
book, posterity remembers Huxley as "a reactionary writer". The
scientific futurism in 'Brave New World' is believed to be
appropriated from 'Daedalus' by J. B. S. Haldane.
The events of the Great Depression in Great Britain in 1931, with its
mass unemployment and the abandonment of the gold standard, persuaded
Huxley to assert that stability was the "primal and ultimate need" if
civilisation was to survive the present crisis. The 'Brave New World'
character Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller of Western Europe,
is named after Sir Alfred Mond. Shortly before writing the novel,
Huxley visited the Billingham Manufacturing Plant, Mond's
technologically advanced factory near Billingham, north-east England,
and it made a great impression on him.
Huxley used the setting and characters in his science fiction novel to
express widely felt anxieties, particularly the fear of losing
individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future. An early
trip to the United States gave 'Brave New World' much of its
character. Huxley was outraged by the culture of youth, commercial
cheeriness, sexual promiscuity and the inward-looking nature of many
Americans; he had also found the book 'My Life and Work' by Henry Ford
on the boat to North America and he saw the book's principles applied
in everything he encountered after leaving San Francisco.
Plot
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The novel opens in the World State city of London in AF (After Ford)
632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian calendar), where citizens are engineered
through artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination programmes into
predetermined classes (or castes) based on intelligence and labour.
Embryos in different bottles are treated with chemicals to suit them
for their planned roles; those for the higher classes get chemicals to
optimise them, and those of the lower classes are made increasingly
imperfect. The classes are Alpha (planned leaders), Beta, Gamma,
Delta, and Epsilon (menial labourers of limited intelligence). Each
caste is indoctrinated to prefer their own class--epsilons are happy
that they do not have the intellectual burden of alphas--and wears a
uniform colour of clothing for easy identification.
Lenina Crowne, a hatchery worker, is popular and sexually desirable,
but Bernard Marx, a psychologist, is not. He is shorter in stature
than the average member of his high alpha caste, which gives him an
inferiority complex. His work with sleep-learning allows him to
understand, and disapprove of, his society's methods of keeping its
citizens peaceful, which includes their constant consumption of a
soothing, happiness-producing drug called "soma". Courting disaster,
Bernard is vocal and arrogant about his criticisms, and his boss
contemplates exiling him to Iceland because of his nonconformity. His
only friend is Helmholtz Watson, a gifted writer who finds it
difficult to use his talents creatively in their pain-free society.
Bernard takes a holiday with Lenina outside the World State to a
Savage Reservation in New Mexico, in which the two observe
natural-born people, disease, the ageing process, other languages, and
religious lifestyles for the first time. The culture of the village
folk resembles the contemporary Native American groups of the region,
descendants of the Anasazi, including the Puebloan peoples of Hopi and
Zuni. Bernard and Lenina witness a violent public ritual and then
encounter Linda, a woman originally from the World State who is living
on the reservation with her son John, now a young man. She, too,
visited the reservation on a holiday many years ago, but became
separated from her group and was left behind. She had meanwhile become
pregnant by a fellow holidaymaker (who is revealed to be Bernard's
boss, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning). She did not try to
return to the World State, because of her shame at her pregnancy.
Despite spending his whole life in the reservation, John has never
been accepted by the villagers, and his and Linda's lives have been
hard and unpleasant. Linda has taught John to read, although from the
only book in her possession--a scientific manual--and another book
found nearby by Popé: the complete works of Shakespeare. Ostracised by
the villagers, John is able to articulate his feelings only in terms
of Shakespearean drama, quoting often from 'The Tempest', 'King Lear',
'Othello', 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Hamlet'. Linda now wants to return
to London, and John, too, wants to see this "brave new world" that his
mother so often praised. Bernard sees an opportunity to thwart plans
to exile him, and gets permission to take Linda and John back. On
their return to London, John meets the Director and calls him his
"father", a vulgarity which causes a roar of laughter. The humiliated
Director resigns in shame before he can follow through with exiling
Bernard.
Bernard, as "custodian" of the "savage" John who is now treated as a
celebrity, is fawned on by the highest members of society and revels
in attention he once scorned. Bernard's popularity is fleeting,
though, and he becomes envious that John only really bonds with the
literary-minded Helmholtz. Considered hideous and friendless, Linda
spends all her time using soma, which she craved for so long, while
John refuses to attend social events organised by Bernard, appalled by
what he perceives to be an empty society. Lenina and John are
physically attracted to each other, but John's view of courtship and
romance, based on Shakespeare's writings, is utterly incompatible with
Lenina's freewheeling attitude to sex. She tries to seduce him, but he
attacks her, before suddenly being informed that his mother is on her
deathbed. He rushes to Linda's bedside, causing a scandal, as this is
not the "correct" attitude to death. Some children who enter the ward
for "death-conditioning" come across as disrespectful to John, and he
attacks one physically. He then tries to break up a distribution of
soma to a lower-caste group, telling them that he is freeing them.
Helmholtz and Bernard rush in to stop the ensuing riot, which the
police quell by spraying soma vapour into the crowd.
Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are all brought before Mustapha Mond, the
"Resident World Controller for Western Europe", who tells Bernard and
Helmholtz that they are to be exiled to islands for antisocial
activity. Bernard pleads for a second chance, but Helmholtz welcomes
the opportunity to be a true individual, and chooses the Falkland
Islands as his destination, believing that their bad weather will
inspire his writing. Mond tells Helmholtz that exile is actually a
reward. The islands are full of the most interesting people in the
world, individuals who did not fit into the social model of the World
State. Mond outlines for John the events that led to the present
society and his arguments for a caste system and social control. John
rejects Mond's arguments, and Mond sums up John's views by claiming
that John demands "the right to be unhappy". John asks if he may go to
the islands as well, but Mond refuses, saying he wishes to see what
happens to John next.
Jaded with his new life, John moves to an abandoned hilltop
lighthouse, near the village of Puttenham, where he intends to adopt a
solitary ascetic lifestyle in order to purify himself of civilisation,
practising self-flagellation. This draws reporters and eventually
hundreds of amazed sightseers, hoping to witness his bizarre
behaviour.
For a while, it seems that John might be left alone, after the
public's attention is drawn to other diversions, but a
documentary-maker has secretly filmed John's self-flagellation from a
distance, and when released, the documentary causes an international
sensation. Helicopters arrive with more journalists. Crowds of people
descend on John's retreat, demanding that he perform his whipping
ritual for them. From one helicopter a young woman emerges who is
implied to be Lenina. John, at the sight of a woman he both adores and
loathes, whips at her in a fury and then turns the whip on himself,
exciting the crowd, whose wild behaviour transforms into a
soma-fuelled orgy. The next morning, John awakes on the ground and is
consumed by remorse over his participation in the orgy.
That evening, a swarm of helicopters appear on the horizon, with the
story of last night's orgy having been in all the newspapers. The
first onlookers and reporters to arrive find that John is dead, having
hanged himself.
Characters
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Bernard Marx, a sleep-learning specialist at the Central London
Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Although Bernard is an Alpha-Plus
(the upper class of the society), he is a misfit. He is unusually
short for an Alpha; an alleged accident with alcohol in Bernard's
blood-surrogate before his decanting has left him slightly stunted.
Unlike his fellow utopians, Bernard is often angry, resentful, and
jealous. At times, he is also cowardly and hypocritical. His
conditioning is clearly incomplete. He does not enjoy communal sports,
solidarity services, or promiscuous sex. He does not particularly
enjoy soma. Bernard is in love with Lenina and does not like her
sleeping with other men, even though "everyone belongs to everyone
else". Bernard's triumphant return to utopian civilisation with John
the Savage from the Reservation precipitates the downfall of the
Director, who had been planning to exile him. Bernard's triumph is
short-lived; he is ultimately banished to an island for his
non-conformist behaviour.
John, the illicit son of the Director and Linda, born and reared on
the Savage Reservation ("Malpais") after Linda was unwittingly left
behind by her errant lover. John ("the Savage" or "Mr Savage", as he
is often called) is an outsider both on the Reservation--where the
natives still practise marriage, natural birth, family life and
religion--and the ostensibly civilised World State, based on
principles of stability and happiness. He has read nothing but the
complete works of William Shakespeare, which he quotes extensively,
and, for the most part, aptly, though his allusion to the "Brave New
World" (Miranda's words in 'The Tempest') takes on a darker and
bitterly ironic resonance as the novel unfolds. John is intensely
moral according to a code that he has been taught by Shakespeare and
life in Malpais but is also naïve: his views are as imported into his
own consciousness as are the hypnopedic messages of World State
citizens. The admonishments of the men of Malpais taught him to regard
his mother as a whore; but he cannot grasp that these were the same
men who continually sought her out despite their supposedly sacred
pledges of monogamy. Because he is unwanted in Malpais, he accepts the
invitation to travel back to London and is initially astonished by the
comforts of the World State. He remains committed to values that exist
only in his poetry. He first spurns Lenina for failing to live up to
his Shakespearean ideal and then the entire utopian society: he
asserts that its technological wonders and consumerism are poor
substitutes for individual freedom, human dignity and personal
integrity. After his mother's death, he becomes deeply distressed with
grief, surprising onlookers in the hospital. He then withdraws himself
from society and attempts to purify himself of "sin" (desire), but is
unable to do so. His unusual behaviour eventually attracts the
attention of reporters and, later, huge amounts of people, who arrive
in helicopters and make John furious with their behaviour. Excited by
his fury, people start an orgy, which he cannot resist joining. After
waking up the next morning, John is horrified by his actions and hangs
himself.
Helmholtz Watson, a handsome and successful Alpha-Plus lecturer at the
College of Emotional Engineering and a friend of Bernard. He feels
unfulfilled writing endless propaganda doggerel, and the stifling
conformism and philistinism of the World State make him restive.
Helmholtz is ultimately exiled to the Falkland Islands--a cold asylum
for disaffected Alpha-Plus non-conformists--after reading a heretical
poem to his students on the virtues of solitude and helping John
destroy some Deltas' rations of soma following Linda's death. Unlike
Bernard, he takes his exile in his stride and comes to view it as an
opportunity for inspiration in his writing. His first name derives
from the German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz.
Lenina Crowne, a young, beautiful foetus technician at the Central
London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Lenina Crowne is a Beta who
enjoys being a Beta. She is a vaccination worker with beliefs and
values that are in line with a citizen of the World State. She is part
of the 30% of the female population that are not freemartins (sterile
women). Lenina is promiscuous and popular but somewhat quirky in her
society: she had a four-month relation with Henry Foster, choosing not
to have sex with anyone but him for a period of time. She is basically
happy and well-conditioned, using soma to suppress unwelcome emotions,
as is expected. Lenina has a date with Bernard, to whom she feels
ambivalently attracted, and she goes to the Reservation with him. On
returning to civilisation, she tries and fails to seduce John the
Savage. John loves and desires Lenina but he is repelled by her
forwardness and the prospect of pre-marital sex, rejecting her as an
"impudent strumpet". Lenina visits John at the lighthouse but he
attacks her with a whip, unwittingly inciting onlookers to do the
same. Her exact fate is left unspecified.
Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller of Western Europe, "His
Fordship" Mustapha Mond presides over one of the ten zones of the
World State, the global government set up after the cataclysmic Nine
Years' War and great Economic Collapse. Sophisticated and
good-natured, Mond is an urbane and hyperintelligent advocate of the
World State and its ethos of "Community, Identity, Stability". Among
the novel's characters, he is uniquely aware of the precise nature of
the society he oversees and what it has given up to accomplish its
gains. Mond argues that art, literature, and scientific freedom must
be sacrificed to secure the ultimate utilitarian goal of maximising
societal happiness. He defends the caste system, behavioural
conditioning, and the lack of personal freedom in the World State:
these, he says, are a price worth paying for achieving social
stability, the highest social virtue because it leads to lasting
happiness.
Fanny Crowne, Lenina Crowne's friend (they have the same last name
because only ten thousand last names are in use in a World State
comprising two billion people). Fanny voices the conventional values
of her caste and society, particularly the importance of promiscuity:
she advises Lenina that she should have more than one man in her life
because it is unseemly to concentrate on just one. Fanny then warns
Lenina away from a new lover whom she considers undeserving, yet she
is ultimately supportive of the young woman's attraction to the savage
John.
Henry Foster, one of Lenina's many lovers, is a perfectly conventional
Alpha male, casually discussing Lenina's body with his coworkers. His
success with Lenina, and his casual attitude about it, infuriate the
jealous Bernard. Henry ultimately proves himself every bit the ideal
World State citizen, finding no courage to defend Lenina from John's
assaults despite having maintained an uncommonly longstanding sexual
relationship with her.
Benito Hoover, another of Lenina's lovers. She remembers that he is
particularly hairy when he takes his clothes off.
The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC), also known as
Thomas "Tomakin", is the administrator of the Central London Hatchery
and Conditioning Centre, where he is a threatening figure who intends
to exile Bernard to Iceland. His plans take an unexpected turn when
Bernard returns from the Reservation with Linda (see below) and John,
a child they both realise is actually his. This fact, scandalous and
obscene in the World State, not because it was extramarital (which all
sexual acts are), but because it was procreative, leads the Director
to resign his post in shame.
, John's mother, decanted as a Beta-Minus in the World State,
originally worked in the DHC's Fertilizing Room, and subsequently lost
during a storm while visiting the New Mexico Savage Reservation with
the Director many years before the events of the novel. Despite
following her usual precautions, Linda became pregnant with the
Director's son during their time together and was therefore unable to
return to the World State by the time that she found her way to
Malpais. Having been conditioned to the promiscuous social norms of
the World State, Linda finds herself at once popular with every man in
the pueblo (because she is open to all sexual advances) and also
reviled for the same reason, seen as a whore by the wives of the men
who visit her and by the men themselves (who come to her nonetheless).
Her only comforts there are 'mescal' brought by Popé as well as
'peyotl'. Linda is desperate to return to the World State and to soma,
wanting nothing more from her remaining life than comfort until death.
The Arch-Community-Songster, the secular equivalent of the Archbishop
of Canterbury in the World State society. He takes personal offense
when John refuses to attend Bernard's party.
The Director of Crematoria and Phosphorus Reclamation, one of the many
disappointed, important figures to attend Bernard's party.
The Warden, an Alpha-Minus, the talkative chief administrator for the
New Mexico Savage Reservation. He is blond, short, broad-shouldered,
and has a booming voice.
Darwin Bonaparte, a "big game photographer" (i.e., filmmaker) who
films John flogging himself. Darwin Bonaparte became known for two
works: "feely of the gorillas' wedding", and "Sperm Whale's
Love-life". He had already made a name for himself but still seeks
more. He renews his fame by filming the savage, John, in his newest
release "The Savage of Surrey". His name alludes to Charles Darwin and
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Dr. Shaw, Bernard Marx's physician who consequently becomes the
physician of both Linda and John. He prescribes a lethal dose of soma
to Linda, which will stop her respiratory system from functioning in a
span of one to two months, at her own behest but not without protest
from John. Ultimately, they all agree that it is for the best, since
denying her this request would cause more trouble for Society and
Linda herself.
Dr. Gaffney, Provost of Eton, an Upper School for high-caste
individuals. He shows Bernard and John around the classrooms, and the
Hypnopaedic Control Room (used for behavioural conditioning through
sleep learning). John asks if the students read Shakespeare but the
Provost says the library contains only reference books because
solitary activities, such as reading, are discouraged.
Miss Keate, Head Mistress of Eton Upper School. Bernard fancies her,
and arranges an assignation with her.
Others
========
* Freemartins, women who have been deliberately made sterile by
exposure to male hormones during foetal development but are still
physically normal except for "the slightest tendency to grow beards".
In the book, government policy requires freemartins to form 70% of the
female population.
Of Malpais
============
* Popé, a native of Malpais. Although he reinforces the behaviour that
causes hatred for Linda in Malpais by sleeping with her and bringing
her 'mescal', he still holds the traditional beliefs of his tribe. In
his early years John attempted to kill him, but Popé brushed off his
attempt and sent him fleeing. He gave Linda a copy of the Complete
Works of Shakespeare. (Historically, Popé or Po'pay was a Tewa
religious leader who led the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 against Spanish
colonial rule.)
* Mitsima, an elder tribal shaman who also teaches John survival
skills such as rudimentary ceramics (specifically coil pots, which
were traditional to Native American tribes) and bow-making.
* Kiakimé, a native girl whom John fell for, but is instead eventually
wed to another boy from Malpais.
* Kothlu, a native boy with whom Kiakimé is wed.
Background figures
====================
These are non-fictional and factual characters who lived 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 popularising
the use of the assembly line.
* Sigmund Freud, "Our Freud" is sometimes said in place of "Our Ford"
because Freud's psychoanalytic method depends implicitly upon the
rules of classical conditioning, and because Freud popularised the
idea that sexual activity is essential to human happiness. (It is also
strongly implied that citizens of the World State believe Freud and
Ford to be the same person.)
* H. G. Wells, "Dr. Wells", British writer and utopian socialist,
whose book 'Men Like Gods' was a motivation for 'Brave New World'.
"All's well that ends Wells", wrote Huxley in his letters, criticising
Wells for anthropological assumptions Huxley found unrealistic.
* Ivan Pavlov, whose conditioning techniques are used to train
infants.
* William Shakespeare, whose banned works are quoted throughout the
novel by John, "the Savage". The plays quoted include 'Macbeth', 'The
Tempest', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Hamlet', 'King Lear', 'Troilus and
Cressida', 'Measure for Measure' and 'Othello'. Mustapha Mond also
knows them because as a World Controller he has access to a selection
of books from throughout history, including the Bible.
* Thomas Robert Malthus, 19th century British economist, believed the
people of the Earth would eventually be threatened by their inability
to raise enough food to feed the population. In the novel, the
eponymous character devises the contraceptive techniques (Malthusian
belt) that are practiced by women of the World State.
* Reuben Rabinovitch, the Polish-Jew character on whom the effects of
sleep-learning, hypnopædia, are first observed.
* John Henry Newman, 19th century Catholic theologian and educator,
believed university education the critical element in advancing
post-industrial Western civilization. Mustapha Mond and The Savage
discuss a passage from one of Newman's books.
* Alfred Mond, British industrialist, financier and politician. He is
the namesake of Mustapha Mond.
* Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of Republic
of Turkey. Naming Mond after Atatürk links up with their
characteristics; he reigned during the time 'Brave New World' was
written and revolutionised the 'old' Ottoman state into a new nation.
Sources of names and references
=================================
The limited number of names that the World State assigned to its
bottle-grown citizens can be traced to political and cultural figures
who contributed to the bureaucratic, economic, and technological
systems of Huxley's age, and presumably those systems in 'Brave New
World'.
* Soma: Huxley took the name for the drug used by the state to control
the population after the Vedic ritual drink Soma, inspired by his
interest in Indian mysticism.
* Malthusian belt: A contraceptive device worn by women. When Huxley
was writing 'Brave New World', organizations such as the Malthusian
League had spread throughout Europe, advocating contraception.
Although the controversial economic theory of Malthusianism was
derived from an essay by Thomas Malthus about the economic effects of
population growth, Malthus himself was an advocate of abstinence
rather than contraception.
*Bokanovsky's Process: A scientific process used in the World State to
mass-produce human beings. Specifically, the "Bokanovsky Process" is a
method of producing multiple embryos from a single fertilized egg,
creating up to 96 identical individuals. This technique is central to
the society's efforts to maintain social stability and control, as it
allows for the creation of a standardized, docile workforce. It's part
of the larger theme in the novel of dehumanization and the reduction
of individuality in the pursuit of a controlled, stable society. It is
thought that the process's name is a reference to Maurice Bokanowski,
a French Bureaucrat who believed strongly in the idea of governmental
and social efficiency. Complementing this, Podsnap's Technique
accelerates the maturation of human eggs, enabling the rapid
production of thousands of nearly identical individuals. Together,
these methods facilitate the creation of a large, standardized
population, eliminating natural reproduction and traditional family
structures, thereby reinforcing the World State's control over its
citizens.
Reception
======================================================================
Upon its publication, Rebecca West praised 'Brave New World' as "The
most accomplished novel Huxley has yet written", Joseph Needham lauded
it as "Mr Huxley's remarkable book", and Bertrand Russell also praised
it, stating, "Mr Aldous Huxley has shown his usual masterly skill in
'Brave New World.'" 'Brave New World' also received negative
responses from other contemporary critics, although his work was later
embraced.
In an article in the 4 May 1935 issue of the 'Illustrated London
News', G. K. Chesterton explained that Huxley was revolting against
the "Age of Utopias". Much of the discourse on man's future before
1914 was based on the thesis that humanity would solve all economic
and social issues. In the decade following the war the discourse
shifted to an examination of the causes of the catastrophe. The works
of H. G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw on the promises of socialism
and a World State were then viewed as the ideas of naive optimists.
Chesterton wrote:
Similarly, in 1944 economist Ludwig von Mises described 'Brave New
World' as a satire of utopian predictions of socialism: "Aldous Huxley
was even courageous enough to make socialism's dreamed paradise the
target of his sardonic irony."
Common misunderstandings
==========================
Various authors assume that the book was first and foremost a
cautionary tale regarding human genetic 'enhancement', indeed about -
as an infamous report of Bush associate Leon Kass states -: "producing
improved [,][...] perfect or post-human" people. In fact, the title
itself has become a mere stand-in used to "evoke the general idea of a
futuristic dystopia".
Geneticist Derek So suggests that this is a misunderstanding, however.
According to him, a 'more careful reading of the text' shows that:
there does not seem to be any genetic testing in 'Brave New World',
and most of the methods described involve hormones and chemicals
rather than heritable interventions. Although Huxley wrote that
"eugenics and dysgenics were practiced systematically", this seems to
refer only to selective breeding and not to any kind of direct
manipulation on the genetic level. (The Bokanovsky process does
represent a form of cloning, but this is not ethically equivalent to
germline genome editing, and references to 'Brave New World' may lead
some readers to confuse the two technologies.) [...] While it's true
that the upper castes in 'Brave New World' are smarter than the
others, this is more because of the deliberate impairment of the lower
castes than because the upper castes are "perfect". Rather than
reducing the number of individuals born with genetic disorders or
handicaps, Huxley's dystopia involves dramatically increasing their
number. [...] Quite the opposite: Huxley thought that 'Brave New
World' might come about if we 'didn't' start selecting better
children.
Overall, Derek So notes that "Huxley was much more worried about
totalitarianism than about the new biotechnologies per se that he
alluded to in Brave New World."
Despite claims to the contrary then, Huxley remained a committed
eugenicist all throughout his life, much like his comparably famous
brother Julian, and one just as keen on stressing its humanistic
underpinnings.
The World State and Fordism
======================================================================
The World State is built upon the principles of Henry Ford's assembly
line: mass production, homogeneity, predictability, and consumption of
disposable consumer goods. While the World State lacks any
supernatural-based religions, Ford himself is revered as the creator
of their society but not as a deity, and characters celebrate Ford Day
and swear oaths by his name (e.g., "By Ford!"). In this sense, some
fragments of traditional religion are present, such as Christian
crosses, which had their tops cut off to be changed to a "T",
representing the Ford Model T. In England, there is an
Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury, obviously continuing the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and in America 'The Christian Science
Monitor' continues publication as 'The Fordian Science Monitor'. The
World State calendar numbers years in the "AF" era--"After Ford"--with
the calendar beginning in AD 1908, the year in which Ford's first
Model T rolled off his assembly line. The novel's Gregorian calendar
year is AD 2540, but it is referred to in the book as AF 632.
From birth, members of every class are indoctrinated by recorded
voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called "hypnopædia" in the
book) to believe their own class is superior, but that the other
classes perform needed functions. Any residual unhappiness is resolved
by an antidepressant and hallucinogenic drug called soma.
The biological techniques used to control the populace in 'Brave New
World' do not include genetic engineering; Huxley wrote the book
before the structure of DNA was known. However, Gregor Mendel's work
with inheritance patterns in peas had been rediscovered in 1900 and
the eugenics movement, based on artificial selection, was well
established. Huxley's family included a number of prominent biologists
including Thomas Huxley, half-brother and Nobel Laureate Andrew
Huxley, and his brother Julian Huxley who was a biologist and involved
in the eugenics movement. Nonetheless, Huxley emphasises conditioning
over breeding (nurture versus nature); human embryos and fetuses are
conditioned through 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, although there is an element of selective breeding as well.
Comparisons with George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''
======================================================================
In a letter to George Orwell about 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', Huxley
wrote "Whether in actual fact the policy of the boot-on-the-face can
go on indefinitely seems doubtful. My own belief is that the ruling
oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of
satisfying its lust for power, and these ways will resemble those
which I described in Brave New World." He went on to write "Within the
next generation I believe that the world's rulers will discover that
infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as
instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust
for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people
into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into
obedience."
Social critic Neil Postman contrasted the worlds of 'Nineteen
Eighty-Four' and 'Brave New World' in the foreword of his 1985 book
'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. He writes:
The writer Christopher Hitchens, who published several articles on
Huxley and a book on Orwell, noted the difference between the two
texts in the introduction to his 1999 article "Why Americans Are Not
Taught History",
''Brave New World Revisited''
======================================================================
In 1946, Huxley wrote in the foreword of the new edition of 'Brave New
World':
'Brave New World Revisited' (Harper & Brothers, US, 1958; Chatto
& Windus, UK, 1959), written by Huxley almost thirty years after
'Brave New World', is a non-fiction work in which Huxley considered
whether the world had moved toward 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. In 'Brave New World Revisited', he concluded that the world
was becoming like 'Brave New World' much faster than he originally
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 because
of Huxley's evolving thought, as well as his conversion to Hindu
Vedanta in the interim between the two books.
The last chapter of the book aims to propose action which could be
taken to prevent a democracy from turning into the totalitarian world
described in 'Brave New World'. In Huxley's last novel, 'Island', he
again expounds similar ideas to describe a utopian nation, which is
generally viewed as a counterpart to 'Brave New World'.
Censorship
======================================================================
According to American Library Association, 'Brave New World' has
frequently been banned and challenged in the United States due to
insensitivity, offensive language, nudity, racism, drug use, conflict
with a religious viewpoint, and being sexually explicit. It landed on
the list of the top ten most challenged books in 2010 (3) and 2011
(7). The book also secured a spot on the association's list of the top
one hundred challenged books for 1990-1999 (54), 2000-2009 (36), and
2010-2019 (26).
The following include specific instances of when the book has been
censored, banned, or challenged:
* In 1932, the book was banned in Ireland for its language, and for
supposedly being anti-family and anti-religion.
* In 1965, a Maryland English teacher alleged that he was fired for
assigning 'Brave New World' to students. The teacher sued for
violation of First Amendment rights but lost both his case and the
appeal, with the appeals court ruling that the assignment of the book
was not the reason for his firing.
* The book was banned in India in 1967, with Huxley accused of being a
"pornographer".
* In 1980, it was removed from classrooms in Miller, Missouri, among
other challenges.
* The version of 'Brave New World Revisited' published in China lacks
explicit mentions of China itself.
Influences and allegations of plagiarism
======================================================================
The English writer Rose Macaulay published 'What Not: A Prophetic
Comedy' in 1918. 'What Not' depicts a dystopian future where people
are ranked by intelligence, the government mandates mind training for
all citizens, and procreation is regulated by the state. Macaulay and
Huxley shared the same literary circles and he attended her weekly
literary salons.
Bertrand Russell felt 'Brave New World' borrowed from his 1931 book
'The Scientific Outlook', and wrote in a letter to his publisher that
Huxley's novel was "merely an expansion of the two penultimate
chapters of 'The Scientific Outlook.'"
H. G. Wells' novel 'The First Men in the Moon' (1901) used concepts
that Huxley added to his story. Both novels introduce a society (in
Wells' case, that of the Lunar natives) consisting of a specialized
caste system, in which new generations are produced in vessels, where
their designated caste is decided before birth by tampering with the
fetus' development, and individuals are drugged down when they are not
needed.
George Orwell believed that 'Brave New World' must have been partly
derived from the 1921 novel 'We' by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin.
However, in a 1962 letter to Christopher Collins, Huxley says that he
wrote 'Brave New World' long before he had heard of 'We'. According to
'We' translator Natasha Randall, Orwell believed that Huxley was
lying. Kurt Vonnegut said that in writing 'Player Piano' (1952), he
"cheerfully ripped off the plot of 'Brave New World', whose plot had
been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We'".
In 1982, Polish author Antoni Smuszkiewicz, in his analysis of Polish
science-fiction 'Zaczarowana gra' ("The Magic Game"), presented
accusations of plagiarism against Huxley. Smuszkiewicz showed
similarities between 'Brave New World' and two science fiction novels
written earlier by Polish author Mieczysław Smolarski, namely 'Miasto
światłości' ("The City of Light", 1924) and 'Podróż poślubna pana
Hamiltona' ("Mr Hamilton's Honeymoon Trip", 1928). Smuszkiewicz wrote
in his open letter to Huxley: "This work of a great author, both in
the general depiction of the world as well as countless details, is so
similar to two of my novels that in my opinion there is no possibility
of accidental analogy."
Kate Lohnes, writing for 'Encyclopædia Britannica', notes similarities
between 'Brave New World' and other novels of the era could be seen as
expressing "common fears surrounding the rapid advancement of
technology and of the shared feelings of many tech-skeptics during the
early 20th century". Other dystopian novels followed Huxley's work,
including C.S. Lewis's 'That Hideous Strength' (1945) and Orwell's
'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949).
Legacy
======================================================================
In 1998-1999, the Modern Library ranked 'Brave New World' fifth on its
list of the 100 Best Novels in English of the 20th century. In 2003,
Robert McCrum writing for 'The Observer' included 'Brave New World'
chronologically at number 53 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all
time", and the novel was listed at number 87 on the BBC's survey The
Big Read.
On 5 November 2019, BBC News listed 'Brave New World' on its list of
the 100 Most Inspiring Novels. In 2021, 'Brave New World' was one of
six classic science fiction novels by British authors selected by
Royal Mail to feature on a series of UK postage stamps.
Theatre
=========
* 'Brave New World' (opened 4 September 2015) in co-production by
Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Touring Consortium Theatre
Company which toured the UK. The adaptation was by Dawn King, composed
by These New Puritans and directed by James Dacre.
Radio
=======
* 'Brave New World' (radio broadcast) 'CBS Radio Workshop' (27 January
and 3 February 1956): music composed and conducted by Bernard
Herrmann. Adapted for radio by William Froug. Introduced by William
Conrad and narrated by Aldous Huxley. Featuring the voices of Joseph
Kearns, Bill Idelson, Gloria Henry, Charlotte Lawrence, Byron Kane,
Sam Edwards, Jack Kruschen, Vic Perrin, Lurene Tuttle, Herb
Butterfield, Doris Singleton.
* 'Brave New World' (radio broadcast) 'BBC Radio 4' (May 2013)
* 'Brave New World' (radio broadcast) 'BBC Radio 4' (22, 29 May 2016)
Film
======
* 'Brave New World' (1980), a television film directed by Burt
Brinckerhoff
* 'Brave New World' (1998), a television film directed by Leslie
Libman and Larry Williams
* The 1993 film 'Demolition Man', starring Sylvester Stallone and
Sandra Bullock, is said to draw heavily from the novel.
Television
============
* 'Brave New World' (2010), miniseries directed by Leonard Menchiari
* 'Brave New World' (2020), series created by David Wiener
*: In May 2015, 'The Hollywood Reporter' reported that Steven
Spielberg's Amblin Television would bring 'Brave New World' to Syfy
network as a scripted series, adapted by Les Bohem. The adaptation was
eventually written by David Wiener with Grant Morrison and Brian
Taylor, with the series ordered to air on USA Network in February
2019. The series eventually moved to the Peacock streaming service and
premiered on 15 July 2020. In October 2020, the series was cancelled
after one season.
See also
======================================================================
* Alpha (ethology)
* Anti-nationalism
* Anti-theism
* 'Anthem'
* Brain-computer interface
* 'Demolition Man'
* 'The Glass Fortress' (2016 film)
External links
======================================================================
*
*
*
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20190609084641/http://www.yoism.org/?q=node%2F143
1957 interview with Huxley] as he reflects on his life work and the
meaning of 'Brave New World'
* [
http://somaweb.org/w/bioethics.html Aldous Huxley: Bioethics and
Reproductive Issues]
* [
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jn8bc Aldous Huxley's 'Brave
New World': BBC Radio 4 'In Our Time' discussion]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20161118070733/http://literapedia.wikispaces.com/Brave%2BNew%2BWorld
Literapedia page for 'Brave New World']
* '[
https://www.huxley.net/ Brave New World? A Defence Of
Paradise-Engineering]', a critical analysis by David Pearce (also
available as a [
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpKTPgg8I68 video
recording])
*
[
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/opinion/pornography-sex-the-huxley-trap-.html
The Huxley Trap] ('The New York Times'; 14 November 2018)
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
