Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
Dystopia
Characters:
1. Bernard Marx – Is the central protagonist up until the visit to the Reservation. Embodies the
theme of conformity, as he is not the standard of his class and does everything within his power
to make up for it. Though he does not necessarily agree with certain elements of the “Brave
New World,” Bernard still does his absolute best to fit in, become that which is acceptable in
his society. Uses John as a means to gain acceptance. Wants to “go out” with Lenina. He and
Helmholtz converse back and forth as to the faults of the society in which they live in. He and
Mustapha Mond share but a few exchanges, though both involve the discussion of the
incompatibility of truth and happiness. Oh, and no one really likes the small-for-his-size,
assert-my authority-to-make-up-for-it Bernard.
2. John the Savage – The central protagonist once they visit his Reservation, John acts as the
means to question the society of their “Brave New World.” All he ever read was Shakespeare,
and that is what his emotions reflect. From the love/lust for Lenina down to his tragic suicide,
John confuses Shakespeare for reality, which causes a whole other host of problems. He
furthers mainly Helmholtz’s questioning of the A.F. society by introducing his “savage”
elements into the collective intelligence. With “parents” being a bad word, the backwards
thinking of John ultimately leads to the relocation of Helmholtz and Bernard, as they probe too
deeply into that which keeps the society running smoothly.
3. Lenina – Though not a crucial character to the story, it is on Bernard’s and her date where the
Savage is discovered. She also acts as John’s love interest/dilemma throughout his plight with
the realities of the “Brave New World.” Supposedly quite pretty, she is the woman that all the
guys are after. She ends up letting John sleep with her, rather, wanting him too, but John’s
thoughts on love are more… monogamous than that of the BNW and so she, in a way, leads to
his ultimate self-destruction. (Strumpet scene)
4. Helmholtz Watson – Helmholtz is not the most fully developed character, but he basically
embodies everything that Bernard wants to be. Tall, smart, strong, Helmholtz gets any girl he
wants and is well liked by everyone. He is, however, discontented with the current way of life.
He and Bernard chatter back and forth as to what real happiness is, not just soma and Feelies,
but true, lasting happiness.
5. Mustapha Mond – A more mysterious character, Mustapha Mond is the head honcho in the
A.F. society. Ironically enough, he was a scientist who questioned the order of things as well.
He however chose to maintain the happiness as opposed to finding truth. In doing so, he ended
up with the job of controlling all that the general public sees, reads, hears, everything that must
be censored, to maintain balance and happiness of course.
Setting:
Some 600 years into the future, a totalitarian state located in Europe
 A.F. (After Ford) is the B.C./A.D. used
 The resulting society is one based on “science,” but the actual science is very limited
 The physical Where is not so important as the When and Why, as the setting actually
sets up the themes, not just the physical location
 Plays a very important part in setting up the “Happiness is Incompatible with Truth”
debate, as everything is censored, monitored, controlled, and everyone is “happy.”
Memorable Quotes:

“Sixty-two thousand four hundred repetitions make one truth.”
-Displays the efforts taken to make every person conform to the “norm” of the society
into which he or she is to be decanted.

“But I don't want comfort. I want God.”
-John’s refusal of soma and his simultaneous subconscious rejection of the “Brave New
World” for his old ways of belief in Gods of “savagery.”

“All of the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”
-One of the first descriptions of soma in the novel, it is immediately compared, and is
made greater than the two most consoling things in modern-day society: religion and alcohol.
Plot Passages:

“And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen,
why, there's always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there's always soma to
calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In
the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of
hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are.
Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle.
Christianity without tears—that's what soma is.”
-This passage explains the deeper purpose of soma, the drug is the cure-all for any
problems that may arise. Anything and everything can be solved with a couple of tablets of the
drug.

“‘And that,’ put in the director sententiously, ‘that is the secret of happiness and virtue –
liking what you’ve got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their
inescapable social destiny.”
-Curtly and compactly explains the aim of all the decanting and the conditioning of the
people they are literally creating, and indirectly the main goal of the society itself. To create
entire classes of people where all that they know, all that they do, is that which “brings them
joy”, sums up the “Brave New World” in but two sentences.

"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully
clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much
better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta
children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still
worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a
beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta."
- One of the many subconscious reiterations, this particular quote gives those who listen
to and repeat it the sense that they are the best class, whether they actually believe it or not, it
is to be engrained into them that they should be glad to be their particular class. (Happiness
is Incompatible with Truth)

“Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The
urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder those poor pre-moderns were mad
and wicked and miserable. Their world didn't allow them to take things easily, didn't allow
them to be sane, virtuous, happy. What with mothers and lovers, what with the prohibitions
they were not conditioned to obey, what with the temptations and the lonely remorses, what
with all the diseases and the endless isolating pain, what with the uncertainties and the
poverty—they were forced to feel strongly. And feeling strongly (and strongly, what was
more, in solitude, in hopelessly individual isolation), how could they be stable?”
- Within this paragraph the justification of the censorship of “strong feelings” is made
clear, as they are simply unstable. In order to have a stable society, there cannot be any
unstable people, and therefore, no unstable emotion.