Brave New World
MOST MISSED STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What is the very first indication
that Brave New World is a
futuristic novel?
 Reread
the first paragraph on the first
page of the novel
6. In what way is Huxley's
presentation of the Director
satirical?
 the
use of humor, irony,
exaggeration, or ridicule to expose
and criticize people's stupidity or
vices, particularly in the context of
contemporary politics and other
topical issues
 What is Huxley making fun of?
8. What are some actual scientific
principles presented? What seems to be
a problem the society has "all but solved"
(Pg. 15)?
 Part
1: think of things science was
working on in Huxley’s time (and/or is
working on in our time) inferred info
 Part 2: quote on p15
10. What social problems have been
eliminated in Brave New World?
Explain.
 What
problems did society suffer from
in Huxley’s time(and/or ours) that no
longer appear in the novel?
15. Why can hypnopaedia be used to
inculcate more beliefs and emotional
attitudes but cannot be used to learn
science?
Read
pp 25-26
 Part
1: why DOES it work on beliefs
and emotional attitudes?
Religion
 Part
is based on…
2: why WON’T it work on
science?
17. What about the population did
Huxley get wrong?
Population
– number of people in
a given area
19. Huxley seems to be using the dialogues of
Lenina, Fanny, Bernard, and Henry to
comment on the lecture or commentary of
Mond. What contradictions do you see
between what Mond says and what the others
are expressing?
 Mond
is speaking as if all the problems of
the past are gone. Hmm. Consider if this
seems true based on the other
conversations.
22. Why does so much effort go into
conditioning people to be consumers?
What aspect of his own society is Huxley
satirizing?
 Another
two-parter. Break it down and
answer both.
24. Huxley has introduced two characters
that stand in opposition to the new world.
Identify them and explain what you see
as the significance of these characters.
Key
word here is OPPOSITION.
Identify AND explain significance
2nd Study Guide
MOST MISSED QUESTIONS
#28 What is ironic about Lenina's
comment, "And you feel so small when
you're on the ground at the bottom of a
hill"? (Pg. 109)

Consider her importance (or lack there of) in the
New World

Consider the importance (or lack there of) of
each person on the reservation.
#29 In what ways is Huxley's description of Lenina's
reaction to the Indian Reservation satirical? What
makes Lenina seem foolish? How might this apply to
our attitudes today?
 Break
it down.
 Answer
 Use
each part.
the last part of the question to clue
you into answering the rest.
#31 Explain the irony in Linda's speech about
life on the Reservation.
 Irony:
Broadest class of figures of thought
that depend on presenting a deliberate
contrast between two levels of meaning;
the discrepancy between what is said and what
is meant,
 what is said and what is done,
 what is expected or intended and what
happens,
 or what is meant or said and what others
understand.

#33 Compare John and Bernard.
 What
is the same?
 What is different?
#37 What is ironic in Chapter 10?
 Hint:
there is more than one
example, so give as many as you find
#43 …At the end of Chapter 13, we are told Lenina's
response to John's remarks about marriage is
genuine shock. What do you find ironic about this?
What idea about love is suggested to you by these
contradictions?
#44 In the middle of Chapter 12, Huxley
describes the Controller rejecting a paper
called "A New Theory of Biology." The
Controller will not allow the paper to be
published …What do you think is Huxley's point
in this section?
 Look
for his message – goes beyond
the novel
#46 Do you think Bernard has less character
than most people would in his circumstances?
Remember that he is undersized for his caste
and has suffered persecution as a result.
 Read
carefully: “…less character than
most people…”

Not just in the New World

What is character? (Hint: think moral character)
#48 At this point in the novel, what behavior of
Bernard, John, and Helmholtz is unorthodox?
 What
are they each doing in chapter
13?
 Unorthodox: unusual, nonconformist,
archaic
#49 We are told that people in the new world
do not experience passion, so they have to be
given treatments… What conclusion can you
draw from these facts?