Brave new world summary how to#

John is often held back by self-hatred, a trait not seen in residents of the World State, making his emotional freedom a mixed blessing, which ultimately leads to his downfall. John feels deeply connected to the works of Shakespeare, and embodies a (somewhat misguided) idealism not seen in most residents of the World State. On the Reservation, family structures continue to thrive, and residents are allowed to read, practice religion, and uninhibitedly feel. In contrast stands the Savage Reservation, home of John the Savage (born naturally by his mother). Additionally, the World State creates new people through a process called “hatching” in which scientists carefully select and produce new generations, allowing different embryos varying access to nutrients and predetermining factors such as intelligence. This carefully controlled society is achieved through extensive planning, brainwashing, limited access to information, and conspicuous consumerism which leaves citizens seeking nothing more from their lives. Stability.” and the State emphasizes happiness (though superficial) and order above all else. The motto of the World State is “Community. Much of the industrialized world of the novel, the World State, has become ruled by unchecked Fordism.

Brave new world summary how to#

Structure vs Free Will: The novel presents contrasting philosophies about how to best achieve societal harmony. If happiness is what those in the World State feel, is it worth giving up knowing the ‘truth’ as John the Savage knows it? Huxley is asking, rather than telling, his readers to think about the value of many of our most prized principles and human qualities. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. When this proves insufficient to feel satisfied, they self-medicate with soma, numbing themselves to the world that surrounds them. At the end of the novel, Mond says: In such a culture, there is a level of complacency reached as citizens are too focused on consumption to ponder deeper questions, seek hard truths, or question the status quo.

When John confronts Mond about the way of life in the World State, Mond admis that the heads of state do not want citizens to ever be satisfied with what they have, but to always want what is new and to seek enjoyment through the acquirement of new goods. They play complicated games such as Obstacle Golf, ride in helicopters, and consume soma in order to maintain a state of contentment. They desire the lavish, and are only being satisfied with the extravagant. MAJOR THEMES: Consumerism and complacency: Throughout the novel, the characters living in the World State are constantly consuming. John takes place in an orgy, and the guilt leads him to commit suicide. Mond offers John a place on the Island, where he won’t have the same restraints and conformity costs that people have in the World State, but John refuses. John loses respect for her and Lenina feels devastated. John confesses his love to Lenina, reciting Shakespeare and speaking of marriage. Mond defends the status quo and tries to convince John of its value to no avail. John issue with the culture of the World State, and he expresses his concerns to Mustapha Mond, a leader of the State. They meet John and his mother Linda, both of whom are residents of the reservation, and they all travel back to London.Īs John’s “keeper” Bernard enjoys a newfound status of popularity and in the process loses much of his unique perspective.

Together they visit the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where they find aging, emotion, religious rituals, and family units, all of which are foreign and shocking. Bernard is an outsider in the society, and has feelings for Lenina, who is very much integrated into the World State soceity. The novel follows the story of Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne. Each group is taught to be satisfied with their role in society and to distract themselves with consumerism, casual sex, and a drug called soma. SUMMARY: In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley crafts a future society with a single 'World State' governed by a totalitarian regime and a rigid social structure.