A Brave New World
By Aldous Huxley
Janelle Huebert
Setting
Takes place in future London in AD 2540
Genre
The genre of A Brave New World is science fiction. This is because it takes place in the future and involves several new scientific discoveries such as sleep conditioning and other scientific discoveries.
Background Information
Imagine a world in the future where there are no families are homes. In A Brave New World, the idea of motherhood is appalling, and everyone belongs to everyone else so families are extinct. People are born scientifically in a laboratory, and people are born into different groups, each group made up of people who are identical. To stay happy they take a drug called soma, which is rewarded to everyone daily for their work. People are sleep conditioned at a young age to conform to society according to certain roles. Alphas, for instance are conditioned to work harder and be more clever whereas groups like Gammas and Epsilons are not as smart so they can do the menial jobs in society.
Plot Summary
Lenina is very satisfied with her life and enjoys the luxuries of living in this futuristic society. However, she has developed a liking for Bernard, and since everyone belongs to everyone else it isn't normal for her to only want one man. Bernard isn't as accepting of the society and wishes to be free from it. Because he doesn't really go along with society as he is supposed to, taking soma regularly and enjoying several lovers, he is threatened to be banished by his boss. He and Lenina go to visit the savage reservation. They meet a native man named John and his mother, Linda, who have lived on the reservation for quite some time. They learn that Linda had been from their world but had gotten lost and injured during a visit to the reservation. While the man she came with returned to the society, the villiagers took her with them and she never returned. Since there was no birth control, she became pregnant and had her son on the reservation. Bernard is very intrigued by everything, but Lenina is disgusted and wishes desperately to be back home. They go home, bringing the two savages along. Upon being fired, Bernard introduces the savages to his boss. It turns out that the man who left Linda on the island was this man, and he is appalled and runs from the scene because Linda keeps calling him "" and her son keeps calling him "father". Then, while Linda's growing addiction to soma slowly kills her, Lenina dumps her love for Bernard and chooses to go after the savage, John. John loves her, but he doesn't feel right to want her in that way. He senses something majorly wrong with the society, and refuses to go to any events.
Turning Point/Climax
One day, the savage sees a crowd of people lining up to get their daily intakes of soma as their wages. He throws the box out of the window of the building and causes major chaos. He yells that it is poison because it killed his mother.
Ending
The savage (John) and Bernard are taken by the police. They talk to the director about the society and why it is that way. Bernard's friend, Hemholtz gets banished to an island and the savage goes to live far away from society. He tries to enjoy his peace and quiet. However, he can't enjoy it for long, because he attracts attention to himself from his daily ritual of beating himself. The people record him and turn it into a feely (which is like a movie except you can feel what is happening as well) and he is instantly famous. Everyone, including Lenina, crowds around his house and demands him to do something entertaining. The savage can't take it anymore and hangs himself on a windmill.
Characters
Fanny Crowne
Friend of Lenina who encourages Lenina to have multiple lovers and go with the flow of society
Mr. Savage
Grew up on the savage reservation, born to Linda.
Linda
Mother of the savage; she was originally from the civilization but got injured one day while visiting the savage reservation. She ended up living there as an outcast and growing old with her son. She desperately wishes to return to civilization and when she does, she becomes addicted to soma and dies.
Bernard Marx
Alpha who isn't very well accepted into the society because he is inferior in physical stature. He doesn't go along with the views of society because of this and it gets him into trouble at times.
Hemholtz
Alpha who works at the College of Emotional Engineering; friend of Bernard who is also a writer. He has trouble finding something meaningful to write about.
Lenina Crowne
Civilized woman who works at the Hatchery and Conditioning Center as a vaccination worker. She is satisfied with the new society and goes with Bernard to the Savage reservation. She also develops feelings for the savage and tries to win his affection.
Mustapha Mond
One of the 10 world controllers
Recommendations for future readers...
I would recommend that anyone who enjoys science fiction or futuristic books read "A Brave New World." Although it is a fast read, the plot is very unique along with the idea of this futuristic world that Huxley portrays in his novel. I thought the book was thoroughly entertaining; I couldn't put it down until the end.
Did I Enjoy the Book?
I really enjoyed this book, first of all, because it takes place in the future. I tend to gravitate towards these types of science fiction books because they make me think about how the world could be. Even though it seems highly unlikely that our world could turn out this way, it was fun to imagine what it would be like to live in such a world that Huxley portrays. As much as I liked reading the book as a whole, I didn't like the ending too well. It was a real bummer that the savage had to kill himself as a result of his situation. It would have been better for him to try to change the situation instead of to give up so easily and hide from society.
Well Written?
I thought the book was very well written. At first, I found it a little difficult to understand what was going on due to all of the scientific theories and terms discussed int the start of the book, but it got easier as the story progressed. As I mentioned earlier, I thought Huxley portrayed a very clear picture of this futuristic world. I like how he highlighted the consequences that can result from such a society in which people are so highly controlled. The book flowed with clarity and the author used words that the average high school could understand.