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Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley A satirical piece of fiction; a warning to future generations

Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

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Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley. A satirical piece of fiction; a warning to future generations. ALDOUS HUXLEY. Born in England, July 1894 Had poor vision for most of his life from an eye disease Family consisted of scientists, writers, and teachers - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

Brave New WorldBy: Aldous Huxley

A satirical piece of fiction; a warning

to future generations

Page 2: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

ALDOUS HUXLEYBorn in England, July 1894

Had poor vision for most of his life from an eye disease

Family consisted of scientists, writers, and teachers

Received an excellent education with access to numerous fields of study

Huxley was especially interested in science and the English language; therefore, he combined the two in his writings

His writings put him ahead of his time

Page 3: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

SATIREA piece of literature designed to ridicule the

subject of the work

While satire is usually meant to be humorous (it isn’t always), it aims to shed light on the problems in society and shame it into improvement

Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and sarcasm are just a few techniques that are almost always present in satire

Aims to shed light on a number of different issues: political, religious, or social

Can you think of some examples of satirizing material in today’s culture?

Page 4: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley
Page 5: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

What is the Brave New World ?

Published 1932, just before the break out of WWII

Deals with the conflict between the interests of an individual and what’s best for society – can one be true to oneself and still be socially responsible?

Brave New World is a dystopian society where things go badly awry in which a totalitarian government controls society through the use of science and technology

Supposed to be a perfect world but it is not – flaws should be expected because humans are imperfect

Unsettling, loveless, and even sinister place

Everyone has a specific place/job in society - castes

Page 6: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

Mustapha Mond, Resident Controller of Western Europe, governs a society where all aspects of an individual's life are determined by the state, beginning with conception and conveyor-belt reproduction – genetic engineering

A government bureau, the Predestinators, decides all roles in the hierarchy.

Children are raised and conditioned by the state bureaucracy, not brought up by natural families.

There are only 10,000 surnames

Citizens must not fall in love, marry, or have their own children

Centered around control and manipulation

Individualism is the root of all evil

Propaganda is spread to hate others

Page 7: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

settings (place): England, Savage Reservation in New Mexico

settings (time): 2540 AD; referred to in the novel as 632 years AF (“After Ford”), meaning 632 years after production of the first Model T car

point of view: Narrated in the third person from the point of view of Bernard or John, but also from the point of view of Lenina, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond

Page 8: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

This novel is more applicable today than it was in 1932. This is a time of:propaganda, censorship, conformity, genetic

engineering, social conditioning, and mindless entertainment

This was what Huxley saw in our future. His book is a warning.

Do you think he was right?

Page 9: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

So what is “soma”?A hallucinogenic drug given to the

citizens of the World State in order to subdue them

The government describes it as “the perfect drug” with all of the benefits including a ten-hour high and none of the guilt or hangover

Citizens are conditioned to love the drug and they use it to escape any bouts of dissatisfaction

One character in the novel starts to see that the citizens are enslaved by the drug and it turns them into mindless drones

Discussion: Is our society still dependent on drugs?

Page 10: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

Major Characters John – only major character to grow up outside of the

World State and hard to fit into the World State society; his entire worldview is based on what he knows from Shakespeare’s plays

Bernard Marx – Alpha male who fails to fit in because of his inferior physical stature leading to his discontentment with the World State; has unorthodox beliefs about sexual relationships, sports, and community events; can be petty and cruel when threatened

Helmholtz Watson – prime example of the Alpha male, but feels his work at the College of Emotional Engineering is empty and meaningless; he is friends with Bernard because they both are discontent with the World State; Helmholtz’s complaints are more philosophical and intellectual than Bernard’s petty complaints

Page 11: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

Lenina Crowne – vaccination worker at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre; she is an object of desire for many characters including John and Bernard; her values are those of a conventional World State citizens and relates to others primarily through sex

Mustapha Mond – one of only ten World Controllers; given the choice to live in exile or become a World Controller when some illicit research of his was discovered; gave up science and now censors scientific discoveries and exiles people for unorthodox beliefs; keeps a collection of forbidden literature including Shakespeare; Mond is the most powerful character in the novel

Discussion: do any of these characters truly sound happy?

Page 12: Brave New World By: Aldous Huxley

Brave New World Activity

Individually write down all of the qualities you think a “perfect” society should have – 5 minutes

Then, as a class, we will compile a list of all, if not most, of the qualities that you came up with

We will then decide the top 5 most important qualities a society should have as a class

As you read, think about if the class’s perception of the “perfect” society coincides with the society of the World State