Happiness is All the Rage:
Brave New World
Feraco
Myth to Science Fiction
1 June 2009
The Story





Bounces from one perspective to
another
Starts in the Central Hatchery
(Director, etc.)
Moves out into the city as its
characters do
Takes a detour into the Savage
Reservation
Finishes back in “civilization”
The Story





As Huxley switches settings, he
also switches purposes
The Hatchery scenes quickly
flesh out the entire World State
City introduces characters
Savage Reservation breaks
those characters down
Return to civilization = Clash of
Man v. Progress
What’s It About?





Stability (Director)?
Connection (Lenina)?
Meaning (Hemholtz)?
Happiness (Linda)?
Life (John)?

Notice Bernard’s not here
Bernard Marx and Hemholtz Watson



See the world for what it is
Want something more
Bernard = Fake protagonist
We share his views
 He caves and changes
 Not ready for real challenge


Hemholtz = Thinker
Seems a bit detached at first
 We understand him better later
 Greets a challenge

Lenina Crowne






A confusing character
Should we root for her?
Seems capable of feeling
Emotional cripple
A child in a world of children
Clashes with those who would
keep her a child and those who
would ask more of her
John (The Savage)










Our real protagonist
Truly alone
A man without worlds
A relic of the past
What have we lost?
Tries to save others
Intentions frustrated
Claims right to suffer
A tragic ending?
Is he reclaiming what’s
rightfully his – or giving up?
Others

Mustapha Mond
World Controller
 Not really bad
 Self-limiting – checking his own
potential in order to fit in


The Director


Clash of Structure v. Humanity
Linda
Exile, not outcast
 An empty life

Basic Arcs





John’s experiences on the
reservation and in civilization –
always isolated
Bernard’s search for acceptance
Hemholtz’s search for a
“subject”
Lenina’s vestigial desire for
connection
Societal studies – birth, death,
conditioning
What’s It Really About?







Theme-wise, Brave New World is
complicated because it’s trying
to do a number of things all at
once
Is it about what it means to be
human?
Love
Security
Independence
Identity
Enlightenment
More Themes










Development
Relationships
Civilization
Faith
Risk
Disillusionment
Happiness
Loss
Heroism
Dystopia
At the End of the Day







“Be careful what you wish for –
you just might get it.”
Paradise
Stable
No one wants for
anything…except for wanting
Is it human to suffer?
Is it human to fail?
What, then, is humanity?
Chapter 17




Re-read this chapter again.
Can you disagree with Mond?
What, really, have the people of
the World State sacrificed?
If you had your choice between
the Savage Reservation and the
World State…would you really
choose the reservation?
Brave New World





As we move forward, we have to
ask ourselves what we really
want
What would we do with
prosperity?
What would we do with
freedom?
What would we do if we were in
charge of our lives?
Apparently, we’d throw it all
away.