Brave New World

Question 1

Brave New World

Introduction, Summary & Connections to today

Answer 1

Introduction

• novel by Aldous Huxley.
• Huxley was an English philosopher, journalist, and novelist.
• The novel is set in a dystopian future where the government controls every citizen.
• The author’s aim was to criticize the era of technological optimism.

Summary

• The story takes place in 2540 CE in the World State, where people’s feelings are controlled by hormones and drugs.
• Citizens are conditioned for pleasure and divided into five classes based on their social status.
• The drug called Soma is used to keep negative emotions away and maintain happiness.
• People in authority are known as the Alphas, while the Epsilons are subservient to every class above them.

Connections to today

• Consumerism, biotechnology, and the use of drugs are relevant topics in both the novel and modern society.
• Legal and illegal drug use exists, and genetic engineering is mainly used for modifying plants and livestock in modern society.

Question 2

Brave New World

Characters and their relationships & Literary devices

Answer 2

Characters and their relationships

• John the Savage is the main protagonist who was raised by Indians and cannot conform to the ideals of the World State.
• Bernard Marx is an Alpha-Plus psychologist who rebels against society’s norms and has feelings for Lenina.
• Helmholtz Watson is an intelligent Alpha-Plus who teaches in a faculty.
• Lenina Crowne is an ordinary World State Citizen who takes care of newborn children and has unconventional views on life.

Literary devices

• Huxley uses literary devices such as allusions, hyperboles, and imagery in “Brave New World.”
• Allusions are used to reference famous people, including Pavlov, Freud, and Ford.
• Hyperboles are used for exaggeration, such as the Savage saying “I ate civilization.”
• Imagery is used to depict dehumanization, with babies described as “maggots” and helicopters as “grasshoppers.”
• The weather is a significant symbol, representing something the World Controllers struggle to control.
• Bottles are also an important symbol, representing the lack of freedom and the use of Soma to escape from waiting and wanting.