Brave New World

 

February 29 2025

Dear Readers,

Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World is an amazing and disturbing satire. When it was first published in 1931 the satire appeared to be about the world and its alarming state, now 94 years later, it has been revealed that it is actually about basic human nature. The story depicts what happens when a society only focuses on trivial enjoyment and not imperative matters, it shows people who have given up on anything but having fun, then shows how even peoples “fun” is a lie. 

 

Huxley was socially relevant in his writing, whether he showed how the industrial revolution may be our downfall or naming the book Brave New World. This is actually a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, when spoken in the play it is a naive character who thinks that the sailors carry great and amazing objects and knowledge, however they are actually traitors. This relates to the book because in the story the world is filled with fun and joy, or at least it seems that way, we soon find out that the world is quite the dystopia Huxley also included some inventions that didn’t exist in the 30’s but exist now, those include color T.V.’s and helicopters, helicopters came 7 years after he published the book and color T.V’s wouldn’t come till 1953. This demonstrates an amazing idea of how humans advance. If Huxley was correct about several inventions in this book, then what other warnings may we heed from this amazing classic?

 

            This classic piece of literature is extremely important, it holds deep warnings as to what the human race can become. The book shows a society that lives with the only purpose of having fun, Lenina is a great example of this, the whole book she is the prime example of how people only care for enjoyment, she is always advocating for just having fun or going to the movies an example of this is when she says “I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody’s happy nowadays” (85). This mindset has led to mass consumption of industrial products and led to just a select few being in control of the world. While at first this plot appears to be just another dystopia, look closer, you will see how already there are some correlations to our society, we give power to just a small group of people without even realizing it. Look at CEOs of big corporations, they are the ones influencing the masses, saying what presidential candidate they are voting for, except when they say it people follow. Because of this power we give big names we are coming closer and closer to living out Brave New World, in the book they only have a select 10 people incharge of running the world, these world controllers as they are called are charged with filtering all media into what is acceptable for the population should and shouldn't read. This book portends a society that if more people were not impervious to it, would be impossible.

 

            The theme of this book is set in the future where the industrial revolution has ripped society violently apart making people nothing more than consumption machines. It follows three main characters, Lenina, Bernard, and John. While the book does focus on all these characters we are meant to relate most to John as he is what we would call civilized but Brave New World calls a savage, he is called this primarily because of the way he controls himself instead of just indulging in whatever he wants to do. The book shows how people live in an over industrialized world designed for fun, or at least it seems that way until we dig deeper. We then see how, starting before the children are born, people are conditioned to enjoy and dislike certain activities and objects, as John sees this he is horrified and retreats to an old light house to cleanse himself of the  society however the book takes a tragic turn as people find his settlement and eventually drive him mad enough that he commits suicide.

 

In the end this is a haunting story that leaves much to be meditated upon. The book still has much to teach us about society and what happens when we give up on restraint and solely focus on having fun. This book will make you jump back in surprise, think and deny that this society could ever exist but then it makes you think if we are not conditioned too, constantly being fed with information and not ever getting to sit back and process it all. The book has a captivating way of sneaking up on you, you don't quite realize how much it affects you until it's too late, then, it spits you back out full of ideas and concerns that will follow you for many weeks after finishing, it makes you see how, with all our industrialization and media and constraint news, humanity is coming too close to this, if not brave, new world.