Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Aldous HuxleyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-09-01
ISBN: 0060929871
Number of pages: 268
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Book Reviews of Brave New World
Book Review: Brave New World, or Startling Present?
Summary: 5 Stars
Imagine a society with absolutely no pain or suffering, no heartache, and no possibility of wanting something you cannot have. This is world which Aldous Huxley creates in his novel Brave New World, a horrifying dystopian, fictional community. Written in 1932, Huxley paints a picture of an "ideal" society in which all of the people are perfectly content, everyone is satisfied with their positions, and no one ever desires something unattainable. Though apparently idyllic, Huxley, in fact, presents the frightening truth, for these citizens are constrained and confined by their own perfection. Each person is genetically engineered and pharmaceutically anesthetized to produce the perfect addition to the society; any individualism or radical thoughts are utterly shunned and forbidden. Through Huxley's use of strong characters, each with a separate identity, and the vivid portrayal of the evils of a highly advanced society, he successfully creates a novel still relevant today as a warning for future - and our - generations.
Each character of the novel plays a separate, essential role in thoroughly depicting the horrors of the dystopian society. Although each character, I feel, has a strong personal identity, few people of the novel have close relationships, which may be attributed to misery of the society, for few strong bonds can be formed. True passion does not exist, after all, for a place with no real pain has no real happiness. Huxley depicts the detachment between people as a "norm" - it is considered ridiculous, absurd, and even shameful to desire simply one person. Lenina's singular affections for Henry Foster cause her "sensible" friend Fanny to rebuke her: "It's such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man" (41), thus making Lenina branch out and see other men, such as Bernard Marx. When Bernard takes Lenina on a holiday vacation to a Reservation in New Mexico to see the "Savages," she represents the ideal member of the society by dismissing the acts of the Indians as grotesque and terrifying and viewing such normality as aging and diseases as sickening. Lenina's complete conditioning and lack of desire for anything more than her "perfect" society shows the horrifyingly ubiquitous control of the seeming utopia. Lenina's character makes the reader realize with a jolt that once one is sucked into the society, there is hardly and chance left to want anything more. Bernard Marx's character, the initial subversive voice in the novel, is unhappy despite his high-caste status. His desire for a more intimate relationship with Lenina portrays that something other than what the society has conditioned is still possible. Finally, John the Savage is an insurgent character in the society, demanding the "right to be unhappy" (240). John realizes that in the attempt to be rid of all unpleasant actions and feelings, the society was also rid of true pleasure, passion, and love. John alone desperately craves a marriage to Lenina, knowledge through reading, and yearns for true feelings, but realizes that these things are nowhere to be found in the society. He states, "You got rid of them. Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it" (238). However, John and Helmholtz Watson immediately strike a close friendship, possibly owing to the fact that they both possess dissident opinions and are dissatisfied with the society. Overall, through the development of various critical characters and their lack of strong personal relationships, Huxley depicts the evils of the society.
Huxley explores the evils of the society as presented by loss of freedom and lack of individual responsibility as seen throughout the plot. Many carnal pleasures are offered to people, such as soma, a drug used to calm any tension or sadness, and the "feelies," a type of movie in which people participate in the sensual acts. People such as Lenina use soma as a means of preventing any pain or unpleasant emotion, thereby becoming extremely dependent upon the happiness and "mini-vacation" it provides from everyday trials and tribulations. Through distribution of this drug, the government maintains control over the people. Stability in the society is the ultimate goal and is achieved rather successfully through control over such drugs, conditioning, and the threat of expulsion to a remote land such as Iceland. Each person is conditioned to their status, ranging from Alpha Plus, the highest caste, to Epsilon, the lowest. People know nothing more than their own caste, and therefore desire nothing else. Bernard, though dissatisfied with his position as an Alpha, is often kept in check by risk of being sent to Iceland. There is no freedom or responsibility to be found in the society; no one challenges the caste, for they genuinely believe they are working together for a common goal. After all, "everyone works for everyone else" (74).
When Huxley wrote this novel, he did not expect to see anything similar actually occur for hundreds of years; however, the effects of the dystopian society are becoming terrifyingly clear in today's world. More common than ever is pre-marital sex and less personal bonds as people rely on communication technology such as the internet and cell phones to sustain relationships. In addition, people are becoming less and less tolerable of withstanding unpleasantness and desire instant gratification, precisely what Huxley warned against. Perhaps we should take greater note of Huxley's message and heed his caveat before virtuosity becomes possible through three half-gram tablets.
By: Priya
Summary of Brave New World
A fantasy of the future that sheds a blazing critical light on the present--considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.
"Mr. Huxley is eloquent in his declaration of an artist's faith in man, and it is his eloquence, bitter in attack, noble in defense, that, when one has closed the book, one remembers."
--Saturday Review of Literature"A Fantastic racy narrative, full of much excellent satire and literary horseplay."
--Forum"It is as sparkling, provocative, as brilliant, in the appropriate sense, as impressive ads the day it was published. This is in part because its prophetic voice has remained surprisingly contemporary, both in its particular forecasts and in its general tone of semiserious alarm. But it is much more because the book succeeds as a work of art...This is surely Huxley's best book."
--Martin Green
"Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come.
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