Brave New Discussion Questions
In your groups, write 2 higher-order
discussion questions for the novel on
the notecards provided.
Your questions should be synthetic
(synthesize multiple ideas), openended (no “correct answer”), and
above application on Bloom’s
taxonomy.
Is the ending to Brave New World at
all optimistic? For any of the
characters?
1. Perform a close reading of the
final page of the novel. Analyze how
Huxley portrays John’s death and
how these choices affect larger
meanings of the scene and novel.
2. When the book 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. Place the book in the
context of its historical moment.
Which parts transcend its time and
place?
3. Why do you think Huxley has John
commit suicide? Discuss the
significance of Huxley placing the
suicide at the end of the novel. How
does he use language to intensify
this?
4. Mustapha Mond feels that “The
world’s stable now. People are
happy; they get what they want, and
they never want what they can’t
get.” What exactly is bad about this
futuristic society?
5. When John first starts reading
Shakespeare, he discovers that the
words make his emotions “more
real”—they even make other people
more real. Talk about the power of
language in the book, the power of
the word to influence thought and
behavior. Why did Huxley choose
Shakespeare as a medium for John’s
intellectual awakening?
6. Consider Huxley's use of narrator
and how he uses the narrator to
captivate the reader. Does the fact
that Huxley's vision was impaired for
part of his life have any bearing on
the way he narrates the story and
sets the scenes?
7. Who is the antagonist of the
novel? How does Huxley reveal this
fact to the reader?
8. What does Huxley suggest is “the
final end [goal/priority] of man?”
Aristotle claims that the end of man
is happiness. Would Huxley agree or
disagree?
9. How do Chapters Sixteen and
Seventeen function within the rest
of the novel? (These are the two
philosophical chapters, where John
and Mustapha finally get to spar
verbally.) Does it seem unreasonable
to have so much heavy thinking
instead of action?
10. Does the novel have any other
loose ends it fails to tie up? If so,
does that seem intentional, and
what effect does it have?
Theme Mania!
• Brainstorm and record at least three primary
themes of the novel.
• Theme: argument about humanity’s condition,
life lesson, or underlying message of the work.
– You should be able to convey a theme in a complete
sentence.
– I can disagree with a thematic statement.
• Themes of Romeo and Juliet: Violence begets
violence when unrestrained and based on
revenge; fate is inescapable to mankind; religious
intrusion in secular constructs yields destruction.
• NOT themes of R&J: Love, suicide, religion
– These are SUBJECTS
Big Motifs - Identify and discuss their
occurrences in the novel, AND analyze
their function to themes of the novel.
• Free Will versus
Enslavement
• Class Conflict
• Science and
Technology
• Knowledge and
Ignorance
• Self and Society
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Family Structures
Denial of Death
Materialism
Human Impulsiveness
Suffering
God and Religion
Huxley wrote many other books, yet
this is his most popular and
enduring. What is it about this book
that has captured our imaginations
for so long? Are there aspects of it
that seem dated?
Select one ideology prominent in
today’s society. Play acerbically
satirical writer for a bit and
brainstorm what kind of society your
dystopia would be. How would you
emphasize certain ideas and use
plot, character, and setting to test
social hypotheses?