Brave New World

A nove l by Aldo us Hux ley

March 28, 2017

Volume 1, Issue 1

Main Characters Basic

 John the Savage: shy and naïve man born to Linda in a Savage community Information
and introduced to the World State. Son of the Director. He was an alien in
 Dystopian novel
the Savage
“But I don’t want comfort. I want
God, I want poetry, I want real
 Lenina Crowne : a lab tech that becomes danger, I want freedom, I want
 Originally pub-
involved with John. She is a frequent user goodness, I want sin.” lished in 1932
of Soma and an object of desire for -John the Savage
many characters, including Bernard Marx.  Set in London,
She is unorthodox in the society, dating one man for several months, and be- which is part of
comes interested in John. the World State.

 Bernard Marx: an Alpha male viewed as an outcast due to his physical stat-
ure. Does not confirm to conventional believes about relationships, sports and
community events. He is insecure about his size and discontent with the World By the
State.
Numbers
 324: First-edition
 Helmholtz Watson: an Alpha who lectures at the College of Emotional Engi-
neering. He feels is work is empty and meaningless. He is friends with Ber-
copies signed by
nard, but Watson’s issues with the World State are more philosophical. Aldous Huxley.
 1922: Year of
publication of
 Mustapha Mond: The Resident World Controller of Western Europe. He per- Henry Ford’s man-
formed illicit research in his youth and was given the open to go into exile of ifesto that inspired
become a World Controller. He has a collection of forbidden literature.
the novel.
 10,000: Last
 Linda: the mother of John and a Beta. She became preg- names used for
nant with the Director’s son while visiting the Savage Reserva- the two billion
tion and was lost during a storm and left behind. She lived in people in the
the Savage Reservation because she was too ashamed to World State.
return the World State with a baby, even though she was
desperate to.

 The Director: runs the Central London Hatchery

and Conditioning Centre. Involved in the scandal of “No social stability without
fathering a child with Linda. individual stability.”
-Mustapha Mond
Key Points
Themes
 The use of technology to con-
trol society
 The consumer society
 The incompatibility of happi-
ness and truth
“Every one works for every one else. We
can’t do without any one. Even Epsilons
are useful. We couldn’t do without
Epsilons. Every one works for every one
else. We can’t do without any one. . . .”
The Castes
 Alpha: the highest caste, with the exception on an Alpha Plus. They
wear the color grey and maintain the highest jobs in the World State
 Beta: second highest caste and wear the color mulberry. They are al-
lowed to interact with Alphas
 Gamma: average caste and wear the color green. They undergo the Bo-
kanovsky’s process. They mainly work in offices and administrative set-
tings. They are 8 inches shorter than an average Alpha.
 Delta: wear the color khaki and have no individuality as they are made
up of cloned groups. They work in jobs like manufacturing, serving the
upper classes, driving trucks, etc.

Symbols  Epsilon: lowest caste and

wear the color black.
Soma is a symbol for instant gratifi- They cannot read or
cation. The World State uses it to write. They perform the
control their population. Also a sym- jobs that no one else
bol of the powerful influence science wants. The average height
and technology have on society. is that of a six year old
Tone and are also made up of
cloned groups
The novel is written in a satirical and
ironic tone.

rector was embarrassed at disclos-

Plot Summary
The novel is set in London nearly
600 years in the future, or “After
Ford”. The novel opens in a lab
where human beings are created
and conditioned according to the
society’s caste system. Birth, aging,
and death represent horrors in
this world.
Bernard, an Alpha-Plus psycholo-
gist, is discontented with the
World State, mostly because wom-
en reject him due to his stature.
The World State encourages recre-
ational sex without attachments
and frequent use of the drug so-
ma. Lenina agrees to spend a vaca-
tion week with him at the Savage
Reservation in New Mexico. Be-
fore they leave, the Director con-
fesses that he lost the woman who
accompanied him there. The Di-
ing this and threatens to banish
Bernard. At the Reservation, Ber-
nard meets Linda, who gave birth
to a son about 20 years ago. Ber-
nard sees this as an opportunity to
gave power over the Director and
brings Linda and her son John to
London.
Back in London, the Director flees
due to embarrassment. Bernard
becomes a celebrity due to his asso-
ciation with John. John finds Lon-
don strange, as life in the Reserva-
tion is more traditional. John be-
comes disgusted with the recrea-
tional sex, soma, and identical
human beings of London. Lenina
attempts to seduce John and cou-
ple with that and the death of his
mother, John becomes furious.
John attempts to keep a crowd of
Delta from their ration of soma
and a riot ensues. John is arrested
along with Bernard and Helmholtz
Watson. They all face the judge-
ment of Mustapha Mond. Mond
banishes Bernard and Helmholtz
and rules that John must stay in
London.
John retreats to a secluded light-
house and tries to purify himself
with whippings and vomiting. His
penances are a spectacle and they
draw the public curiosity. When
Lenina appears, John attacks her
with the whip. The frenzy created
by John’s actions turn into a sexual
orgy, with John participating.
The next day, when John wakes
from the effects of the soma, he
realizes what he has done. The
novel ends on the image of John’s
body hanging lifeless from a wood-
en beam in his lighthouse.