Alicia kim's blog

Brave New World Jan. 28, 2024

Introduction:
Brave New World is a dystopian novel written by Aldous Huxley and was published in 1932. Its content is a science-based novel and is often compared with 1984 by George Orwell. The time was set after Henry Ford invented the car and the civilization had scientific developments.

The Plot:
The plot is set in AF (after Ford) 632 where London is highly developed in science and technology. They separate people by using a system of Roman letters – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Alpha is the most intelligent people in the civilization while Epsilons are the dumbest ones. Lenina Crown is a popular hatchery worker, while Bernard Marx, the psychologist, is not. He learns about sleep and eventually disagrees with a happiness drug, soma. His boss thinks about Marx getting exiled from London to Iceland because of his refusal. His only friend is a writer named Helmholtz Watson. Bernard takes a holiday with Lenina outside the World State to a Savage Reservation where they meet a woman originally from the World State named Linda who’s also living with her son, John, whose father is Marx’s boss. Their lives were hard and unpleasant and Linda had to teach John everything such as reading through Shakespeare’s work. They now want to return to London to see the ‘brave new world’. When they return to London, John calls the Director (the boss), ‘father’, which leaves him embarrassed, and eventually resigns from his job before sending Marx to Iceland. Bernard becomes envious that John is spending time with only Helmholtz. Lenina and John are attracted to each other but their thoughts about sex is incompatible. John ends up getting a call about Linda while he is fighting with her. John rushes to Linda’s bedside, causing a scandal, as this is not the “correct” act to death. Some children come across as disrespectful to John, and he attacks one physically. He tries to stop the distribution of soma to a lower-caste group. Helmholtz and Bernard rush in to prevent a riot, but the police use soma vapor to calm the crowd. They face Mustapha Mond, the World Controller. Mond announces that Bernard and Helmholtz will be exiled to islands for their actions. Bernard pleads for another chance, but Helmholtz embraces the opportunity for individuality. Mond reveals that exiles are rewards. Mond then discusses society’s origins and argues for social control, but John disagrees. John asks to join the exiles, but Mond refuses, wanting to see what happens to John next. John moves to a lighthouse where he practices self-flagellation. Reporters came to see this strange action, hoping to witness it. John’s self-flagellation is secretly filmed and released as a documentary, causing a sensation. Crowds gather, demanding to witness his ritual. When a woman, possibly Lenina, appears, John lashes out at her and then himself. The crowd turns wild, fueled by drugs. The next day, filled with guilt, John hangs himself.

Analysis:
The novel’s setting time uses Ford instead of Lord or Christ which shows that their religion was Fordism and they thought Ford was their almighty god. Their symbolism for Fordism is the T which is the Christian cross but cut off at the top line segment. T means Ford’s Model T which was the first car he ever made. The novel contained a lot of information about Shakespeare’s works such as The Tempest, King Lear, etc. The author, Aldous Huxley, titled the novel ‘Brave New World’ from one of Shakepeare’s plays, the Tempest. The civilization has a social hierarchy which is proven by the status of the first five Roman letters – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. It is significant because that’s the way people expect people to act and look. For example, Alphas should look handsome and tall while Epsilons are supposed to be short and ugly. It is also advanced in scientific technology but is very developed in the biology course, especially embryos. The novel also talks about soma, a happiness drug, lot. This suggests that it may have been developed close to the time and almost everyone in London is taking the drug. The actions of citizens in the novel are fairly different. Because of this, everyone thought John was weird because he had been next to someone who was dying, and even this small act, caused a big ‘scandal’. The novel tells us about John’s self-flagellating that had gone viral on the internet. This may have appeared as John trying to focus on the Ford.

Conclusion:
Brave New World is a sci-fi dystopian novel written by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932. The novel talks about social hierarchy is thoroughly presented during the novel. It also talks about scientific technology and how it is highly developed in civilization. The novel reflects on how social hierarchy is significant in our society and how it can impact the whole system. It also reflects on scientific technology and how it’s helpful in our daily lives to have such a thing.