“Brave New World,” written by Aldous Huxley, is a classic dystopian novel set in a futuristic society in which, through technological advances, a powerful government has eliminated pain, suffering, and conflict in its society. Citizens are conditioned from birth to accept their roles in a caste system and encouraged to engage in consumerism and pursuits of pleasure.
The story of “Brave New World” primarily follows three key characters: Bernard Marx, an intelligent but physically small and socially awkward man who finds it hard to fit into his society; Mustapha Mond, the World Controller and the mind running the society; and John “the Savage,” a young man from outside the controlled society who becomes a central figure in challenging the established order.
The story’s introduction occurs at Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre, where the Director of the Hatchery, the DHC, and one of his assistants, Henry Foster, give a tour to a group of students. They learn about the technology that allows the Hatchery to produce thousands of nearly identical human embryos. During gestation, the embryos travel in bottles along a conveyor belt through a factory-like building. They are modified to belong to one of five castes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon, in their decreasing order of intelligence.
In what seems prescient for a book written about a century ago, we find some aspects of Huxley’s dystopia relevant today. Designer babies are being contemplated, an idea that parents could decide what traits their babies would have before they are born. This work also presaged our society’s consumerist culture and addiction to bountiful and shallow entertainment.
The Director explains various conditioning techniques used on the infants, the most important being hypnopaedic learning. As a later part of the orientation tour, Mustapha Mond, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe, whose role is managing that society, explains the workings of the society and the reasoning behind the motto “Community, Identity, Stability.” He maintains that even though people in that society are fixed in different castes and roles determined from birth, everyone is content with their place, and everybody is equally important.
Lenina Crowne, a Beta employee at the factory, is introduced. She and Fanny Crowne discuss Lenina’s four-month monogamous relationship with Henry Foster, a situation frowned upon by their society, which promotes promiscuity. A familiar axiom in their society is that everyone belongs to everyone. To deflect this criticism, Lenina mentions that she is interested in Bernard Marx.
Bernard Marx is a psychologist and an Alpha. He is shorter in stature than the average member of his high caste, which gives him an inferiority complex. His work with sleep-learning allows him to understand. It makes him disapprove of his society’s methods of keeping its citizens peaceful, which includes their constant consumption of a soothing, happiness-producing drug called “soma.” He and his friend Helmholtz Watson, a propaganda writer bored with the dullness of his work, often discuss their dissatisfaction with their society. Bernard is strongly attracted to Lenina, which is unusual in his society, as sex is casual and devoid of passion.
Lenina and Bernard Marx’s interactions demonstrate the stark differences between the brainwashed member of a society who never critically examines its founding beliefs and one who has had the privilege of thinking things out for themselves. On several occasions, it appears that Lenina could not even imagine or understand the concepts Bernard speaks of, like solitude and self-examination. She parrots hypnopaedic phrases and leaves the matter at that.
Lenina and Bernard Marx go on a date. Lenina is puzzled by Bernard’s preference for privacy, desire for a deeper romantic connection, and general dissatisfaction with his life and societal position. She nevertheless agrees when Bernard invites her to join him on a trip to a Savage Reservation in New Mexico.
The story’s rising action begins when Bernard applies for permission to visit the reservation, and the DHC approves. Thinking aloud, the DHC reveals that in the past, he had gone on a trip to the reservation with a lover but had lost her and returned alone. The DHC also reprimands Bernard for his deviant attitude, which was becoming obvious. When Bernard departs, he learns on a phone call from Helmholtz that the DHC plans to exile him to Iceland. Bernard is so distressed at the news that he takes soma, for which he has expressed distaste.
A key point in the story occurs when Bernard and Lenina arrive at the reservation. They are shocked to witness for the first time a society in which diseases, old age, religion, family, and dirt are commonplace, things unheard of in their world. The tourists watch in horror as the inhabitants of the community perform a brutal ritual where the members of the community whip a boy until he collapses.
Modern readers may find Huxley’s casting of Native Americans as the last natural (and free) society somewhat patronizing. However, this might only be because Huxley speaks through the prejudices of a past age. I think this characterization demonstrates the noble savage trope.
As they explore the reservation, they meet John, a man born naturally and raised outside of their civilization but different from the other reservation members. John reveals that his mother was a former citizen of the World State and was abandoned on the reservation during a group trip. He introduces them to his mother, Linda, and from their conversation, Bernard suspects John to be the son of the DHC.
Linda’s background as a citizen of the World State puts her at odds with the reservation’s inhabitants. The harsh reality of life on the reservation is different from her former life in London, and to cope, she becomes addicted to mescal. She is promiscuous, which was a norm in London but taboo in the reservation where traditional sexual mores and family values rule. As a result of this culture clash, she and her son are treated as outcasts. Bernard, who feels like an outcast, develops a kin-like attraction to John.
Lenina is so horrified by the things she witnesses on the reservation that she takes greater doses of soma and goes on a “soma holiday,” an extended period of drug-induced sleep. We reach the novel’s turning point when Bernard calls London and gets approval from Mond to bring John and Linda back to London with him.
On Bernard’s return to London, the DHC publicly threatens to exile him to Iceland. However, Bernard is surprised and presents Linda and John to the public. John calls the DHC “Father,” an act that disgraces the Director and forces him to resign—fatherhood being a social taboo in the World State. Thus, Bernard is saved from exile.
Huxley’s satirical wit is brilliantly expressed throughout the novel. The morals and ethics of the World State are so perverted that they turn our moral standards on their heads. Father is a dirty word; casual sex is encouraged, and so is drug abuse. All we hold righteous is tabooed, and our vices crowned in “Brave New World.” Society’s slogans are presented as sound reasoning phrases that we think are irresponsible. It is a credit to Huxley that he presents the World State’s social ideas convincingly and persuasively and does not make mere strawmen of them.
Circumstances change for Bernard, John, and Linda. Because Bernard brings John to London and all who want to see John have to go through him, Bernard becomes a minor celebrity and revels in his changed status. For his part, John finds adjusting to his new life in London difficult. He becomes increasingly disillusioned with London society’s values. John’s education consisted mainly of reading Shakespeare and his romantic view of life, which differed from what he had witnessed in society. Linda, grown old and ugly, is shunned by the Londoners. To deal with her disappointment and hurt, she goes on a permanent soma holiday—taking the drug non-stop to remain in a perpetual daze.
As John becomes a sensation among the citizens of London who are curious to see “the savage,” he becomes more disgusted by them. He cannot stand their values and their attention. However, he and Helmholtz Watson become friends, sharing a common interest in Shakespeare and the true expression found in his poetry. Bernard is unhappy because he feels this newly formed friendship excludes him. Also, with John losing interest in entertaining society on Bernard’s behalf, Bernard finds that he is losing his newly-won popularity, too.
Lenina and John are sexually attracted to each other and have been since the time they met each other at the reservation. They have different ideas of what expressing these feelings means. John held to romantic ideals in Shakespeare, particularly the chaste romance between Romeo and Juliet. On the other hand, Lenina goes for a straightforward seduction, and when she acts on this, John turns against her. He attacks her, and she escapes by barricading herself behind a door. In that instant, John receives a call bearing news of his mother’s death.
This point marks the beginning of the novel’s climax. John’s expression of grief on seeing his dead mother shocks the hospital staff and visitors. This is because there were no familial relationships in society, and people were conditioned to treat death casually and without emotion. John is offended when a child in one of these conditioning excursions makes a rude remark about his mother and makes a scene by throwing soma rations out of the window. Bernard and Helmholtz arrive and try to calm him, and the police stop the ensuing riot. The trio are detained and are subsequently presented before Mustapha Mond.
John’s reaction to his mother’s death is understandable; Mond’s response to John’s outrage is not. However, the writer had no other convenient way to bring John and Mond to the momentous debate in which they defended their ideals against each other.
In the novel’s falling action, Mustapha Mond sentences Bernard and Helmholtz Watson to exile for failing to fit into society. Bernard is initially distressed, but Helmholtz accepts the news gracefully, choosing a place where he would have creative liberty and inspiration. John and Mustapha Mond discuss history, philosophy, happiness, and religion, with John criticizing the World State society and Mond defending it. Mond refuses to exile John, claiming that John’s presence in London is an experiment of great interest to him.
As a concession, John finds and retires to an abandoned lighthouse and wards off intruders who follow him out of curiosity. He chooses solitude to purify himself from the corrupt influences of London’s society, and he does this by self-flagellation. While occupied in this activity, he is spied out by a nosy journalist. The news of his actions spread quickly and attracted the citizens of London whom he had abandoned. A crowd gathers and urges him to flog himself, which sets him on edge. He spies Lenina in the crowd, attacks her with his whip, and flogs himself as well. In the frenzy, the crowd join in flogging each other, and soon the situation degenerates into an orgy.
At the end of the orgy, the crowd disperses, and John is stricken with guilt. He believes that society has defeated him in a battle of wills and morals. The story’s resolution happens when the people of the city revisit John’s lighthouse and discover he has committed suicide.
The resolution of “Brave New World” suggests there was no place for an individual like John in society. He was driven to suicide by the citizens of the place who could not appreciate his individuality but considered him no more than the next attraction, moving on after his death. Marx and Helmholtz had to leave society. Conformity, exile, or death are the options available to a person in the World State.