Major Themes in the Brave New World

Brave New World

Brave New World is a form of utopian literature. It’s an imaginary society organized to create ideal conditions for human beings, eliminating hatred, pain, neglect, and all of the other evils of the world. The novel takes place in 632 A.F. (After Ford, the god of the New World). It takes place in a time where man is desperate for beliefs (and structures also a relief from pain.). All civilization has been destroyed by a great war. Then there is another war, the Nine Years War, which begins the era of Ford, ensuring stability through dictatorship. The society in Brave new world is based on a strict caste system. The highest of the five castes enjoy easier and better tasks, while the lower ones perform unskilled and all the dirty jobs. Ten Controllers hold all the power in this new world and peace is maintained by training infant minds and by dulling down adults with the tranquilizer, “soma.” The population is further controlled through scientific methods; marriage is forbidden, and children are not born but produced in an embryo factory

THEME: Science and its influences on humanity is the major theme of Brave New World. The novel depicts a new society where human beings have been stripped of individual freedom, programmed to certain types of behavior, and conditioned to respond in scientific ways to specific stimulants. All traces of the old order have been eliminated. No longer are human emotions or relationships important. Infants are created in a fertilizing room and decanted to perform certain tasks for the totalitarian regime. They are then conditioned from birth to accept their prescribed role without question. Since love and marriage no longer exist, sex has become a casual experience encouraged from childhood.
It is obvious that Huxley fears a completely totalitarian government and a purely scientific society engineered in a laboratory. It is no wonder that he chose to express his concerns in a book, for the increasing power of Russia and other socialist and dictatorial governments was rapidly expanding. In fact, many viewed the Soviet countries as "the new world." Huxley, however, believed that a purely scientific society is incompatible with long cherished human values and ideals such as truth, love, art, and emotions. The novel carries a clear warning against contemporary tendencies, especially those where science is used merely as a technological tool. The author also warns that social stability, the natural concern of a post-war generation, should not be valued at the expense of individual freedom. Finally, Huxley is warning against escaping reality through drugs, the growth of mindless entertainment, the advocacy of free sex, and the increasing power of mass media, problems that now plague modern life. The title, therefore, is intended to be ironic, for Huxley does not see the world depicted in the novel as a brave or beauteous place. Instead of being a utopia, the Brave New World becomes a utopia-in- reverse; it is less inviting than the old world order with all its disadvantages.
Main Characters • John the Savage, is the protagonist of the novel and the symbol of the old world order, back before everyone was seen as a group and where emotion and individualism were important. When he is taken from the Savage Reservation to London, he refutes the accepted merits of the " Brave New World " and points out its pitfalls.

• Mustapha Mond is the antagonist of the novel and the symbol of the brave new world. As one of the Controllers of the new society, he represents the sophisticated, scientific society of the new world order, where conformity and stability are more valued than emotion and individual freedom. He effectively counters John's attack on his utopian society, forcing John to realize that the old world order and brave new world can never co-exist peacefully.
Plot:
The story opens and for a long time explains the society and talks about a form of population control and creating uniform humans. While there are multiple moments of crisis throughout the plot, the climax occurs during the extended debate between Mustapha Mond and the Savage. The debate focuses between the differences of the old and the new - between science and emotion, between individual freedom and social stability, and between materialism and spiritualism. The debate does not establish a solution to the problem, indicating that the two opposing forces will never be able to compromise and co- exist in peace. The plot ends as a tragedy. John who is unable to convert the Utopians to his way of thinking has not been able to adjust to the brave new world and ends his life by committing suicide Brave New World is one of those books that makes one think about humanity and our being better off living a certain way in exchange for human rights. Maybe it’s just showing the inevitable and that mankind is destined to follow this path or maybe a more big brother form of government such as in the novel 1984. Or maybe it’s a warning to be aware it’s more then a possibility especially with the population and technology found on the planet today. I will remember this book and I recommend it to anyone who wants a glimpse of a more then likely future.