| Brave New World - Monarch Notes
Author: Aldous Huxley
Chapter: Introduction to Aldous Huxley
Preface
Aldous Huxley's writings express the disillusionment of the 1920s,
the cynicism of the 1930s, and the questioning of the 1940s. Huxley
was the product of the times, and his novels and essays are the
expressions of his beliefs and concerns. Huxley's first two important
novels, Antic Hay (1923) and Point Counter Point (1928), like
T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, express the despair and disillusionment
of the period following World War I. By the time he wrote Brave
New World (1932), he despaired of man's ability to save himself
from himself. But thinking that he had found a possible solution
to the dilemma of man, Huxley became interested in the teachings
of Eastern mystics. His novel After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
(1939) is a vehicle for many of his ideas; his collection of essays
The Perennial Philosophy (1946) is a kind of anthology and commentary
drawn from the writings of the mystics. Alexander Henderson (Aldous
Huxley, London, 1935) was probably right when he said, "Huxley
is primarily a light philosophical essayist using the novel form
to present the more superficial modes of contemporary thought
and feeling."
Biographical Sketch
Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894, at Godalming, county
of Surrey, England. His father was Leonard Huxley, a prominent
literary man, and his grandfather was T. H. Huxley, a biologist
who led the battle on behalf of the Darwinian evolutionary hypothesis.
His mother was a niece of Matthew Arnold, the English poet, essayist,
and critic. His family background seems to have prepared him for
a variety of interests - everything from anthropology to zoology
and from versification to mysticism. His brother Julian is a leading
biologist, and Aldous at one time intended to follow a scientific
career.
Having been educated at a preparatory school and at Eton, Huxley
intended to become a doctor. But having contracted keratitis (an
eye disease resulting in near blindness) he was forced to abandon
this idea. He learned to read Braille; after two years he had
recovered sufficiently so he could read with a magnifying glass.
He then attended Balliol College, Oxford, studied English literature
and philology, and took his degree in 1915.
It is interesting to note that Huxley considered the onset of
eye trouble the most important single event in his life. This
enforced isolation acted as a stimulant rather than a depressant
- now more than he ever wanted to "see," know, and understand
everything. And he did not want to "see" only what was apparent,
but also what was implied. The following comment of Huxley seems
to summarize this point of view, "My ambition and pleasure are
to understand, not to act."
But it would be wrong to think that Huxley cut himself off from
society in order to meditate and write. He and his wife (Maria
Nys) traveled extensively and entertained frequently. They spent
several years in Italy, had a cottage in France, visited India
and Central America, and finally settled in California. He was
at home with many of the leading authors and critics of his day
- Siegfried Sassoon, Wyndham Lewis, the Sitwells, and Robert Graves.
He worked with John Middleton Murry on the staff of the Athenaeum
magazine, and his friendship with D. H. Lawrence and his wife
Frieda has been widely publicized. Some of the tremendous influence
that his studies, his travels, and his friendships had on his
work will be alluded to later.
Huxley published several volumes of poetry between 1916 and 1920,
when he published Limbo, a collection of stories. In 1921 appeared
his first novel, Crome Yellow, which established his reputation.
At the same time he was writing articles, reviews, and essays
for many periodicals. From the beginning of his literary career
we can see his interest in fact and fiction - in poetry and prose.
This compulsion to communicate - this desire to express his ideas
and convictions on a variety of subjects and in a variety of ways
- manifested itself until his death in 1963.
Huxley As Essayist
Huxley was a far greater essayist than he was novelist. Because
he wanted to "say something," to make his ideas known, to influence
others, his novels often suffer because they are too didactic.
Whole sections of his novels could be published as essays since
he often makes particular characters spokesmen for his ideas.
It was only in the essay that he was free to say without embellishment
what he thought and why he thought it. Many of the themes and
ideas Huxley develops and expands in his novels were also expressed
in his essays.
In his collection of essays Do What You Will (Doubleday, 1929),
Huxley urges us to emulate the Greeks, to live a life which considers
and accepts both the physical and spiritual elements of man, and
to regard all manifestations of life as divine. At one point he
says, "Man is multifarious, inconsistent, self-contradictory;
the Greeks accepted the fact and lived multifariously, inconsistently,
and contradictorily." In his novel Point Counter Point, the most
admirable character and the spokesman for Huxley's ideas is Mark
Rampion. In chapter nine, when speaking of the Greeks, he says,
"They were civilized, they knew how to live harmoniously and completely,
with their whole being. . . . We're all barbarians."
In another collection of essays, Ends and Means (Harper, 1937),
he discusses the work of the Marquis de Sade, a French novelist
and libertine: "de Sade's philosophy was meaningless carried to
its logical conclusion. Life was without significance. . . . Sensations
and animal pleasures alone possessed reality and were alone worth
living for." In his novel After Many a Summer Dies the Swan, Huxley
creates a character who lives by this philosophy and shows where
this philosophy ultimately leads. The character, Jo Stoyte, wishes
to find the secret of longevity so he will be able to continue
his pursuit of the sensual life; when he discovers that the price
of longevity is the loss of humanity, he indicates his willingness
to revert to an animal state in order to retain the animal pleasures.
In another essay from the same collection Huxley discusses the
change in values which resulted in the state achieving the highest
value and significance to the detriment of the individual. "By
the end of the twenties a reaction had begun to set in. . . .
The universe as a whole still remained meaningless, but certain
of its parts, such as the nation, the state, the class, the party,
were endowed with significance and the highest value." His concern
with this transfer of value from the individual to the state resulted
in his brilliant satire, Brave New World. In Huxley's Utopia the
individual exists for the state, not the state for the individual.
A little further on he discusses the role science plays in our
lives and questions the ultimate value of scientific advances.
Since the theme of Brave New World is "the advancement of science
as it affects human individuals," we can immediately see Huxley's
concern with the use and misuse of science: "We are living now,
not in the delicious intoxication induced by the early success
of science, but in a rather grisly morning after, when it has
become apparent that what triumphant science has done hitherto
is to improve the means for achieving unimportant or actually
deteriorated ends."
In another collection of essays, The Perennial Philosophy (Harper,
1945), Huxley is concerned with the meaning of existence - with
the ultimate end of man. He says, "The last end of man, the ultimate
reason for human existence, is unitive knowledge of the divine
Ground [a spiritual Absolute - a God - without-form] - the knowledge
that can come only to those who are prepared to `die to self'
and so make room, as it were, for God." In his novel Eyeless in
Gaza, Huxley recounts the spiritual pilgrimage of Anthony Beavis
towards this end. As he meditates upon his life and his experience,
Anthony suddenly understands the meaning and purpose of life,
"And now at last it was clear, now by some kind of immediate experience
he knew that the point was in the paradox, in the fact that unity
was the beginning and unity was the end. . . . Unity with all
being." Again Huxley states the same belief and the same idea
in a novel and in an essay.
We might also look to the essays for specific comments which will
help us to better understand Huxley as a novelist. Two quotations
from "Vulgarity in Literature" (in Music at Night, Doubleday,
Doran, 1931) are especially important. "Literature is also philosophy,
is also science." A little further on he says, "I think it not
only permissible, but necessary, that literature should take cognizance
of physiology and should investigate the still obscure relations
between the mind and its body."
Huxley As A Novelist
The four novels discussed at length in this study guide illustrate
many of Huxley's strengths and weaknesses as a novelist. The exuberance
of his ideas, his use of wit and satire, the acuteness of his
observations of mankind and its foibles, his juxtaposition of
fact and fiction - these are his strengths. The shallowness of
his characters, his overriding concern with teaching a lesson
or pointing up a moral, the imposition at times of an overelaborate
framework for the novel, the use of characters and situations
which preclude "the illusion of reality" - these are his weaknesses.
We can see certain of these strengths and weaknesses in each of
the four novels.
Brave New World is Huxley's most popular novel, though not necessarily
his most important novel. The reader is "swept along" by Huxley's
vision of a Utopian future based on science and technology: he
is dumbstruck by Huxley's clever juxtaposition of fact (scientific
data) and fiction (future life on earth). The novel is logically
developed - Huxley "begins at the beginning" with a detailed account
of life in the new World State. But before long we realize that
Huxley is not content simply to present a satire of present a
future life and let the reader draw his own moral from the story.
Instead Huxley allows his preaching to obtrude upon the fantasy
he has created, and his characters soon become important only
as spokesmen for particular ideas and beliefs.
In Point Counter Point Huxley has created a fantastic array of
characters, but none is fully developed; each represents a particular
point of view the author wishes to satirize. But there is much
wit and humor in the novel and a variety of plots and counterplots
which maintain reader interest. The elaborate musical analogy
which is woven through the novel is at times distracting but does
illustrate Huxley's considerable talent as a storyteller. And
the two-angled view of life - the juxtaposition of the physical
and the emotional, the esthetic and the scientific, etc. - contributes
to the interest and the importance of the novel.
After Many a Summer Dies the Swan combines a highly sensational
plot and outlandish characters in a wild and preposterous picture
of the Hollywood scene. The caricatures of educators, starlets,
doctors, and idealists provide some hilarious situations and some
wry commentary on the temporary scene. But Huxley is not content
to write a comedy - he creates Mr. Propter as a spokesman for
his own ideas and beliefs. Unfortunately Propter is too good to
be true, and his intrusions upon the scene tend to inhibit rather
than enhance the value of the novel.
Eyeless in Gaza has been hailed not only as Huxley's most significant
novel but also as one of the most important novels of the 1930s.
In this novel Huxley uses flashbacks to recount one man's search
for a meaning in life. The lack of a logical time sequence - the
novel shifts backwards and forwards in time - is often distracting
but is an attempt to show the unity of life and the unity and
diversity of being. Huxley wished to show that an individual -
his beliefs, ideas, and ideals - are the result of many influences.
In this novel he recounts many of the influences that have molded
Anthony Beavis. Perhaps this novel is most successful because
it is in many ways a chronicle of Huxley's own search for a meaning
in life.
Although Huxley wrote some ten novels, the four briefly discussed
here are representative of the strengths and weaknesses of all
of them. It is a pity that Huxley was not more concerned with
the writing of fiction and less concerned with the expression
of personal opinion. Huxley "rigged" his plots and "produced"
his characters in order to convey some idea or express some concern
- to him plot and characters were valuable only as "purveyors
of truth."
The Novels As Autobiography
Because the novelist in some ways has to write about what he thinks,
what he believes, and what he knows, every novel in some way may
be considered autobiographical. Huxley is no exception. The people
he knew, the places he visited, the books he read, the ideas he
considered - all contributed to his development as a novelist,
a skeptic, and a moralist, and often influenced what he wrote.
Considering them in chronological order - Point Counter Point
(1928), Brave New World (1932), Eyeless in Gaza (1936), After
Many a Summer Dies the Swan (1939) - we can see some of the ways
these novels reflect Huxley's own life and beliefs.
Huxley was disillusioned by the decadence of society and disgusted
by the behavior of his class. Point Counter Point is a sardonic
portrayal of the futility of life - each of the characters (with
one exception) fails to be a harmonious adult. The one exception
is Mark Rampion, who is an idealized version of D. H. Lawrence.
(Huxley was much impressed by Lawrence and his beliefs, and they
were close friends.) Huxley admitted that in some ways he was
Philip Quarles and that the Notebook entries expressed many of
his own ideas. Most critics consider that in the novel Denis Burlap
is an unflattering caricature of Huxley's former editor, John
Middleton Murry. Thus we see how circumstances, friends, and beliefs
affected this work.
When he wrote Brave New World Huxley showed the extent to which
his disillusionment with society and its values had influenced
him. As noted in his preface to the New Harper edition, at the
time the book was written he "toyed" with the idea that "human
beings are given free will in order to choose between insanity
on the one hand and lunacy on the other." And we might well consider
that John the Savage's rejection of civilization in the World
State paralleled D. H. Lawrence's rejection of the civilization
he knew. Also, many of the ideas presented during the discussion
in the last chapter of this novel echo many of Huxley's own views
and concerns about the effect scientific advancement and technology
would have on the individual.
Eyeless in Gaza is the picture of a man groping for a way of life
that will bring meaning and purpose to his existence - in many
ways it is a picture of Huxley and his change of attitude. In
the novel Anthony Beavis changes from a self-indulgent, detached
philosopher who sneers at life, to a humanistic pacifist who views
life through the eyes of a lover. Huxley's own change of attitude
was as remarkable - from a pessimist and portrayer of futility
to a prophet and philosopher preaching mysticism. Both Anthony
Beavis and Aldous Huxley find peace in Eastern mysticism.
After Many a Summer Dies the Swan is an exaggerated picture of
the Hollywood Huxley knew when he lived and worked in California.
In the person of Mr. Propter, Huxley has created a spokesman for
his own ideas about the need for "liberation from personality,
liberation from time and craving, liberation into union with God.
. . ." At the time he was writing this novel he was much affected
by the views of Gerald Heard, a former science commentator for
the British Broadcasting Corporation and an advocate of scientific
humanism. Many of Mr. Propter's remarks seem to be taken directly
from Heard's writings.
Huxley produced an amazing number of novels, essays, poems, short
stories, articles, and reviews, as well as forewords, introductions,
and prefaces for a variety of works ranging from a translation
of the Hindu sacred book Bhagavadgita, the Story of God (Harper,
1951) to Birth Control and Catholic Doctrine (Beacon Press, 1959)
and from Studies in Hand-Reading (Knopf, 1937) to The Complete
Etchings of Goya (Crown Publishers, 1943). These titles indicate
not only the wide range of Huxley's interests and abilities but
also specific concerns he felt compelled to comment on. A study
of all of Huxley's writings during a specific time period would
indicate exactly what those particular interests, influences,
and concerns were.
The Conflict In Huxley And His Writing
In Texts and Pretexts Aldous Huxley wrote, "The universe is vast,
beautiful, and appalling." If any single sentence could be used
to summarize Huxley's attitude, philosophy, and point of view,
this might well be it. Huxley is aware of the conflicts within
society, and within the individual, and he wants to make the reader
aware of these conflicts. In his novels he often stresses the
contrast and conflict by giving a two-angled vision of his characters
and by considering an event in several aspects - emotional, religious,
metaphysical, scientific. This multifaceted view of man, this
concern with "unity in diversity," can be both a curse and a blessing
for the reader.
A recurring theme in Huxley's novels is that of the young lover
who is tortured by an irreconcilable conflict between romantic
love and physical sexuality. We see this conflict in the love
of the Savage for Lenina (Brave New World), Pete's feeling towards
Virginia (After Many a Summer), Walter Bidlake and Marjorie Carling's
relationship (Point Counter Point), and Brian Foxe's puritanical
attitude regarding his fiancee (Eyeless in Gaza). Since love is
both spiritual and physical, involving both the mind and body,
a dualism exists and persists.
Huxley has been subjected to much adverse criticism because of
his fascination with the human body and its physical functions.
His novels are filled with references to the bowels, the viscera,
body odor, sickness, and disease at the same time that he is concerned
with the mind and the spirit. Huxley wanted his reader to see
that man is both body and spirit. He makes reference to the influence
of the physical on the mental, the influence of the physiological
condition of man on the psychological. As part of this "two-angled
view" he often will consider both aspects of the same event. For
instance, in Point Counter Point when Lord Edward hears the music
of Bach, Huxley describes the process whereby the vibrations stimulate
the auditory nerves, at the same time recounting the hearer's
pleasure when he recognizes the melody.
Huxley discussed his "two-angled vision" in an interview with
Ross Parmenter (Saturday Review, March 19, 1938). He said, "I
try to get a stereoscopic vision, to show my characters from two
angles simultaneously. Either I try to show them both as they
feel themselves to be; or else I try to give two rather similar
characters who throw light on each other. . . ." Huxley was not
especially successful in using this technique with two different
characters because too often his characters can be labeled as
"good guys" or "bad guys." Huxley's characters are too often "black"
or "white" - only a few are "gray." Huxley is most successful
when he uses the "two-angled" vision to show an individual in
conflict with himself. Several good examples of the individual
in conflict with himself occur in Brave New World.
The incongruous quality of life - its oneness and simultaneous
diversity - is the basic emotional conception of Huxley's philosophy.
The following comment concerning Philip Quarles (Huxley's alter
ego in Point Counter Point) might well summarize the dualism often
alluded to in Huxley's novels: ". . . he felt convinced that the
proudly conscious intellect ought to humble itself a little and
admit the claims of the heart, aye and the bowels, the loins,
the bones and skin and muscles, to a fair share of life."
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Introduction
Since its publication in 1932, Brave New World and its author
have been the subject of much commentary and much criticism. Many
people consider this Huxley's most important work: many others
think it is his only work. This novel has been praised and condemned,
vilified and glorified, a source of controversy, a subject for
sermons, and required reading for many high school students and
college undergraduates. This novel has had twenty-seven printings
in the United States alone and will probably have twenty-seven
more. A third generation is presently reading and discussing Brave
New World. We might well ask, "What accounts for the continuing
popularity of this novel?" Why does this work continue to attract
attention and comment?" The answer lies in Huxley's skill as a
writer - a writer of science fiction, a writer of social commentary,
a writer with prophetic vision, a writer with a tremendous breadth
and depth of interests and ideas, a writer of satire.
Brave New World is a masterpiece of science fiction. Huxley has
imaginatively employed scientific facts and theories to produce
a classic of its kind. This novel is in the tradition of Jules
Verne, the French novelist who wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues under
the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, and H. G. Wells,
the English novelist who wrote War of the Worlds. Few writers
of science fiction have equaled Huxley's ability to make the unbelievable
seem believable and to make the improbable seem probable. His
own interest in science, its use and misuse, its peril and its
promise, contributed to the accuracy of his presentation and to
the horror of his envisioned Utopia.
Huxley qualifies as a social commentator by reason of his diversified
interesst, his acquaintance with the great, the near-great, and
the not-so-great. His comments are always perceptive, sometime
biased, but never dull. He sees little chance of mankind saving
itself; he sees mankind inexorably moving toward self-destruction.
He sees himself as a voice crying in the wilderness - but crying
to no avail, for the deaf refuse to hear.
The prophetic elements in Brave New World contribute much to its
continuing popularity because year by year we see more and more
of Huxley's fantasy becoming reality. Huxley himself later commented
that we are moving in the direction of this Utopia much more rapidly
than anyone could have imagined. At the time the novel was written
only a comparatively few research scientists were concerned with
conditioning, the importance of heredity and environment, and
the effect of chemical imbalance on physical and mental development.
Today, governments, educational institutions, and industries are
exploiting the results of research in these areas.
The breadth and depth of Huxley's interests and ideas prompted
one critic to refer to him as one of the most prodigiously learned
writers of all time. In addition to his ten novels, Huxley wrote
poetry, drama, essays, biography, and history. His interests and
capabilities embrace art, religion, philosophy, music, history,
politics, psychology - and this novel expresses Huxley's concern
with the importance of each of these areas.
Huxley's satire expresses his profound pessimism. In Brave New
World the only choice is between insanity on the one hand and
lunacy on the other. In an early essay "Revolutions," he expresses
this same pessimistic idea: "Now that not only work, but also
leisure has been completely mechanized; now that, with every fresh
elaboration of the social organization, the individual finds himself
yet further degraded from manhood towards the mere embodiment
of a social function; now that ready-made, creation-saving amusements
are spreading an ever intenser boredom through ever wider spheres
- existence has become pointless and intolerable. Quite how pointless
and intolerable the great masses of materially - civilized humanity
have not yet consciously realized." In Brave New World Huxley
helps humanity to this realization.
An Historical Perspective
Some of the ideas and aspects of life in the World State of Brave
New World are contained in several of Huxley's earlier works.
In chapter five of Crome Yellow, which was published in 1922,
Mr. Scogan speaks of a scientific Utopia: "... An impersonal generation
will take the place of Nature's hideous system. In vast state
incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world
with the population it requires. The family system will disappear.
. . ." By the time Huxley started to write Brave New World, the
tremendous political, economic, and philosophical changes taking
place in Europe and America contributed to his disillusionment.
On the international political scene we have the Bolshevik Revolution
in Russia, the dictatorship of Mussolini in Italy, and the Nazi
Party movement in Germany. Huxley had always been concerned about
threats to man's freedom and independence. He realized that communism
and fascism place the state above the individual and demand total
allegiance to a cause. Recognizing the danger, he demonstrated
the end result of this tendency in his fantasy.
At the same time there were tremendous economic changes in and
between individual countries - more and bigger factories, more
manufactured goods, the advent of mass-produced automobiles. Big
business used and misused the individual - man became important
as a producer and a consumer. Industry exploited the individual
by molding him according to its image and likeness. Huxley goes
one step further in his novel - man's chief importance is his
ability to produce and consume manufactured goods.
With more and more people moving to the cities we see a change
in attitude and point of view. As "one of the crowd" the individual
is not responsible for himself or for anybody else - having lost
his individuality he has also lost his respect for individuality.
Huxley carries this loss of individuality one step further in
his projection of scores of identical twins performing identical
tasks.
Huxley was concerned when he saw these things happening because
he saw them as very real threats to man's freedom and independence.
His bitter satire results from his conviction that although man
is able to do something about these threats to his freedom and
individuality, he is unwilling to make the effort "to turn the
tide." In the latter part of Brave New World Huxley discusses
this shift in emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness.
Some Definitions And Allusions
A number of references, names, and allusions in Brave New World
could be missed by the casual reader. Huxley draws upon his own
extensive background in history, economics, and science and often
assumes the reader is immediately aware of the significance of
a particular word. Some of the more important of these words and
concepts are discussed below.
Conditioning is defined as the training of an individual to respond
to a stimulus in a particular way. The great Russian scientist
Pavlov conducted experiments to determine how this conditioning
takes place. Further experimentation has proven that individuals
can be conditioned to respond in a predetermined way. In Brave
New World individuals are conditioned to think, act, feel, believe,
and respond the way the government wants them to.
Predestination is the act of deciding an individual's fate or
destiny for him. Both the Old and New Testaments contain allusions
to God as the Predestinator, but since the World State has eliminated
God, predestination is now the function of a government bureau.
In the World State each individual has been predestined according
to the needs of society.
Thomas R. Malthus (the Malthusian belt) was an English political
economist who propounded a doctrine on the theory of population.
He believed that unless famine or was diminished the population,
in time the means of life would be inadequate. In the World State
mandatory birth-control measures are used to regulate the growth
of population.
Ford was the most important figure in the formation of the World
State. In a Christian society the life, work, and teachings of
Christ are the source of inspiration and truth; in Huxley's Utopia
the life, work, and teachings of Ford are the sources of inspiration
and truth. Even time is reckoned according to Ford.
A.F. 632 is the year when these events take place. Since Huxley
had projected his fantasy six hundred years into the future, by
our reckoning the year would be approximately 2532 A.D.
Decanting is the name given to the completion of the artificial
and mechanical stimulation of the embryo resulting in what we
would call birth - an independent existence. Huxley details this
process to emphasize the tremendous advancement of scientific
knowledge and practice and to show the complete control of the
individual from the time of conception.
Theme Of Brave New World
In his foreword to the New Harper edition of Brave New World,
Huxley states its theme as "the advancement of science as it affects
human individuals." Within the last ten years we have seen tremendous
advances in science and technology. In any single ten-year period
since 1900 the advances in science and technology have overshadowed
the advancement made during any previous hundred-year period.
Huxley realized that these advances which were almost universally
hailed as progress were fraught with danger. Man had built higher
than he could climb; man had unleashed power he was unable to
control.
Brave New World is Huxley's warning; it is his attempt to make
man realize that since knowledge is power, he who controls and
uses knowledge wields the power. Science and technology should
be the servants of man - man should not be adapted and enslaved
to them. Brave New World is a description of our lives as they
could be in the none too distant future, if the present obsessions
persist for standardization according to the sciences - eugenics
and psychology, as well as economics and mechanics.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter One
The novel opens with the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
taking a group of students on a tour of the "Central London Hatching
and Conditioning Centre."
Comment
We notice that the World State's motto is "Community, Identity,
Stability." A World State would necessitate a single political
ideology and a single point of view. This singleness of purpose
emphasizes the need for conformity in social, political, and personal
matters. The first part of the book discusses in detail how this
stable society was established and is maintained.
Since babies in the Brave New World are "artificially" produced,
the tour begins in the "Fertilizing Room." The students are shown
the incubators where the male and female reproductive cells are
kept. The year is A.F. 632.
Comment
Huxley introduces us to several startling ideas at this point
which he will develop in more detail as the story progresses.
We learn that babies are artificially produced in a laboratory,
and that the people have a new way of reckoning time.
The Director explains the process whereby a single human egg reproduces
up to ninety-six identical twins. These individuals are mentally
and physically identical and thus contribute to social stability.
Comment
We begin now to understand better the motto of the World State:
"Community, Identity, Stability." The World State controls every
aspect of the person's life, including his conception.
Mr. Foster, one of the workers at the Centre, joins the tour.
They enter the "Bottling Room" to continue observing the mechanical
process being used to produce babies. The fertilized eggs are
placed in bottles, labeled, and sent into the Social Predestination
Room." The Director and Mr. Foster explain that a World Government
bureau, the Predestinators, determines the number of each type
of individual desired. Mr. Foster explains that the entire process
from fertilization to maturity takes two hundred and sixty-seven
days.
Comment
Scientific knowledge is used extensively in this section. The
Bottling Room process artificially reproduces much of the maturation
process which normally takes place in the mother's womb. The two
hundred and sixty-seven days is, of course, the normal gestation
period.
Mr. Foster explains how the fetus (the child still in the womb)
is predestined and conditioned according to the caste and adult
life that has been selected for him. On the highest level are
the Alphas, who will hold leadership positions, and at the lowest
level are the Epsilons, who will do the simplest jobs in the World
State. This conditioning begins at the time of fertilization and
continues until decanting (birth). Conditioning prepares the yet
unborn child for the kind of job he will do as an adult.
Comment
Society in the World State is determined by the government. The
society consists of five main groups or castes: Alphas (leadership
positions), Betas (positions demanding high intelligence), Gammas
and Deltas (positions demanding some intelligence), and Epsilons
(positions demanding no intelligence). Illustrations of the five
types occur throughout the book.
The conditioning that takes place from the time of fertilization
through the individual's formative years guarantees, in most cases,
the individual's complete acceptance of every aspect of life in
the World State. Since an individual, any individual, is conditioned
by hereditary and environmental factors, if these factors are
controlled, the individual may be controlled. And if an individual
is conditioned to think, to act, and to react in a particular
way to a particular stimulus, then free will has been abolished.
A government office in the World State determines the number and
kind of individual needed in various positions and in various
parts of the world. The Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is then
given an order for a certain number of individuals with particular
characteristics, abilities, and beliefs. In the words of the Director:
"All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable
social destiny."
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Two
The Director and his students go to the "Infant Nurseries - Neo-Pavlovian
Conditioning Rooms." Here the conditioning continues. At this
time eight-month-old babies belonging to the Delta caste are being
conditioned to hate books and flowers. The babies are frightened
by loud noises and electrical shocks when they attempt to touch
these objects; thereafter they will refuse to touch these objects.
Comment
The importance of conditioning is a scientific fact first proved
by Pavlov, a Russian scientist; hence the reference to him in
designating this area.
The Director explains that babies in the lower castes are conditioned
to hate books and flowers because of the economic policy of the
World State. In order to keep the factories busy and maintain
a high level of employment, all classes are compelled to consume
as many of the products of industry as possible - reading and
nature study would not help the economy. One of the slogans based
on their economic system is "The More Stitches, The Less Riches."
The Director tells the students that the principle of sleep-teaching
dates from Ford's lifetime. This principle was later used to teach
children the values they should hold. The group visits a dormitory
where sleep-teaching is taking place, the two lessons for the
day being Elementary Sex and Elementary Class Consciousness. These
lessons teach the children to be happy in the group chosen for
them. They learn that each group has its own color clothes and
its own duties.
Comment
The conditioning that takes place influences the individual throughout
his life. Since values can be taught, in Brave New World the values
established by the World State are impressed upon the children.
Many of these values are taught as slogans: "Ending is better
than mending - A gramme (of soma) is better than a damn - Civilization
is sterilization."
At the end of chapter two, one of the first uses of "Ford" instead
of "Lord," or "God," or "Christ" occurs. Society in Brave New
World is State-centered rather than God-centered. Since Ford has
had, and continues to have, the greatest influence on their society,
he is invoked as a supernatural being would be and is looked to
as a source of inspiration and wisdom. We will see further reference
to this substitution of Ford for God later in the book.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Three
Going outside, the Director and his students watch six or seven
hundred naked little boys and girls at play. Many of the children
are playing simple sex games. The Director explains that at one
time this sexual play had been regarded as abnormal and immoral.
Comment
This chapter contains considerable reference to sexual activity.
We find that what the World State considers to be normal, we consider
to be abnormal and immoral. Since Huxley makes many references
to sexual activity, some explanation may be of value.
This Brave New World, through the advancement of science, has
affected every aspect of the human individual's life. In some
instances man's beliefs and values have been completely reversed
or eliminated. Man is no longer responsible for himself - the
state is his master. Man is simply "a cog in the wheel." Therefore,
the individual uses sex as he would use a telephone, a spoon,
a car - because it is needed at the particular moment. The individual
must not "fall in love," marry, and raise children because this
would demand allegiance to others, and the individual's allegiance
is to the state only. The sexual license encouraged by the World
State also eliminates emotional tension which may engender creative
or destructive impulses. By removing tension and anxiety, the
World State can better control its citizens.
The students find it difficult to believe that erotic play between
children was once considered abnormal and immoral. A stranger
arrives - it is the Resident Controller for Western Europe.
Comment
The rest of this chapter places characters in a variety of situations,
and we are introduced to a number of new characters: (1) Mustapha
Mond is the Resident Controller, one of ten World Controllers;
(2) Bernard Marx is from the Psychology Bureau and does not seem
to belong in the Brave New World; (3) Lenina Crowne, Fanny Crowne,
Henry Foster, and the Assistant Predestinator work at the Centre.
Although Huxley has written this section to indicate that a number
of things are occurring at the same time, it will be easier to
discuss each conversation separately: the first conversation involving
the Director, the Controller, and the students; the second involving
Lenina Crowne and Fanny; the third involving the Assistant Director,
Henry Foster, and Bernard Marx.
Notice Huxley's choice of names for his characters - Ford, Marx,
Lenina, Benito Hoover. These have been chosen because of their
connotations at the time the novel was written and their connotations
today. Ford calls to mind Henry Ford, whose utilization of the
mass-production technique has had a tremendous influence on social,
political, and economic life. Marx is an obvious reference to
Karl Marx, a German Socialist, whose greatest and best - known
work, Das Kapital, expresses his belief that the fundamental factor
in the development of society is the method of production and
exchange. Lenina is a variation of Lenin - Nikolai Lenin, the
Russian Socialist, who had a tremendous influence in the formation
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the present-day Russia.
Benito Hoover combines the names of two men who wielded tremendous
power at the time Huxley was writing Brave New World-Benito Mussolini,
the Italian dictator, and Herbert Hoover, the American President.
Huxley's choice of names for his characters is significant because
of his concern with the ways people are controlled - politically,
economically, and socially.
The Controller recalls a saying of Ford that history is bunk.
He speaks of "mother," "home," "family," "romance," and "love,"
and the students find such ideas and situations repugnant. He
insists that stability is the most important thing for society
and discusses the importance of conditioning. The Controller outlines
the rise of Ford and the World State. Scientific progress has
led to the abolition of old age, to innumerable distractions for
everyone, to "no leisure from pleasure," to the elimination of
thinking and worrying.
Comment
The importance of conditioning is shown throughout this section
- the students find the idea of "normal family life" repulsive
and the idea of motherhood embarrassing. They have been conditioned
to consider their way of life superior, and they do.
The historical account of the rise of Ford and the World State
provides the reader with some insight into how this society came
about. Note Huxley's use of the inequalities of a democratic social
system to show some reasons why this new society came about -
poor housing, poverty, sickness.
Henry and the Assistant Director discuss the merits of Lenina
Crowne as a sex partner. Bernard is upset by their conversation
because of his own interest in Lenina. Henry and the Assistant
Director advise Bernard to take Soma.
Comment
Although this is the shortest of the three conversations, it reveals
much about Bernard Marx. Conditioning has not made him accept
life as it is. He is not satisfied with his life and often refuses
to take Soma, a drug which produces a feeling of happiness and
well-being.
Lenina and Fanny discuss the men in their lives. Fanny is concerned
because Lenina has been going out with only one man - Henry Foster.
(Everyone expects a young woman to have sexual relations with
many men because "everyone belongs to everyone else.") Lenina
tells Fanny that Bernard Marx has invited her to visit the Savage
Reservation with him, but Fanny is concerned because Bernard has
the reputation of being odd (he does not conform).
Comment
The comments on the World State view of love are especially applicable
to this conversation. Because the state considers any close relationship
between two people could lessen the power and stability of the
state, Fanny is concerned about Lenina's relationship with Henry.
The state expects her to be "available" for anyone who wants her
sexually; the state considers a person abnormal if he is not promiscuous.
While these conversations are taking place, the work of the Central
London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre continues - the work of
the World State goes forward.
Comment
Huxley's juxtaposition of past, present, and future in this chapter
emphasizes the enormous control the World State exercises over
the individual and every facet of his existence. The Controller
discusses and explains the need for control and the methods of
control; at the same time we see the results of this conditioning
(control) in the thoughts, actions, and reactions of the other
characters. And not content with simply explaining and illustrating,
Huxley keeps referring to the continuing operations at the Hatchery
and Conditioning Centre - producing tomorrow's citizens of the
World State.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Four
Part One
On the way to the helicopter roof Lenina meets Bernard and tells
him she wants to visit the Savage Reservation in New Mexico with
him. He is embarrassed to discuss the trip with her in public.
She leaves to meet Henry Foster and they fly to the Obstacle Golf
Course.
Comment
This chapter makes reference to various castes in the World State:
Henry and Bernard are Alphas; the lift (elevator) operator is
an Epsilon - Minus; the Beta-Minus group is playing tennis; the
Deltas are holding a gymnastic display and community sing; the
Gamma girls are waiting for the tramcars. Each group has its own
work and its own recreation.
Part Two
Bernard, somewhat upset by his encounter with Lenina, rushes to
his plane. He feels guilty and alone - he feels inadequate because
he is shorter and thinner than others in the Alpha caste. Physically
and emotionally he considers himself a misfit.
Comment
Huxley draws our attention to Bernard Marx because he does not
look and act as a member of his caste should. He is short and
slight when he should be tall and robust; he feels guilt and depression
while others are happy; he is modest and unassuming rather than
boastful and self-confident.
Bernard flies to Propaganda House to pick up Helmholtz Watson,
a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department
of Writing). As on other occasions, Bernard and Helmholtz discuss
their individualism and their desire to find some meaning in life.
Comment
Helmholtz is introduced at this point to indicate that the conditioning
process is not always entirely successful. Although Bernard and
Helmholtz are very different physically, psychologically, and
emotionally, both are dissatisfied with life in the World State.
What causes this dissatisfaction, they do not know, but somehow
they sense that their existence is meaningless. Because they do
not feel, act, and react in exactly the same way as others in
their peer group do, both of them are being observed by their
respective superiors.
Bernard is considered odd not only because he is physically smaller
than the other members of the Alpha caste, but also because he
likes to spend time by himself, and he does not like to participate
in sport activities. (In the World State one should always be
with others, always busy, never alone.) When discussing Bernard,
reference is often made to the rumor that alcohol was accidentally
put in his blood - surrogate - and this supposedly accounts for
his oddness. Because individuals are decanted according to specification,
any deviation would seem to be the result of some mistake, some
chemical imbalance.
Helmholtz is suspect because he is too able, too intelligent,
too successful. Because he is outstanding physically and mentally,
because he is a good committeeman and a highly successful lover,
he is an individual whose talent sets him apart - and the World
State does not want extraordinary individuals; it wants "cogs
in a wheel."
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Five
Part One
On the way back from the golf course, Lenina and Henry fly by
a crematorium. They discuss the social usefulness of all the castes
and the fact that everybody is "happy." Landing on the roof of
Henry's apartment house, they go down for dinner. Later, they
spend the night in Henry's room, Lenina having taken the proper
precautions to prevent pregnancy.
Comment
As at other points in the book, the necessity of doing things
according to schedule and in a prescribed manner is stressed:
the golf course and night club close at specified times; Lenina
takes the contraceptive precautions specified by the regulations.
Part Two
Every other Thursday Bernard has to attend a "Solidarity Service"
at the Fordson Community Singery. He arrives a little late and
takes a place in the group. Twelve men and women take alternate
seats around the table. Soma tablets and liquid are taken as communion.
As the Soma begins to take effect, individuals jump to their feet
and shout as if in religious ecstasy. Although he feels nothing,
Bernard acts his part. They all dance around the table shouting
"orgy-porgy" in a kind of frenzy and then fall on the couches
exhausted. Indiscriminate sexual relations conclude the "service."
Comment
The Solidarity Service takes the place of religious services and
provides emotional release for the participants. But Bernard feels
nothing - no rapture, no peace, no solidarity. He remains alone
and unsatisfied.
Huxley's substitution of the Solidarity Service for the expected
religious service re-emphasizes the extent to which the World
State controls the people. The religious impulse in man has manifested
itself through the ages; the World State recognizes this impulse
and makes use of it. The Solidarity Service is a parody of and
substitute for the Christian Communion Service; Soma is used to
induce a "religious" feeling. Karl Marx called religion the opium
of the people; in Huxley's Brave New World Soma is substituted
for religion.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Six
Part One
Lenina at first questions whether or not she should visit the
Savage Reservation with Bernard Marx. She remembers his odd views
- his dissatisfaction with his life, his desire to be different.
Part Two
Bernard receives a permit to visit the Savage Reservation. The
Director, who must sign the permit, tells Bernard of his visit
there some twenty years before. He recalls that the girl who had
accompanied him on the trip disappeared, and he had to return
to London without her. While in the office, the Director reprimands
Bernard for his odd behavior and warns him that conformrty is
necessary.
Comment
The Director's account of his visit to the Savage Reservation
becomes very important later in the book. In discussing Bernard's
odd behavior, the Director uses an interesting term - "infantile
decorum." People in the World State were expected to satisfy every
desire without thinking - they were to be like infants, completely
dependent on the state.
Part Three
Bernard and Lenina arrive at the Reservation. The Warden attempts
to impress them with statistics and tells them there is no escape
from the Reservation for the sixty thousand Indians and half-breeds.
Since the Savages have not been conditioned, they still preserve
their old beliefs and customs (religion, marriage, natural birth,
family life).
Comment
Again we see the reversal in the values held by the World State.
The Savages are considered uncivilized because they believe in
marriage and morality as their ancestors had.
Bernard calls Helmholtz and finds that the Director of Hatcheries
and Conditioning intends to replace Bernard and have him sent
to Iceland because of his odd views and lack of conformity. Bernard
and Lenina are given permission to enter the Reservation and are
flown to the guesthouse.
Comment
In this chapter Huxley is preparing us for the contrast between
life on the Reservation and life in the "civilized" part of the
World State. Lenina recalls "truths" she has been taught - "A
gramme in time saves nine" or "Progress is lovely" - and Bernard
mockingly makes reference to the number of times this was repeated
during conditioning to assure her acceptance of a particular idea.
The Savages have not been conditioned; consequently they do not
hold the same "truths." Their beliefs are based on tradition and
what the Controller referred to as "old-fashioned" ideas about
morality and right and wrong.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Seven
An Indian guide takes Bernard and Lenina to see the Savages dancing.
Lenina is disgusted by the Savages - seeing evidence of old age,
disease, and dirt horrifies her.
Comment
The things that horrified Lenina are the things that are not characteristic
of the world she knows. The World State has abolished disease,
marriage, motherhood, and old age everywhere except on the Reservations.
(The government did not consider it worthwhile to "civilize" certain
ethnic groups and certain remote areas of the World State.)
The drums, the singing, and the performance remind Lenina of the
Solidarity Services. The dance continues, with the leader of the
dancers throwing snakes to the others. The ceremony ends with
the whipping of a young man. Lenina shudders at the sight of blood.
Suddenly a young white man appears.
Comment
Lenina is distressed by the sufferings of the young man because
she was conditioned to consider blood and violence disgusting,
not because she feels sorry for him. The young man (John) tells
Lenina and Bernard that his mother (Linda) came to the Reservation
from the Other Place (London) with a man who was his father. The
man was Tomakin, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning.
Comment
Bernard recalls the Director's story and realizes that knowledge
of this affair with Linda could result in the Director's disgrace.
Lenina and Bernard meet Linda, who is a fat, ugly blonde. She
is pleased to see them and recounts with horror that she, a Beta,
had had a baby. She tearfully describes her life on the Reservation
and speaks fondly of her life in the Other Place.
Comment
Huxley stresses the difficulty Linda had in adjusting to life
on the Reservation since she had been conditioned to act and think
only one way. She considers John "mad" because he accepts the
Savage's values rather than hers.
Life on the Reservation contrasts violently with life in the Other
Place. Here pain, suffering, disease, filth, and old age still
exist - in the Other Place science has succeeded in abolishing
anything which interferes with or impairs the physical well-being
of the citizenry. We have already noted the contrast and conflict
regarding morality.
Note that both ways of life are based on ignorance - an ignorance
based on superstition or an ignorance fostered by the state. Huxley
does not consider either way of life attractive or desirable because
he believes that life should be conscious existence - a life based
on reflection and study and an acceptance of one's own being.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Eight
Bernard finds the life that John, Linda, and the Savages lead
unbelievable, and he asks John to explain it as far back as he
can remember.
Comment
Although Bernard is considered odd because he does not conform
blindly to life in the World State, he has known no other life.
John tells Bernard of the many men who visited Linda, the women
who beat her because of her sexual activities, Linda's stories
of life in the Other Place, his learning to read, and his life
among the Savages.
Comment
The account of Linda's and John's life among the Savages underlines
the differences between the two cultures. Linda, having been decanted
and conditioned as a "Beta," had one set of values; the Savages,
having maintained the "old ways," had a different set. John accepted
the values, ideas, and ideals of the Savages.
Having received a superior education because of her caste, Linda
was able to teach John how to read. And one of the books John
acquired from Pope, one of Linda's male friends, was The Complete
Works of William Shakespeare. His close reading of Shakespeare
provided him with many ideas and beliefs and helped him develop
a strong code of moral conduct.
Bernard tells John he will try to obtain permission for him and
his mother to come to the Other Place (London). John is thrilled
with the idea and, like Miranda in Shakespeare's The Tempest,
exclaims, "O brave new world that has such people in it."
Comment
Huxley selects this quotation from The Tempest because of the
parallel in the lives of Miranda and John: both are anxious to
embrace a way of life that neither knows or understands.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Nine
After the horrifying events of their first day at the Reservation,
Lenina takes a large dose of Soma and sleeps. Bernard contacts
Mustapha Mond, the World Controller, and receives permission to
bring Linda and John to London. John enters Lenina's room and
finds her asleep, but he is too modest to touch her.
Comment
Bernard realizes that the return of John and Linda to London will
assure his position and prevent his transfer to Iceland.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Ten
Bernard returns to London with Linda and John. The Director of
Hatcheries and Conditioning, wishing to humiliate Bernard because
of the unorthodoxy of his behavior, publicly announces his banishment
to Iceland. Linda enters and exclaims that the Director is John's
father; the crowd roars with laughter, forcing the Director to
rush from the room.
Comment
Bernard realized that the presence of John and Linda in London
would prevent any untoward action being taken because of his lack
of conformity. The Director had hoped to use Bernard as an example
of the consequences of nonconformity and had decided to make a
public announcement. The arrival, of Linda and John (a physical
manifestation of the Director's own unorthodoxy) saves Bernard.
This chapter opens with a rather detailed description of the work
of the Hatching and Conditioning Centre - fertilization, predestination,
decanting, conditioning. Then, in conversation with Mr. Foster
concerning Bernard Marx, the Director says, "Unorthodoxy threatens
more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society
itself." Thus our attention is again called to the necessity of
conformity - the individual is not important, but the group is.
Bernard's "crime" is his desire to do what he wanted to do instead
of what they wanted him to do.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Eleven
Bernard becomes a celebrity and John a curiosity; Linda is content
to take an extended Soma-holiday. Bernard takes the "Savage" to
see many aspects of the Brave New World. At this point Lenina
is attracted to John, but he ignores her.
Comment
A change takes place in Bernard in his new role as celebrity -
he enjoys the attention he now receives. John is unimpressed by
what he sees and still maintains his "old-fashioned" ideas and
values; although attracted to Lenina, he considers such impulses
immoral and represses them.
These tours which Bernard and John take provide descriptions of
other aspects of life in the World State - specifically, the factory
system and the educational system. Remembering that science has
developed a method of producing up to ninety - six identical twins
from a single egg, we see these identical automatons performing
identical tasks. The upper-caste students (Alphas and Betas, each
produced from a single egg) are not really educated - they are
indoctrinated. In both situations individuality is nonexistent
- each is but a member of a particular group.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Twelve
Bernard invites many important personages to meet John, but John
then refuses to attend. Having thus lost the friendship of these
people, he turns again to John and Helmholtz.
Comment
Bernard realizes that his popularity is based on the curiosity
others have about the Savage. He realizes that John and Helmholtz
are his only "real" friends. At this point we find John reading
Shakespeare to them - making them aware of new ideas, new beliefs,
and new values which they find difficult if not impossible to
accept.
This chapter emphasizes the difference in character of Bernard
and Helmholtz, and their differences in point of view and attitude.
Bernard's dissatisfaction with the life he is leading seems to
stem from his not being accepted (alcohol in his blood - surrogate),
while Helmholtz's dissatisfaction seems to stem from his belief
that life must have some meaning beyond the purely physical.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Thirteen
Lenina and John have "fallen in love," but she finds his desire
to marry repulsive; she makes advances to him, and he locks himself
in another room. The telephone rings, and John rushes from the
apartment.
Comment
We see again the conflict between the two value systems - between
the life on the Reservation and the life in the World State. Lenina
and John are attracted to each other, but Lenina expects to have
sexual relations with "no strings attached"; John considers sexual
relations outside of marriage immoral and disgusting.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Fourteen
John arrives at the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying, where Linda
has been sent. He sits by her bed, remembering his early life
at her side, and weeps at her death.
Comment
The nurses at the hospital are mystified by John's reaction to
Linda's dying; they cannot understand his being upset. Since close
personal ties are forbidden and all were conditioned to accept
death impersonally, they consider John's reaction indecent and
disgraceful.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Fifteen
Saddened and enraged by Linda's death, John realizes that the
government of the World State has made the people the way they
are, and that they are being controlled; he warns those around
him. Bernard and Helmholtz arrive, the police are called, and
the three are taken away.
Comment
John recalls the words of Miranda in The Tempest, "O brave new
world!" Having observed life in the World State, these words mocked
him; now he hears them as a challenge to do something. He tries
to warn those around him, but they refuse to listen - they do
not want to change. Conditioning has made them unwilling or unable
to desire freedom or to do anything to obtain it.
The difference in the reactions of Bernard and Helmholtz when
they see the Savage pleading with the people to change emphasizes
the differences noted earlier. Helmholtz sympathizes with John's
comments on freedom and his desire to make others aware that the
government of the World State has taken away their freedom, and
he rushes to aid him. Bernard hesitates - he does not want to
become involved.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Sixteen
Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are brought before Mustapha Mond,
the World Controller. The Controller explains that since their
society is organized for stability and happiness, individuality
and free choice must be abolished. Both Bernard and Helmholtz
are to be deported because of their unorthodox behavior and belief.
Comment
In this chapter Huxley makes known the Controller's ideas and,
by inference, includes his own views of how the evolution of a
World State is possible. The Controller's reference to the inability
or unwillingness of the individual to act intelligently and reasonably,
to the loss of individuality, and to the shift in emphasis from
truth and beauty to comfort and happiness, gives emphasis to many
of the comments made by thoughtful men about modern society. Huxley
himself has commented on the possible consequences of these shortcomings
of society in numerous essays.
Huxley believed that man was unable or unwilling to act intelligently
and rationally. He was especially critical of the educated class
because he believed they should take the initiative in bringing
about needed social and political reform. The Cyprus experiment
alluded to by the Controller seems to illustrate this point of
view. In this experiment twenty-two thousand Alphas were given
the opportunity to manage their own affairs - to use their superior
intelligence to establish an ideal society. Within six years civil
war broke out. Although given the opportunity to create a democratic
Utopia, the Alphas were unable or unwilling to act independently,
intelligently, and rationally, and chose, instead, to return to
a system of rigid state control.
Note that in this chapter the World Controller addresses himself
primarily to the Savage. Although dissatisfied with life in the
World State, Bernard and Helmholtz do not know any other way of
life nor any other values; only John and the Controller are able
to discuss an alternate way of life and system of values. The
Savage's questions about the value system of the World State and
its inhabitants provide an opportunity for Huxley not only to
summarize what has gone before but also to illustrate how the
creation of an all-powerful World State is possible.
The Controller explains that even during the time of Ford (1932)
there was a shift in emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort
and happiness. The people were willing, even anxious, to bring
about this shift. Mass production contributed to this shift since
material goods were an important aid to comfort and happiness;
when the masses seized political power, it was happiness rather
than truth and beauty that mattered. Once the choice had been
made, truth and beauty, art and science, were seen as threats
to universal happiness since such inquiry can lead to dissatisfaction
with the status quo. Most people are happy when they get what
they want and never want what they can't get. In the World State
of A.F. 632, the government provides what the people want and
through conditioning prevents them from wanting what they can't
have. Anyone who becomes "too self-consciously individual to fit
into community life" is sent to an island lest he "contaminate"
the others.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Seventeen
The World Controller and the Savage are left alone and discuss
God and philosophy. The Controller again declares that a stable
society is possible only if all conflict, internal and external,
is abolished - God and modern society are incompatible.
Comment
Huxley, through the World Controller, says that modern man has
chosen machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness
instead of God, has chosen them as substitutes for God and the
religious impulse. This reference to God and the religious impulse
embraces all the attributes and aspects of a human being that
make him noble and fine and heroic; in the words of the Savage,
"I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom,
I want goodness, I want sin." Huxley believed that since man was
composed of body and soul, flesh and spirit, his life should reflect
this dichotomy. Modern man's values often glorify the body and
deny the spirit.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Chapter Eighteen
Bernard and Helmholtz are leaving London, but the Controller has
forced the Savage to remain in the area. Seeking refuge in an
abandoned lighthouse, the Savage attempts to resume his old life.
He disciplines himself severely to remove the taint of the Brave
New World, but the curious come to watch his strange antics and
disturb the solitude he seeks and needs. Finally, in despair,
he hangs himself.
Comment
The Savage attempted to duplicate his old life and his old ways
- working with his hands and disciplining his mind and his body.
But he could not remove the horror and corruption within or without
- he could not forget Lenina, and he could not find peace and
solitude. When he could no longer control his thoughts, when he
could no longer be an individual, he killed himself. In the World
State the choice is conformity or annihilation.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Character Analyses
Director Of Hatcheries And Conditioning
The Director of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre
is the first character we meet; the novel opens with the Director
taking a group of students on a tour of the Centre. Note that
the Director (Tomakin) is, with but two exceptions, always referred
to as the Director. This emphasis on the "function" of the man
is appropriate since his primary concern is the production of
automatons to populate the Brave New World.
The Director is an Alpha-plus, and because of the importance of
his position we might well assume that he is a very intelligent
and capable man. His comments during the tour indicate that he
is efficient, very businesslike, somewhat officious, and very
much concerned with conformity - "The primal and the ultimate
need. Stability." In fact, when the World Controller mentions
history (a forbidden subject), the Director is somewhat taken
aback; he recalls with some dismay the rumors that old forbidden
books were hidden in a safe in the Controller's study.
Perhaps one reason Huxley portrays the Director as very conventional
and scrupulously correct is to stress the irony of the Director's
unconventional behavior apparent in his previous relationship
with Linda. Imagine the horror and confusion he felt when everyone
realizes that he is a father (horrible word). Because the Director
had disgraced himself by the impropriety of his actions, he resigns.
Bernard becomes a kind of hero, and we hear nothing of the Director
again.
Henry Foster
One of the standard men and women who work at the Hatchery, Henry
is proud of his work. He is efficient, intelligent, and, most
important, "conventional." Henry does everything he is expected
to do and does it well - in every way he is an ideal citizen of
the World State. In the bureaucracy of the World State he is the
young man "with a future" - he knows what is expected of him and
does it. Henry Foster would not be classified as an important
character in the novel since he does not initiate or determine
action - he is most often seen as Lenina's sometime lover.
Mustapha Mond, A World Controller
As one of the ten World Controllers, Mustapha Mond provides considerable
information about the creation and maintenance of the World State.
He is an intelligent, capable, good-natured man whose dedication
and ability we must admire even if we do not approve. His comments
at the beginning of the novel, when he meets the Director and
the students provide not only information about his role in the
World State but also reveal something of his character.
The World Controller is one of the most important characters because
he is the most intelligent and the most knowledgeable - he has
read and studied the Bible, Shakespeare, history, philosophy (all
forbidden books). As a young Alpha-plus, his own unconventionality
necessitated a choice between life on an island (reserved for
those who were "too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life")
and life in the World State (being "taken on the Controller's
Council with the prospect of succeeding in due course to an actual
Controllership.") Because the Controller has freedom of choice
- a freedom which conditioning normally inhibits or destroys -
he is one of the few real individuals we meet in this novel.
In the latter part of the novel the conversation between the Controller
and John the Savage is the device Huxley uses to "put across"
his own ideas and concerns. When the Controller explains his values
and beliefs, his arguments and explanations are clearly and logically
presented; his sanity makes the insanity of the Brave New World
all the more vivid and frightening. The Controller in many ways
represents the intelligent, capable individual who uses his intelligence
and capability for unworthy ends.
Bernard Marx
Because he is different, Bernard is the source of considerable
speculation and suspicion. He does not enjoy sports (everyone
is expected to); he likes to be alone (others like crowds); he
is unhappy (everybody else is happy). Bernard doesn't know why
he is dissatisfied, why he is different; many of his associates
speculate that alcohol was accidentally put in his blood-surrogate
while he was still "in the bottle."
When we first meet Bernard we see him as a rebel, a protestor,
"an individual." He wants to stand up for his rights, to battle
against the order of things. We later learn that Bernard questions
the conformity of life in the World State and the values it teaches,
but that his dissatisfaction seems to stem from his not being
accepted. When he returns from the Reservation with John and Linda,
he becomes a kind of hero, the girls who formerly ignored him
become attentive, important personages in the World State curry
his favor, and Bernard is happy and enthusiastic about his life
in the World State.
Huxley indicates that Bernard's protest is not intellectual or
moral, but personal and social; he willingly accepts life in the
World State when he is accepted. When the novel ends we find that
Bernard's fortunes have changed and he is to be deported to Iceland
because of his nonconformity. Bernard protests his innocence,
begs the World Controller to reconsider, and finally is carried
out still shouting and sobbing.
Lenina Crowne
Young and pretty, Lenina is very popular as a sex partner, but
she sometimes finds living the motto "Everybody belongs to everybody
else" a little tiring. She is a happy, contented, well-adjusted
citizen of the World State; she accepts its teachings and values
without question. The only disconcerting element in her life is
the frustration brought about by her feelings for John the Savage.
Lenina finds John attractive and attempts without success to seduce
him. She cannot understand his attitude regarding sex even as
he cannot understand hers. Fortunately she, like the others, can
escape most frustrations and unhappiness by taking Soma.
Lenina is a fairly important character because she is instrumental
in bringing about the suicide of John the Savage, although we
cannot in any way blame her. (She is a product of the system,
and the system is wrong.) Because she is a beautiful, desirable
woman, she personifies for John the conflict between the body
and the spirit. In a way she repeats the conflict he felt regarding
his mother - he is at one and the same time attracted and repelled
by the object of his affections.
Helmholtz Watson
Intellectually, socially, and physically the ideal of his Alpha-plus
caste, Helmholtz is regarded with some suspicion by his associates
because he is too perfect. Like Bernard he questions the conformity
of life in the World State and the values it teaches, but, unlike
Bernard, his dissatisfaction stems from his feeling that there
must be more to life than mere physical existence. Although not
as important to the development of the novel as Bernard, Helmholtz
is in many ways a more admirable character because, instead of
simply talking about what he believed, he acted.
As noted earlier, in this novel Huxley expressed his pessimism
regarding man and his ability to save himself; consequently none
of the characters is able to bring about change. However, Helmholtz
is at least willing to try. When the Savage tries to tell the
people they are being controlled, Helmholtz joins forces with
the Savage when a melee breaks out. Later he accepts his banishment
with considerable aplomb and asks that he be sent to a cold climate
since he feels such discomfort might aid his writing.
Linda
Having been decanted and conditioned a Beta and then forced by
circumstances to spend some twenty years on the Reservation, Linda
offers some interesting comments and contrasts. At the Reservation
she is not accepted because her values and beliefs are those of
the Other Place - when she returns to London, people find her
repulsive and ignore her because she is fat, old-looking and unattractive.
Having been conditioned a Beta, Linda cannot understand or adapt
herself to life on the Reservation. But since the Reservation
does not have the ultramodern medical facilities which help retard
physical decay, she has grown old even as the Savages do. Her
relationship with John is also ambivalent - she is horrified at
the idea of being a "mother" and yet she admits that John has
been a great comfort to her. Her death during a Somainduced stupor
finally provides release.
John The Savage
A curious mixture of the "old" world and the "new," John does
not belong to either. He is not accepted by the Savages on the
Reservation because he is "different," and he cannot and will
not accept the life and values of the Other Place (London). Like
Bernard, Helmholtz, and Linda, he doesn't belong - he is an alien,
a misfit, a "mistake."
John is the most important character in the book because he acts
as a bridge between the two cultures, and having known both "ways
of life" he is able to compare them and comment on them. His beliefs
and values are a curious mixture of Christian and heathen, of
"Jesus and Pookong," but, most important, he has a strict moral
code. His "old fashioned" beliefs about God and right and wrong
(his beliefs closely duplicate Christian morality) contrast sharply
with the values and beliefs of the citizens of the Brave New World
("God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine
and universal happiness"). It is this conflict between the two
value systems that ultimately brings about his suicide.
When we are first introduced to John and the Reservation Huxley
makes us aware of the moral conflict, but he also makes us aware
of the social and emotional conflicts. The social conflict results
from his not belonging on the Reservation; his mother was the
white she-dog despised by the Savages. The emotional conflict
results from the attraction and repulsion he feels towards his
mother - he loves her but finds her promiscuity revolting. And,
too her stories of the Other Place (London) fill him with wonder
and a vague discontent.
The arrival at the Reservation of Bernard and Lenina and the Savage's
subsequent arrival in London contribute to the conflict he already
feels. John is attracted to Lenina but feels that such lustful
feelings are wrong and must be repressed; Lenina is attracted
to John and cannot understand the Savage's reticence and unwillingness
to show any interest in her. Finally when John protests his love
and expresses his desire to marry her, Lenina considers such an
entanglement absurd and scoffs at the idea. But John is unable
to put her out of his mind. His love for her finally breeds hatred,
and when this hate turns inward upon himself, the Savage hangs
himself.
Like the others in this novel, the character of the Savage is
not believable. (Huxley was not interested in creating characters;
he was interested in expressing ideas.) The Savage speaks too
intelligently and reasons too well for one whose education consisted
of reading a few books and talking to practitioners of a combination
fertility - Penitente cult. Huxley himself admitted the inconsistency.
But if we accept John simply as a spokesman in another of Huxley's
novels of ideas, he is more than satisfactory.
Because Brave New World is both fantasy and satire, Huxley's characters
are both fantastic and satirical. They are exaggerated because
the year is A.F. 632; they offer a caustic commentary because
more often than not they express what we must recognize are twentieth
century viewpoints. At this time (1931) Huxley was completely
disillusioned with mankind and with its choice of values or lack
of values - he saw no hope for man's ultimate salvation of himself.
He expresses his pessimism by offering no glimmer of hope in his
novel. None of his characters is able to change or to bring about
change.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Critical Commentary
Comment On Brave New World
Although Huxley published ten novels, four of them after the appearance
of Brave New World, not one of them attained the popularity or
provoked the commentary occasioned by this novel. Huxley's title
continues to be a catchword-writers and speakers often employ
it to express concern or disdain for the direction society has
taken, or for its lack of direction. But many readers and critics
still consider, as they have for some years, that this novel is
simply an above-average example of science fiction or an entertaining
fantasy. Too few were willing or able to see that Huxley meant
Brave New World to be a warning - a warning that a World State
is not only possible but probable if we do not protect the rights
of the individual to be an individual: to be unique and free.
In the New York Times (February 7, 1932) review of this novel,
the reviewer said, "It is Mr. Huxley's habit to be deadly in earnest.
One feels that he is pointing a high moral lesson in satirizing
Utopia. Yet it is a little difficult to take alarm . . ." This
comment might well be considered typical - it is difficult to
take alarm when we think, believe, and feel that Progress Is Our
Most Important Product. However, Huxley believed that the Individual,
not Progress, was most important. For this reason he tried again
and again in numerous ways to warn that progress should not and
must not be made at the expense of the individual.
As noted in the Introduction, Huxley wrote essays, poetry, short
stories, and biography in addition to his novels. Following the
publication of Brave New World, Huxley continued to expand his
ideas and to caution his readers in numerous essays and in his
novel Ape and Essence. This novel explores still other possibilities
of the future, but it was not nearly as successful as a novel
nor as an instrument of propaganda. It is in a collection of essays
on freedom, Brave New World Revisited, that Huxley most succinctly
and lucidly presents his concerns and beliefs.
Brave New World Revisited
Lest we should dismiss Brave New World as a fantasy, a Utopian
novel, or a pessimistic view of the modern world, Huxley entitles
his collection of essays on freedom, Brave New World Revisited.
Huxley was concerned that readers, critics, and commentators could
not or would not accept his novel not only as a satire on the
life and values of the time (1931) but also as a warning of what
the future could hold for mankind. Consequently these comments
on the contemporary scene (1958) were dubbed a "revisit" to emphasize
that in some ways, in too many ways, the Brave New World is already
upon us.
In his introduction to these essays Huxley says, "The subject
of freedom and its enemies is enormous, and what I have written
is certainly too short to do it full justice, but at least I have
touched on many aspects of the problem." In his novel he employs
satire to warn mankind; in his essays he employs reason - having
used fiction, he turns now to facts and opinions. Huxley includes
comments on overpopulation, overorganization, propaganda, and
persuasion, and discusses what can and should be done since "without
freedom, human beings cannot become fully human."
In Brave New World Huxley opens his novel with a discussion of
biology; he begins at the beginning. Consequently, or at least
subsequently, his collection of essays begins with a discussion
of overpopulation and its consequences. In the World State population
was controlled as an aid to social stability; in his first essay
Huxley warns that overpopulation can lead to economic insecurity
and social unrest which, in turn, foster greater government control.
The population explosion poses many problems for mankind - of
late, economists, politicians, and social scientists have issued
warnings and dire predictions. If this growth remains unchecked,
individual freedom may be impossible, for as the population increases,
so does the need for organization. The greater the population,
the greater the work force, and so also the greater the concentration
of political and economic power. Today in the United States one
out of ten people work for the government in some capacity, and
a comparatively few industries control the country's economy.
Huxley warns us that the concentration of power in the hands of
the few may lead eventually to the regimentation and exploitation
of the many. "Too much organization transforms men and women into
automata, suffocates the creative spirit and abolishes the very
possibility of freedom." This emphasis on the importance of the
group rather than the individual is discussed at length in William
Whyte's The Organization Man.
Today newspapers, magazines, radio, and television make possible
a wide dissemination of propaganda in an effort to persuade people
to support or adopt a particular opinion, attitude, or course
of action. This propaganda may be consonant with enlightened self-interest
or an appeal to passion; in every case it is an attempt to mold
or move the individual in some way. Those who control mass media,
who control propaganda, exercise tremendous control over the individual.
Today the advertiser and the politician use the mass media to
influence opinion, attitude, or course of action; in the future
the mass media might be used to control opinion, attitude, or
course of action as in Brave New World.
In his discussion of the various forms of persuasion, Huxley includes
chemical persuasion, subconscious persuasion, and sleep-teaching.
The World State provided Soma to insure happiness; today tranquilizers
offer release form tension and emotional stress. Today "subliminal
projection" is a subtle from of conditioning since people are
subconsciously influenced to act in a predetermined manner. Since
an individual is susceptible to suggestion, sleep-teaching was
used in the World State to condition an individual according to
government specifications. Huxley warns that all three forms of
persuasion are effective and have the potential for good or evil.
Huxley does not end his essays on a pessimistic note - at that
time he believed we could save ourselves if we wanted to. That
is the key. If we are complacent, indifferent, uninterested in
our future - he believes the future is not worthwhile. But if
we are willing to search for answers and to work out solutions
- then the individual and individuality can be saved.
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Section: Brave New World
Chapter: Essay Questions And Answers
Question: What is the theme of Brave New World?
Answer: In Huxley's own words, the theme of Brave New World is
"the advancement of science as it affects human individuals."
In 1931, when he was writing his novel, each advance in science
and technology was being hailed not only as evidence of man's
progress but also as the hope of man's future. Huxley felt that
this unqualified praise of science was wrong, that man's advances
in science and technology were fraught with danger, that the misuse
of knowledge results in evil, not good. Projecting his novel into
the future he offers a picture of the world as it might become
if Man becomes subservient to Science rather than Science subservient
to Man.
Question: What is the significance of Huxley's title?
Answer: Huxley's title is taken from William Shakespeare's The
Tempest (Act V, Scene 1) and occurs in a speech of Miranda: "How
beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in
it." Having been exiled on an island with her father, the deposed
Duke of Milan, Miranda makes this remark when she sees other human
beings for the first time. Ironically these same people had plotted
against her and her father, had planned for their ultimate destruction,
and had attempted murder but a short while before she sees them
for the first time. But she is so overcome by the wonderment of
what she is seeing for the first time that she calls "good" that
which is potentially or actually evil. Huxley likens those who
consider scientific advancement an unsullied good to Miranda -
both are mistaken in their assumptions but blissfully happy in
their ignorance.
Question: What is the significance of Huxley's use of "Ford" as
a substitute for "Christ" or "God"?
Answer: In the Brave New World science and technology have replaced
God as a source of value and meaning in life. Because Huxley believed
that this shift in emphasis was given great impetus when Henry
Ford revolutionized manufacturing with his assemblyline technique,
the introduction of the Model-T Ford is used as the opening date
of the new era. This change in emphasis is symbolized by the changing
of the Christian Cross to the Ford T. In the words of the World
Controller, "God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific
medicine and universal happiness."
Question: In his novels Huxley often uses a spokesman for himself
and his ideas. Who is his spokesman in this novel?
Answer: John the Savage and Mustapha Mond, the World Controller,
present many of Huxley's ideas and beliefs. Their discussion in
chapters 16 and 17 acts as a summary of the book. Mustapha Mond
by reason of his position had access to "forbidden books" and
was therefore aware of the "old beliefs and ideals." John was
acquainted with the works of Shakespeare and the religious practices
of the Savages and could therefore question the values of the
World State. By these questions and answers, explanations and
discussions, Huxley is able to express his fears about, and to
offer his commentary on, the contemporary scene.
Question: Why was society in the World State divided into castes?
Answer: Every society needs individuals with different talents
and capabilities to perform different functions - teachers and
garbage collectors, bankers and elevator operators, lawyers and
gardeners, scientists and factory workers. Since a stable society
was the aim of the World State, the caste system provided a stabilizing
influence. An individual was predestined to serve in a specific
capacity according to the particular needs of the time. Since
the individual had been decanted and "conditioned" physically
and psychologically to perform a specific task, he functioned
happily in that capacity. For instance, a Beta was happy because
he didn't have to work as hard as an Alpha and because he was
smarter than the others; an Epsilon was too ignorant to be unhappy.
Question: What is the significance of the World State's motto:
"Community, Identity, Stability"?
Answer: The World State's motto emphasizes the importance of the
group and the subsequent unimportance of the individual. Community
stresses the importance attached to the individual as a contributor
to society - "Everyone belongs to everybody else." Reference is
made to the contribution the individual makes even after death
- the body is cremated and the phosphorus thus obtained is used
as fertilizer. Identity refers to the various classes (castes),
their specialized duties, and their distinguishing uniform. A
particular character is often spoken of as a Beta or an Alpha
as a means of identification. In the lower classes identity was
stressed even more since there might well be ninety-six identical
twins performing a particular task in a single factory. Stability
is the key word in the World State. Decanting and conditioning,
the abolition of the family, and conformity in thought and action
- all contribute to a stable society.
Question: Why does Huxley have John the Savage commit suicide?
Answer: Huxley had John commit suicide in order to show the hopelessness
of life in the Brave New World. Not only was John unable to accept
a life founded on conformity and the pleasure principle ("no leisure
from pleasure") but there was also a conflict within himself because
of his ambivalent feelings towards Lenina - he found her desirable
but considered such feelings sinful. Because the World Controller
would not allow John to return to the Reservation, he tried to
duplicate his "old" life, to be self-sufficient, to avoid being
contaminated by life in this Other Place, to forget Lenina. But
his hiding place was discovered; he became a curiosity; people
came and laughed at his curious ways. One day Lenina came by with
Henry; the Savage cursed her and himself. He struck out at her
with a whip and then beat himself in an attempt to dispel his
lustful feelings. The crowd took up a chant - "Orgy-Porgy." The
Savage joined the others in the orgy. In the morning he realized
what had happened and committed suicide.
The End
Copyright © 1993 Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc.
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