ENG3U (Grade 11 English) Independent Study Unit
15% of Final Grade
Task
Your ISU requires you to read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and respond to the
novel in the form of a 6-8 page double-spaced formal essay.
Huxley's //Brave New
World//
Reading
You are expected to read the novel independently. Consequently, you must exercise
self-discipline and time management. You are welcome to seek help with any
challenges you face in comprehending the various aspects of the novel. You are
expected to have completed the novel by December 14th.
Thesis
The foundation for your essay will be your thesis. Your thesis should be supported
by evidence in the form of specific examples from the novel. Thus, while in the
reading stage of your ISU you should be determining a thesis for your paper as well
as collecting information, i.e. quotations and your own analysis to support your thesis.
Additional Sources
In addition to the novel I will be providing you with additional source material that
you should consider in the writing of your essay. This includes information on the
novel’s themes and political context.
Writing
Your essay should be written in the formal style. This means your essay will be
marked on both the quality of your analysis as well as your writing. In the coming
weeks I will cover those aspects of the formal style I expect your writing to conform
to.
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Due Dates:
Monday, December 10th Thesis Meeting: Students meet with me to discuss their
potential and prepared thesis statements.
Friday, December 14th Outline Meeting: Students meet with me to discuss their
essay outline. Outlines will include thesis statements, evidence to support the thesis
statements (i.e. quotations, notes etc . . .) as well as a general idea of the essays
sections.
Friday, December 21st Essay Due: Students submit their completed essay.
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Themes and Questions
To help prepare your thesis consider the following themes and questions.
Please note that you do not have to respond to the following themes or
questions. Rather, they are intended to help you develop your thesis and essay.
Theme: Science
Huxley wrote that the focus of Brave New World isn't science itself, but science as it
affects people. The vision he paints of a technological, futuristic society is both
horrifying and fascinating. In a world where people are controlled down to their very
impulses, emotions, and thoughts, science has the ability both to imprison (by
conditioning, for example) and to set free (the frontiers of scientific discovery often
lead to change). Because of this, "science" is somewhat bastardized by those who
seek to control; use what's useful, but limit what's "dangerous."
Questions: Science
1. What's the difference between writing about science per se and writing about
science as it affects humans? Huxley claims he did the latter and not the
former: does that seem true?
2. Mustapha reminds John, Bernard, and Helmholtz that science is dangerous
and needs to be muzzled, but also that it's useful if harnessed properly. Do the
benefits of science outweigh the drawbacks in Brave New World?
3. Does Brave New World condemn science in our own world?
4. Huxley says in his foreword that Brave New World isn't about science in itself,
but instead about the way that science affects people. What's the difference?
How does this dilemma play out in the novel?
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Theme: Power
As one character puts it, power in Brave New World "is a matter of sitting, not hitting."
Rather than use violence to enforce the law, those in power in this futuristic society
have simply programmed the citizens to be happy with the laws. This power is
bolstered by a free-flowing supply of drugs, the insistence on promiscuity, the denial
of history or future as any alternative to the present, and the use of sleep-teaching at a
young age to instill the irrationality of its choosing. This same power is limited only
by those individuals who desire, for one reason or another, to be unhappy.
Questions: Power
1. Is Mustapha Mond truly a powerful guy? Or is it possible that he's a slave to
his position in life, just like everyone else?
2. Of all the devices the World State uses to control its citizens, which is the
most powerful? Which is the most morally abhorrent?
3. Different characters in the novel fight power in different ways. Bernard at
first tries defiance; Helmholtz turns to subversive writing; and John leaves to
live in solitude at the lighthouse. Are any of these effective? What is the best
way to fight the system in this novel?
4.
Brave New World is incredibly steeped in references of all kind – just read
"Shout Outs" and you'll see what we're talking about. What does this do for
the novel?
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Theme: Suffering
Brave New World takes place in a controlled environment where technology has
essentially eliminated suffering, and where a widely-used narcotic dulls whatever
momentary pains may arise. It soon becomes clear, however, that suffering is a part
of the human experience. Without it, the citizens are somehow less-than-human.
Questions: Suffering
1. Why does John want to suffer? Is it for the sake of suffering, or for the
satisfaction of relief once the suffering is over?
2. Religion is tied to suffering in Brave New World. John explicitly tells Mustapha
that God is a reason for self-denial. If you take away religion, is there any
other reason for experiencing pain in Brave New World?
3. What is the general take on suffering in the Savage Reservation? Is this more
or less reasonable than the World State's view on suffering?
4. Does John commit suicide to end his suffering, or to accentuate it?
Themes: Drugs and Alcohol
The drug in question here is soma, a hallucinogen used by those in power to subdue
the citizens in Brave New World's futuristic, totalitarian setting. It is described as "the
perfect drug," with all the benefits (calming, surrealistic, ten-hour long highs) with
none of the drawbacks (no guilt, no hangovers).
1. Everyone makes a big deal out of the fact that soma doesn't have any nasty
after-effects of say, alcohol (hangovers, guilt, shame, pregnancy). If this is true,
why do we find its use morally reprehensible? Actually, does the reader find it
morally reprehensible?
2. Why does Bernard seem to be magically immune to soma at the Solidarity
Service?
3. Does soma make its users happy, or does it simply remove all emotion?
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Theme: Society and Class
Society in the futuristic setting of Brave New World is split into five castes: Alphas,
Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, with a few minor distinctions in between.
Because of the technology wielded by the World State's leaders, caste is predetermined and humans are grown in a manner appropriate to their status; the lower
the caste, the dumber the individual is created to be. As adults, the upper two castes
interact socially with each other but never with the lesser groups.
Questions: Society and Class
1. Huxley pretty much exclusively focuses on characters of Alpha or Beta status.
Why do we get so little insight into the life of the lower castes?
2. Is Mustapha right in his insistence that a society of all Alphas would fail?
What did you think of that "Cyprus experiment" discussed in Chapter Sixteen?
3. Do Alphas seem to be the least satisfied of all the citizens in the World State?
If Epsilons really are happy with their lives, then what's wrong (morally) with
making them that way?
Theme: Sex
Sex is closely tied to violence in Brave New World as the two extremes of passion. In
this futuristic, controlled environment, promiscuity is the law and emotional
attachment is illegal. Sex is no longer used for procreation but rather for distraction
and pacification. The act has been dehumanized and made devoid of passion, treated
casually and publicly rather than as a personal matter.
1. Promiscuity is encouraged – no, demanded – in the World State. Is this a
subjugation of the natural inclination towards monogamy, or is it catering to
the natural inclination of sleeping with as many people as possible?
2. Is the above question different in talking about men than it is for women? In
Brave New World, which gender seems more disposed toward monogamy, and
which toward promiscuity?
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3. Why do the World Controllers include sex at all as a part of daily life? Why
not just eliminate everyone's sex drives altogether?
4. Does John have sex with Lenina at the end of the novel? (There is no right
answer to this question.)
Theme: Freedom and Confinement
The citizens of Brave New World's futuristic society are in a constant state of
imprisonment. But because they've been conditioned to love their servitude, no one
seems to have any problem with this. Well, almost no one. As one character so deftly
points out, being happy all the time is its own sort of prison; being a human is about
having the right to be unhappy.
1. What is the difference between natural instinct and the "instinctual" feelings
that the citizens of the World State have been conditioned to feel? Is there a
difference at all?
2. If everyone is always going to be driven by instincts – whether instilled by a
recorded voice or by the force of evolution – can any one ever really be free to
make his own choices?
3. Which character is the most liberated in Brave New World?
4. Come to think of it, what would it even mean to be free in this novel?
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Theme: Truth and Happiness
1. Brave New World discusses the relationship between truth and happiness. What is
the relationship between truth and happiness in the novel? How do different
characters define these terms differently? Are certain truths acceptable over
others?
Theme: Complicity
1. “All share complicity in the destruction of that much under-rated
phenomenon called liberty” – Barbara Amiel. What role does complicity play
in the establishment and/or maintaining of the World State’s power? How
does the government work to ensure the complicity of the populous? To
what extent are individuals to blame for their complicity?
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