Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley

The brave new world

In the novel Huxley describes a world that is ruled by one totalitarian government. People are “produced” in laboriatories, communities like family are aborted. The people are genetically divided in five categories (alpha – epsillon).

Alphas: Wear grey; these are the intellectuals of society. Some examples of professions can be World Controllers (Alpha double Plus), Directors of Hatcheries, and Wardens. Bernard, a psychologist, is also an Alpha.

Betas: Mulberry colored; these persons are somewhat intelligent and often work as mechanics.

Gammas: Wear green; often work as machine minders/manipulators, butlers, and other semi- thought-provoking jobs.

Deltas: Wear khaki, helicopter attendants, cold pressers, screw-cutters, package packers; are mass produced and have no individuality.

Epsilons: Wear black, can’t read or write, Sewage Workers, liftmen, foundry-workers, carriers, semi-morons.

Everyone is conditioned from childhood on to like his caste and to be happy not to be born into another. Children make sexual experiences from early years on and they are “educated” by electric shocks and “dreamteaching”.

The regime controlls people and keeps them happy by giving them Soma. Soma is a kind of multi – function drug that has no side effects like a hangover and helps to calm down, feel happy and provides happiness.

Freedom and religion in society are fully sacrified for what Mustapha Mond calls happiness.

plot

The beginning chapters describe this brave new world as the D.H.C. (the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning) gives a group of students a tour of the facility. The reader meets Lenina Crowne who had been dating Henry Foster for some time, and starts dating Bernard Marx to prove she is not engaging in courtship, which is unheard of in the civilization. Bernard and Lenina go on a vacation to the New Mexico reservations, and meet Linda and her son John. Bernard discovers that the D.H.C once was on vacation with Linda and lost her after an accident and that John is his son. Lenina is shocked when she sees all the dirt and old people in the reservation. Linda for example got fat and ugly and smells disgusting for her. In the brave new world nobody looks old or ill because of the hormons they get. Bernard and Lenina bring John and Linda back to civilization with them for research purposes.

Bernard learns that the D.H.C. is about to exile him for his 'uncivilized' behavior when he and Lenina return to civilization."..He (Bernard) has proved himself an enemy of society, a subverter, ... of all order and stability, a conspirator against civilization itself."Bernard calls John and Linda from the next room, and they call upon the director as son and wife. Bernard is saved from exilation and everyone is shocked when John calls Linda “mother” because this term stands for something dirty.

Bernard becomes very popular in the civilization due to the connections he has with John the savage. Bernard's friend Helmholtz befriends John and they share literature with each other. John does not like the civilization, and becomes more disgusted with each day that goes by.

Lenina falls in love with John, and constantly seeks him out. John thinks of Lenina very highly until she makes advances at him that are against his morals. He gets extremely upset one evening when Lenina makes a sexual advance towards him."The savage pushed her away with such force that she staggered and fell."

John's mother dies shortly after his violent confrontation with Lenina. This event set off a tick in John's head, and he get's crazed. He lectures the civilization during a soma distribution process. Some of his statements include:"Don't you want to be free and man? Don't you even undertand what manhood and freedom are?"

Helmholtz, Bernard, and John are called to Mustapha Mond's study. Mustapha exiles Helmholtz and Bernard for their 'uncivilized' behavior. John is forced to stay so he can continue to be tested.

John flees to a deserted lighthouse near London. There he goes about purifying himself and practicing religion."From time to time he stretched out his arms as though he were on the cross, and held them thus through long minutes of an ache that gradually increased till it became a tremulous and excruciating agony."

Spectators from civilization accidentally stumble upon John during one of his self-torture purifying acts for God. The word is spread around, and John is the craze of civilization.

After a movie showing John whipping himself is released, numerous amounts of people show up to question John. The crowd is mad to see John inflict pain upon himself. John eventually goes berserk and joins the crowd in it's crazy antics."Drawn by the fascination of the horror of pain, they (the crowd) began to mime the frenzy of his gestures, striking at one another as the savage struck at his own rebellious flesh..."

John awakens the next day, after sleeping under the influence of soma. Realizing that he participated in the sins he was so dear against and seeing no hope for himself, he commits suicide.