Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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Brave New Worldby Aldous Huxley

• Utopia vs. Dystopia

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• O wonder!
• How many goodly creatures are there here!
• How beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world
• That has such people int!
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  -Miranda, The Tempest

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• Although the novel was originally published in
  1932, the themes in Brave New World are quite
  relevant to the world in which we live today.
  Some would even call this novel prophetic,
  considering the present state of things
• brain-numbing advances in technology and the
  internet
• our tendency to waste time on meaningless
  diversions such as television and video games
• consumerism surpassing religion (take Christmas,
  for example)
• promiscuity surpassing morality
• issues of eugenics, cloning, stem-cell research
  and genetic engineering
• and, most strikingly, the overly-prescribed and
  overly-used medications such as anti-depressants
  and sleeping pills, so like the fictional Soma
  of Huxleys novel.

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Utopian and Dystopian Literature
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What is Utopia?

• A Utopia is a place or society that appears
  perfect in every way.
• The government is perfect, working to improve
  societies standards of living rather then their
  own, social aspects of the community run
  perfectly.
• There is no war or disease, only peace and
  happiness. Everyone outside this Utopian society
  looks to this place in wonder and awe, believing
  it is completely perfect in every such way.

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• A good example of this is the novel Utopia.
  Focusing on a conversation that Sir Thomas More
  is having with a traveling knight, the reader
  learns of many places that have established some
  form of perfection. Focusing on a place called
  Utopia, it shows the flaws in their established
  Monarchy in contrast to the Utopians seemingly
  perfect democracy. Examples of Utopian
  Literature
• - Utopia by Sir Thomas More
• - Men Like Gods by H. G. Wells
• - We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
• - Erewhon by Samuel Butler
• - Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
• - Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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What is Dystopia?

• Dystopia came from the term Utopia.
• It defines a place or society which is in
  complete chaos.
• The citizens are all suffering and are miserable.
  
• Often times in novels what appears to be a
  Utopian society it first by the visiting
  protagonist is actually revealed to be a
  dystopian society.
• The citizens are often revealed to live in
  terror, under complete control by the government,
  unaware of corrupt world in which they actually
  live in, or suppressed by the society as a whole.

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• A good example of this is the novel The Time
  Machine. Traveling into the distant future, the
  Time Traveler finds himself in a perfect future
  world. Decease ceases to exist, all dangerous
  animals have become extinct, all weeds have
  disappeared, and all the people get along
  perfectly. It is later shown that they are hunted
  on a daily basis and are actually raised
  similarly to cattle. Examples of Dystopian
  Literature- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  
• - The Handmaid's Tale by Margeret Atwood
• - Neuromancer by William Gibson
• - Iron Heel by Jack London
• - The Running Man by Richard Bachman
• - Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
• - The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
• - The Children of Men by PD James

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• Can you think of other examples of utopia or
  dystopia in novels, television or movies?

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Social and Historical Context

• When Brave New World was first published in 1932,
  the world was plunged in depression, fascism was
  on the rise in Western Europe, and Marxism
  appealed to increasing numbers of intellectuals
  in Europe and America.
• a governmental system led by a dictator having
  complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition
  and criticism, regimenting all industry,
  commerce, etc., and emphasizing aggressive
  nationalism.
• the system of political thought that that the
  state has been a device for the exploitation of
  the masses by a dominant class, that class
  struggle has been the main agency of historical
  change, and that the capitalist system will
  inevitably be superseded by a socialist order and
  a classless society.

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Essential Questions that you should be able to
answer after reading this novel

• 1. How are the themes of Brave New World
  applicable to todays society?
• 2. What makes the science fiction genre such an
  effective device for bringing about social
  change?
• 3. How does reading fiction shape our social and
  political ideologies?

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Journal Personal Opinion

• Defend or refute the following quote.
• ½ 1 page, critical thinking and explanation are
  necessary!
• You may first want to define the key words!

Manmade utopia is an oxymoron. - Mike Duran