Brave New World

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Brave New World
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About the author..

• Aldous Huxley was born in England in 1894
  grandson of the prominent biologist T.H. Huxley
  and brother of Julian Huxley, also a biologist.
  Huxley first studied at Eton College but later
  went to Balliol College in Oxford.At 16, he
  suffered months of blindness but one eye
  recovered and with special glasses he completed
  his studies. He majored in English when he was
  unable to pursue his chosen career as a scientist.

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Writing Brave New World

• He became friends with many writers and
  surrounded himself with intellectuals such as D.H
  Lawrence and Bertrand Russell. After having
  traveled in Europe, in the 1930s he moved to
  France where he wrote in four months Brave New
  World, a dystopian vision of a highly
  technological society of the future (the word
  "utopia" comes from Thomas More's novel Utopia).

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Huxleys novel

• In 1932 Brave New World was published. It is a
  cry of warning and nightmarish black comedy of a
  future society. The book received mixed reviews.
  H.G. Wells was offended by what he regarded as
  Huxley's betrayal of science and the future.
  Other critics recognized the serious intent
  beneath the surface of playful wit. In its first
  year it sold a total of twenty-eight thousand
  copies in England and in the United States, and
  enjoyed respectable sales throughout the
  remainder of the century.

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Origin of the title

• Brave New World is Huxley's most famous and
  enduring novel. The title comes from Miranda's
  speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act V, Scene
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• "O wonder!
• How many goodly creatures are there here!
• How beautious mankind is!
• O brave new world,
• That has such people in't!"

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A banned book!

• Huxley's book has also become one of the most
  frequently banned books in literary history. Book
  banners have cited "negative activities"
  (undoubtedly referring to the sex and drugs) in
  the book as reason enough to prevent students
  from reading the book. In 1993, an attempt was
  made to remove this novel from a California
  school's required reading list. It was also
  removed from classrooms in Miller, Missouri in
  1980, among other challenges.

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Inside the front cover of Brave New World
translated from French-

• Utopias appear to be much easier torealize than
  one formerly believed.We currently face a
  question thatwould otherwise fill us
  withanguish How to avoid their
  becomingdefinitively real ? The utopias are
  attainable. Life marches towards the utopias. And
  it can be that a new century begins, a century
  where the intellectuals and the educated class
  will dream means to avoid the utopias and to
  return a non-utopian society, less "perfect" and
  free.Nicolas Berdiaeff

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Brief Introduction to BNW

• The novel is set in A.F. 632, approximately seven
  centuries after the twentieth century. A.F.
  stands for the year of Ford, named for the great
  industrialist Henry Ford who refined mass
  production techniques for automobiles. The world
  is ruled by World Controllers who ensure the
  stability of society. To ensure social stability,
  a five-tiered caste system ruled by Alphas and
  Betas has been created. The labor force comes
  from the lower three castes, known as Gammas,
  Deltas, and Epsilons. A drug called soma ensures
  that no one ever feels pain or remains unhappy,
  and it is rationed out to and used by members of
  every caste. Social stability is further ensured
  through the use of pre- and postnatal
  conditioning.

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Intro continued

• In an 1961 interview, Huxley expressed his
  concern that emerging technology, scientific
  progress, and social conditioning had the
  potential to destroy human individuality. It may
  not have been Huxleys intention to be prophetic
  but it is impossible to ignore the similarities
  between Huxleys imaginary world and our real
  one!