Their Peak In Huxley's Brave New World example essay topic

Title: Brave New World Significance of Title: In Shakespeare's The Tempest, in act 5 scene 1, on line 204, Mira states: "How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!" To say the least, this book has quite a few references to Shakespeare. This segment in particular is used, because the setting of the book is of a 'brave new world' where almost everything is different from our current situation, and outwardly, every member of the society seems content in their position. It is likely that Huxley thought this was slightly ironic, as what appears to be a perfect government is in reality ultimately oppressive of the most basic personal freedoms, infringing even upon the opinions of its constituents. Author: Aldous Huxley Significant facts about the author: Aldous Huxley was born in Surrey, England on July 26, 1894 to a family deeply rooted in England's literary and scientific tradition. Huxley's father, Leonard Huxley, was the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, a well-known biologist who gained the nickname 'Darwin's bulldog' for supporting Charles Darwin's evolutionary ideas.

His mother, Julia Arnold, was related to the important nineteenth-century poet and essayist Matthew Arnold. Brought up by a family of teachers and scientists, Huxley had an exceptional education. His intelligence was very well balanced between English writing and science, making him a very good science fiction writer. Huxley was very eager to believe new theories and ideas in the science world, and quickly incorporated them into his novels, which, although unscientific, produced extremely entertaining results. Huxley's writing has also been affected by a partial blindness that he contracted at an early age. First of all, it forced him out of his preferred career as a doctor, and it also show up in quite a few of his novels as a theme.

After graduating from Oxford in 1916, Huxley began to make a name for himself writing satirical pieces about the British upper class. Though these writings were skillful and gained Huxley an audience and literary name, they were generally considered to be somewhat vapid and meaningless. Huxley continued to write prolifically, working as an essayist and journalist, and publishing four volumes of poetry before beginning to work on novels. Without giving up his other writing, beginning in 1921, Huxley produced a series of novels at an astonishing rate: Come Yellow was published in 1921, followed by Antic Hay in 1923, Those Barren Leaves in 1925, and Point Counter Point in 1928. During these years, Huxley left his early satires behind and became more interested in writing about subjects with deeper philosophical and ethical significance. Much of his work deals with the conflict between the interests of the individual and society, often focusing on the problem of self-realization within the context of social responsibility.

These themes reached their peak in Huxley's Brave New World, published in 1932. His most enduring work imagined a fictional future in which free will and individuality have been sacrificed in deference to complete social stability. Brave New World marked a step in a new direction for Huxley, combining his skill for satire with his fascination with science to create a dystopian world in which a totalitarian government controlled society by the use of science and technology. By looking at the problems with linking science, technology, and politics, and the argument that such a link will likely reduce human individuality, Brave New World deals with similar themes as George Orwell's novel 1984. Orwell wrote his novel in 1949, after the dangers of totalitarian governments had been played out to tragic effect in World War II, and during the great struggle of the Cold War and the arms race which so powerfully underlined the role of technology in the modern world. Huxley anticipated all of these developments.

Hitler came to power in Germany a year after the publication of Brave New World. World War II broke out six years after. The atomic bomb was dropped thirteen years after its publication, initiating the Cold War and what President Eisenhower called a frightening buildup of the 'military-industrial complex. ' Huxley's novel seems to predict the major themes and struggles that dominated life and debate in the second half of the twentieth century, and continue to dominate it in the twenty-first.

Author's style analysis: Huxley's style in this novel is quite distinct, referred to by many as 'free indirect quotation', as popularized by the works of Jane Austen. The bizarre notation gives the reader a more intimate sense of the occurrences in the book, and provides a more adaptive and intuitive reading experience. Theme: The inherent evil of a totalitarian and technologically enabled communist society. Minor themes: Ignorance is bliss, but true bliss is meaningless. Power corrupts. Life without pain and conflict is bliss, but life without pain and conflict is empty.

A life lived for others is a life lived in vain. Conservation always leads to unhappiness, thus excess is the path to enjoyment. Domestic relationships are the main source of strife in society. Character descriptions: Bernard Marx is the most prominent character in the story, an alpha-plus worker in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center, who through the course of the book resolves his animosity towards the society in which he lives. His most prominent difference from his peers is physical, as for some reason his growth was stunted, leaving him with the stature of a mere epsilon. This, of course, causes him to be somewhat of an outcast, and thus he spends much of his time brooding and contemplating, which is considered extremely negative behavior.

Unlike other citizens, he prefers privacy, dislikes the conditioning undergone by children, and is distinctly bitter and cynical in regards to society in general. However, he is not as even keeled and virtuous as he seems at the start of the novel. When the chance to be in demand, in both the social and physical senses, presents itself, he leaps at the opportunity, and briefly abandons his only true friend, Helmholtz. Overall, he is an inquisitive, but weak willed individual, whose determination to fight the will of society is eventually broken, leaving him a shadow of the man he once was.

Lenina Crowne is the love interest for both Bernard and John. She is a beta worker in the social predestination department of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center, and appears early in the book as the target of Bernard's infatuation. She seems more intelligent than most citizens, and is intrigued by the ideas of monogamy and identity, but in the end is unable to overcome her conditioning, and thus is eventually effectively forgotten by Bernard, and despised by John. She re encounters John, and mistakenly provokes him into whipping her, and he eventually whips her to death. Helmholtz Watson is an alpha lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering, and a part time emotional engineer. His work comprises of composing messages in various media that are effective at reaching the public, and uphold the values of the state.

He is very good at what he does, but feels a constant push to do something more, what, he knows not. Unlike Bernard, he is a success in his work, and his only shortcoming is his boldness and outlandish views. He is often reprimanded for crossing the line in the morals he teaches. His strong character is shown throughout the book, and never falters in his determination, although his search for enlightenment is severely hindered by the conditioning all citizens undergo as children. John (also referred to as 'the Savage') is the only real character in the book brought up outside of the World State, and the contrast between him and all others is quite obvious. This is ironic, as he was an outsider in the New Mexico village he grew up in as well.

The entirety of his knowledge of society and opinions upon human nature come from personal musings and the complete works of Shakespeare, which he has well memorized, and quotes throughout the book. He believes that the citizens have the right to experience pain and suffering, and that depriving them of it deprives their lives of meaning. He is the antithesis to Mustapha Mond, but due to his inability to express himself, is not able to defend his views. His days end as he hangs himself for, in the heat of anger, whipping Lenina to death. Mustapha Mond is the Controller, or chief executive of the government.

He is a very intelligent and opinionated man, whose views seem somewhat centered in comparison to the society he has engineered. He only truly comes to play in the end of the book, where he displays both his debating skill and extremely well grounded beliefs. He is a good man in his own mind, and his intentions are for the best, although his methods are arguably evil. He works selflessly to make the citizens happy, by whatever means necessary.

Point of view: Third person omniscient. Initial publication date: 1932 Setting: This book is set in 2540 AD, or 632 AF as the characters put it. The world they live in is a society vastly different from current standards, rebuilt from the ground up after massive warfare and general strife. The brave new world they live in is populated by sets of engineered people, conceived and matured in labs, in homogeneous sets of up to ninety two. They are specifically engineered, through chemical influence, to fit into six castes, corresponding to the first six letters of the Greek alphabet. The potential of each lower caste is limited at birth, such that they will enjoy their station in life.

After 'birth', children are brought up by nurses, in their ' groups'. Their thoughts are extremely well controlled, through use of, or sleep teaching, used to infuse countless dogmatic phrases which reinforce the values of society. They are put in jobs by caste, of course, and live their lives happily and healthily until the age of sixty, when they are killed. Citizens are encouraged to be sexually promiscuous and use soma, their drug, to sustain happiness.

Almost the entire world is dominated by the World State, with only small preserves representing other governments, which are of course kept in check. Brief plot synopsis: The story begins with a group of students touring the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center, where the process of baby creation is outlined. The tour moves to the nursing ward where the youth conditioning process is described. Soon, the focus shifts to Bernard and Lenina, who have a rather dysfunctional relationship, and never truly get along well.

They take a trip to a wildlife preserve in New Mexico, and encounter the former sexual partner and son of Bernard's superior, and bring them back to society. The boy, John, becomes infatuated with Lenina. However, when she attempts to make sexual advances upon him, he sees her as overly promiscuous and shallow, and is then called off as his mother lays in the death ward at the hospital. She dies, and he realizes just how despicable the world state is, as children nag him with questions as he kneels by her deathbed. He then incites a riot at a soma distribution center, along with Bernard's friend Helmholtz. This gains them the attention of Mustapha Mond, the ruler of the world state, and he calls them in for a conference.

He sends Helmholtz off to an island, where he can meet others with views similar to his, and work on literature with true merit, and sends Bernard to his room to be drugged up. He then holds a debate with John, over the nature of life itself, and appears victorious. John moves into an abandoned lighthouse, and attempts to purge himself of the sins of society through physical pain. It is caught on tape by a reporter, and creates one of the most popular 'fee lies' (movies with multiple degrees of sensation) ever, and he is soon swamped with media attention. Lenina appears, and begs John to whip her.

He does, and gets so caught up in it that he kills her, then passes out in a soma induced stupor. He wakes up in the morning and realizes what he has done, and hangs himself. Literary techniques: Anaphora: "What with mothers and lovers, what with the prohibitions they were not conditioned to obey, what with the temptations and the lonely remorse's, what with all the diseases and isolating pain, what with the uncertainties and the poverty... ". . Huxley uses this device to emphasize the point to an extreme degree.

Archaism: "Outliving beauty's outward, with a mind that doth renew swifter than blood decays". Here John reverts, yet again, to quoting Shakespeare in order to express his extreme emotion. He feels unable to show his feelings in any other way, and Huxley makes us aware of this by showing his side of a conversation purely in quotations. Also, I found it interesting that in contrast to the mindless zombies who spout phrase after phrase of ingrained knowledge, you have the Savage, who learns everything he knows from Shakespeare, and quotes it without end. Maybe they have more in common than we think. Assonance: "Five minutes later, roots and fruits were abolished; the flower of the present rosily blossomed".

This narrative offers a whimsically phrased and easily visualized representation of the euphoria of soma usage. The use of the vowel sounds gives the passage a natural feel, making it easier to comprehend. Euphemism: " 'But after all,' Lenina was protesting, 'it's only been about four months now since I've been having Henry. ' " Here Lenina describes her recent sexual history using inoffensive terms, showing that although sexual relations may not be a taboo subject in this setting, the inhibition about specific and scientific terms remains in effect. Situational Irony: .".. if he had the smallest sense, he'd understand that his punishment is really a reward. He's being sent to and island.

That's to say, he's being sent to a place where he " ll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere in the world". Here Mustapha speaks about Bernard's fear of being reassigned to an island station, and how it would actually have the opposite effect he predicts. This adds humor and at the same time sadness to the novel, as we realize that he is sentencing himself to a life in a place where he will never be happy. Major symbols: Soma is used as a symbol of technology used to make up for the shortcomings of society. The bottle is used as a symbol throughout the entire work to represent the surroundings and conditions of a person's life.

Allusions: The T shaped artifacts and references to Ford could easily be seen as allusions to the crucifix and God, as they hold extremely similar roles in the work. Interestingly enough, it would seem that rather than do away with Christianity altogether, Mustapha has simply replaced the religious elements with a more acceptable ones, including Ford, the T, and the community sings. Motifs: Some repeated elements are the quotations of the works of Shakespeare, the concept of being alienated, and the contrast between emotional and physical relationships. Distinguishing characteristics of the work: Not only was this one of the earliest science fiction novels ever written, it was also one of the first to deal with the issues of cloning and caste based societies.

In fact, almost all of the ideas for the society of the future shown in this book are quite unique, and yet still very well thought out and sensible. This book was most definitely a trendsetter for future science fiction works, as the 'clone society' has just about reached clich'e status. Also unique is the diction and voice of the novel, in addition to the strange notation. Personal response: I found this book quite intriguing, and definitely worth reading.

It held some quite outlandish and even racy ideas, and was very different than the majority of science fiction books I read. Although I sometimes seriously disagreed with Huxley's logic, and wished I could pitch in a word or two in the final debate, I it was none the less very eye opening and enjoyable. Vocabulary: Because Huxley practically rebuilt society from the ground up in this novel, the vocabulary had to be extremely specialized. The amount of words he has come up with and used in the work is immense compared to other books, and yet don't feel out of place or underused.

Here are a few of the more common words for reference. Soma is the drug of the future, whose only side effect is the shortening of ones lifespan, and even then is negligible if used with caution. It is the ultimate technological fix, effectively 'smoothing out the bumps' and taking care of every last problem that couldn't be solved through other means. Ford is always used in reference to Henry Ford, the inventor of the Model T, and founder of the Ford Motor Company.

He is held as an idol by the future citizens, and his name is used in the same context as we would use god. Also, many mentions of T are made, in reference to the Model T. People wear gold T's instead of gold crosses, and T's appear on official buildings in place of the cross. Additionally, The inception of the model T is used as a reference point for a new time scale, AF or after Ford. Bokanovsky Groups is the name given to the groups of children produced by repeatedly splitting fertilized eggs through radiation bombardment.

These groups are the building blocks of the World State, and provide it with the regularity needed to be run on a large scale. Pneumatic is used in the book quite a few times, and in two different contexts. The first is in terms of chairs, where I presume it means they are operated on pistons, much like modern day adjustable height chairs. The other sense is with regard to people, always with a sexual connotation. It is used in a positive light, and thus must mean something along the lines of energetic or engrossing. Significant quotes:" 'She " ll be quite safe up here by herself?' 'Safe as helicopters,' the octoroon assured him".

I thought this quote was a simply fantastic example of the storytelling prowess Huxley displays in this book. I couldn't think of a more striking way to show the extreme effects of the conditioning undergone regarding each job-caste set. Not only that, the proposition is truly hilarious. "One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies " This quote struck me as rather insightful, and, in my opinion, to some degree true". It isn't only art that's incompatible with happiness; it's also science". This quote strikes me as extremely insightful, as it corresponds with my belief that only religion can bring faith in a positive outcome from life, and of course, all religions are shown to be flawed under the microscope of science".

'My dear young friend,' said Mustapha Mond, 'civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic'". This statement shows exactly the largest problem with the proposed system of government. We as human beings seek to improve our lives instinctively, and can never be at rest. I suppose we haven't experienced conditions like those proposed, but unless in a situation of constant reproduction (the ultimate chemical goal of the human being) we will continue to seek improvement.

On side effect of this is that any time a person is unable to attain greater rank or status, they will have serious psychological problems. Obviously the caste system has a serious flaw". 'You can't make flivver's without steel - and you can't make tragedies without social instability'". Although I'm not sure what flivver's are, I still find this quote extremely interesting. It makes one wonder if a person can be happy without experiencing or even watching their fair share of tragedies unfold". Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery.

And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability". I agree with this whole hearted ly, it seems as though especially we Americans long for true hardship, beyond the simple (for me) teenage day to day stuff. Of course, not knowing what the experience of hardship truly is like, we may be taking a step in the most definitely wrong direction. The second part of this quote is also very insightful, I think. Its obvious that harmony is never entertaining, whereas conflict and destruction (most often followed by reconstruction and resolution) are top dollar interesting..