Aldous Huxley
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Aldous Huxley initially
intended to be a
doctor, however after a
freak accident that left
him blind for two
years, he was forced to
change the direction of
his life.
He finally regained his
eye site and moved to
Italy, where he tried his
hand at writing.
 He ended up having a
fairly successful career
as a writer that
spanned over the
course of four decades.
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Eventually Huxley
emigrated to the United
States where he lived
the rest of his days in
sunny southern
California.
As he grew older, Huxley
began to experiment
with LSD, a mind
altering drug he found to
be particularly useful for
attaining spiritual
perception.
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Brave New World is set in London of AD 2540
(632 A.F. in the book), the novel anticipates
developments in reproductive technology and
sleep-learning (hypnopeadia) that combine to
change society.
After a major war that annihilates most of the
worlds population, several scientists get
together and decided that the cause of the war
was human emotion.
They eventually decide to recreate human
society by ridding all humans of any type of
emotion.
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Brave New World begins many years in the
future.
The new world emotionless “society” has
been created, and characters are carrying on
with their normal lives.
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In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The
Observer listed Brave New World number 53 in
"the top 100 greatest novels of all time",[2]
and the novel was listed at number 87 on the
BBC's survey The Big Read.[3]
Brave New World's title derives from
Miranda's speech in William Shakespeare's
The Tempest, Act V, Scene I:
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new
world,
That has such people in't.
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Huxley said that Brave New World was inspired by the
utopian novels of H.G. Wells, including A Modern
Utopia (1905). Wells' hopeful vision of the future's
possibilities gave Huxley the idea to begin writing a
parody of the novel, which became Brave New World
Unlike the most popular optimist utopian novels of
the time, Huxley sought to provide a frightening
vision of the future. Huxley referred to Brave New
World as a "negative utopia" ( dystopia).
An early trip to the United States by Huxley
gave Brave New World much of its character.
Huxley was outraged by the culture of youth,
commercial cheeriness, sexual promiscuity
and the inward-looking nature of many
Americans (and this was in the 1930’s)!
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For Brave New World, Huxley unsurprisingly
received nearly universal criticism from his
contemporary critics.
However, most current critics view his work
as brilliant and visionary.
The people of the World
State are all part of the
caste system. It goes,
in descending order,
Alphas, Betas,
Gammas, Deltas, and
Epsilons.
Alphas
Betas
Deltas Epsilons
Alphas are the highest
caste in the caste
system. These people
have the highest level
of intelligence and
attractiveness.
 They generally wear
grey
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Alpha Plus Intellectuals
are the top-ranking
alphas. Bernard Marx
and Helmholtz Watson
are both Alpha Plus
Intellectuals.
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Betas are the second highest caste system.
They possess human intelligence, though not
as much as Alphas.
Mulberry colored; often work as mechanics.
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Wear green; often work as machine
minders/manipulators, butlers, and other
semi-thought-provoking jobs
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Wear khaki, helicopter attendants, cold
pressers, screw-cutters, package packers; are
mass produced and have no individuality.
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Wear black, can’t read or write, Sewage
Workers, liftmen, foundry-workers, carriers
Can’t/Don’t think for themselves
Also called sleep
teaching
(brainwashing).
 Series of repeated
sayings, used to teach
children everything
from their place in
society to clever little
sayings and proverbs.
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Basically, this is a form of mind control. While
the children at the Central London Hatcheries
and Conditioning Centre are napping, these
“lessons” are played time and time again,
thousands of times between the ages of
three and sixteen.
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (The
Director) –
 loves to hear himself talk
 Gives tours of the Hatchery
 Alpha
 (secretly) Wonders about life outside of “the
society”
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Lenina Crowne –
Beta
Young and Beautiful
Suffers from Lupus (common in “society”
Works in the Embryo room
Attracted to Henry Foster (not allowed)
Fanny Crowne (no relation to Lenina Crowne)
 19 years old
 Beta
 Lenina’s friend
 Accepts “society’s” rules unconditionally
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Henry FosterScientist in the Hatchery
Model citizen
Good looking
Does not realize that Lenina has a thing for
him.
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Benito HooverFriend and colleague of Henry Foster
Huxley took his name from:
 Hoover (US president)
 Benito (Italian fascist dictator)
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He disapproves of events in the novel
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Bernard Marx
Huxley took his name from Karl Marx
Alpha
Specializes in sleep teaching
Does not agree with “society's” rules
He is selfish and tries to bend the rules to fit
his own needs (not because it would be right)
Very unhappy character
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Mustafa Mond –
World controller (similar to president)
Secretly indulges in his own passion for
knowledge, literature, and history
He is a friendly, happy fellow who is faithful
to his job and the vision of a utopian society.
He is one of the only humans with free will,
but he denies it to others.
Ultimately, he is loyal to the society and not
to humans.
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John the SavageCentral Character in the novel
Is not introduced until the second half
Born and raised on an Indian reservation in
New Mexico after an accident stranded his
pregnant mom, Linda (not to be confused
with Lenina).
Eventually comes to “society” and cannot
understand the lifestyle.
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LindaBeta-minus
Visited an Indian reservation and fell, injuring
herself.
She was left there and gave birth to her son
on the reservation.
She is very embarrassed of her life on the
reservation.