Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
Continue »
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World successfully creeps out the reader by making the possibility of a Utopian Society seem real. Aimed towards young adults and older, this novel depicts a World State where the citizens are mass produced from test tubes and conditioned to always be happy. Naturally, a few people slip through the cracks, eventually challenging the authority of the World Controllers to enslave the citizens. Huxley’s ability to describe a world most humans could not imagine grasps the reader’s attention and holds it through the outlandish lifestyle of the World State.
Brave New World falls into the genre of dystopia, setting the precedents for judging the novel. Before I read Huxley’s book, I felt its contents would include a body of citizens who did not fight the government and a perfect race. I also pondered the possibility of strange relations between citizens and confiscation of most literature as a factor in the work. Such is accomplished in Brave New World, as conditioning and soma prevent the people from challenging the World Controllers. The race achieved perfection through the creation of humans in test tubes. Although, literature is not confiscated, it lacks existence by today’s standards. Lastly, everyone belongs to everyone else when intimacy is considered, creating bizarre relationships between the people. As well as the previous, one considers depth of characters, immense detail of the society, and contrast to normality when judging a dystopian novel.
The highly specific detail of the events in Brave New World escalates it beyond the average novel. It begins in the Era of Our Ford, where Lenina Crowne, the average citizen, is encouraged by her friend Fanny to branch out and expose herself to more men, “It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man” (46). Lenina spends time with Bernard Marx, a man who acts a little differently, “They say he spends most of his time by himself-alone” (50). The two travel to a Savage Reservation-where the old ways of living is perfectly preserved-and decide to bring back two savages, Linda and John. Linda previously lived in the civilized world and was abandoned on the reservation with child (John). John falls head over heals in love with Lenina within days of meeting her, “The Savage was reading Romeo and Juliet aloud-reading (for all the time he was seeing himself as Romeo and Lenina as Juliet) with an intense quivering passion” (167-168). Meanwhile, Bernard uses John to gain a higher social status. Because John grew up in a society completely different from the World State, he rejects their way of life and causes an uproar in those close to him. The events in the novel are simply the framework for its high success.
If Brave New World intended to emit a disturbing feeling, then I believe its goal is achieved. The novel suggests masked enslavement of the citizens underneath a powerful oligarchy, and encourages sexual actions at a young age with numerous partners. Though each person feels only happiness, one cannot help but wonder how it continues on smoothly. From the exiled areas, the citizens could band together to form an opposition to the World State and act upon it. It is also curious how the transition from today’s society to the civilized society in Brave New World occurred. The lack of background information does not explain if it was a peaceful, violent or brainwashed movement from one to the other. Though it keeps one thinking, Huxley’s work is not at all diminished by these unanswered questions.
Likewise, the control of literary elements within the novel greatly adds to the impact of the Utopian society. The characters are shallow and we do not know much about them, symbolizing the lack of explanations within the society. The nonchalant tone strengthens the uneasy feeling one cannot overcome while reading the novel. Lastly, Huxley’s language helps the reader to identify with the work. The use of political and cultural figures in the names of characters increased the background of the society as well as the values and beliefs of the characters. The literary elements in the work display the corruption the citizens are unaware of.
Brave New World challenges the values and morals of our world today. Through mass production of the human being, molding citizens’ minds to accept the outlandish society, and adding immense detail to the World State, Huxley effectively instills an uncomfortable feeling within the entirety of the novel.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
wearerockstars2 has commented on (1) product.
Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited (P.S.) by Aldous Huxley
wearerockstars2, May 3, 2010
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World successfully creeps out the reader by making the possibility of a Utopian Society seem real. Aimed towards young adults and older, this novel depicts a World State where the citizens are mass produced from test tubes and conditioned to always be happy. Naturally, a few people slip through the cracks, eventually challenging the authority of the World Controllers to enslave the citizens. Huxley’s ability to describe a world most humans could not imagine grasps the reader’s attention and holds it through the outlandish lifestyle of the World State.Brave New World falls into the genre of dystopia, setting the precedents for judging the novel. Before I read Huxley’s book, I felt its contents would include a body of citizens who did not fight the government and a perfect race. I also pondered the possibility of strange relations between citizens and confiscation of most literature as a factor in the work. Such is accomplished in Brave New World, as conditioning and soma prevent the people from challenging the World Controllers. The race achieved perfection through the creation of humans in test tubes. Although, literature is not confiscated, it lacks existence by today’s standards. Lastly, everyone belongs to everyone else when intimacy is considered, creating bizarre relationships between the people. As well as the previous, one considers depth of characters, immense detail of the society, and contrast to normality when judging a dystopian novel.
The highly specific detail of the events in Brave New World escalates it beyond the average novel. It begins in the Era of Our Ford, where Lenina Crowne, the average citizen, is encouraged by her friend Fanny to branch out and expose herself to more men, “It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man” (46). Lenina spends time with Bernard Marx, a man who acts a little differently, “They say he spends most of his time by himself-alone” (50). The two travel to a Savage Reservation-where the old ways of living is perfectly preserved-and decide to bring back two savages, Linda and John. Linda previously lived in the civilized world and was abandoned on the reservation with child (John). John falls head over heals in love with Lenina within days of meeting her, “The Savage was reading Romeo and Juliet aloud-reading (for all the time he was seeing himself as Romeo and Lenina as Juliet) with an intense quivering passion” (167-168). Meanwhile, Bernard uses John to gain a higher social status. Because John grew up in a society completely different from the World State, he rejects their way of life and causes an uproar in those close to him. The events in the novel are simply the framework for its high success.
If Brave New World intended to emit a disturbing feeling, then I believe its goal is achieved. The novel suggests masked enslavement of the citizens underneath a powerful oligarchy, and encourages sexual actions at a young age with numerous partners. Though each person feels only happiness, one cannot help but wonder how it continues on smoothly. From the exiled areas, the citizens could band together to form an opposition to the World State and act upon it. It is also curious how the transition from today’s society to the civilized society in Brave New World occurred. The lack of background information does not explain if it was a peaceful, violent or brainwashed movement from one to the other. Though it keeps one thinking, Huxley’s work is not at all diminished by these unanswered questions.
Likewise, the control of literary elements within the novel greatly adds to the impact of the Utopian society. The characters are shallow and we do not know much about them, symbolizing the lack of explanations within the society. The nonchalant tone strengthens the uneasy feeling one cannot overcome while reading the novel. Lastly, Huxley’s language helps the reader to identify with the work. The use of political and cultural figures in the names of characters increased the background of the society as well as the values and beliefs of the characters. The literary elements in the work display the corruption the citizens are unaware of.
Brave New World challenges the values and morals of our world today. Through mass production of the human being, molding citizens’ minds to accept the outlandish society, and adding immense detail to the World State, Huxley effectively instills an uncomfortable feeling within the entirety of the novel.