Since its publication in 1932, Brave New World and its author have been the subject of much commentary and much criticism. Many people consider this Huxley's most important work: many others think it is his only work. This novel has been praised and condemned, vilified and glorified, a source of controversy, a subject for sermons, and required reading for many high school students and college undergraduates. This novel has had twenty-seven printings in the United States alone and will probably have twenty-seven more. A third generation is presently reading and discussing Brave New World. We might well ask, "What accounts for the continuing popularity of this novel?" Why does this work continue to attract attention and comment?" The answer lies in Huxley's skill as a writer - a writer of science fiction, a writer of social commentary, a writer with prophetic vision, a writer with a tremendous breadth and depth of interests and ideas, a writer of satire.

Brave New World is a masterpiece of science fiction. Huxley has imaginatively employed scientific facts and theories to produce a classic of its kind. This novel is in the tradition of Jules Verne, the French novelist who wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, and H. G. Wells, the English novelist who wrote War of the Worlds. Few writers of science fiction have equaled Huxley's ability to make the unbelievable seem believable and to make the improbable seem probable. His own interest in science, its use and misuse, its peril and its promise, contributed to the accuracy of his presentation and to the horror of his envisioned Utopia. Huxley qualifies as a social commentator by reason of his diversified interesst, his acquaintance with the great, the near-great, and the not-so-great. His comments are always perceptive, sometime biased, but never dull. He sees little chance of mankind saving itself; he sees mankind inexorably moving toward self-destruction. He sees himself as a voice crying in the wilderness - but crying to no avail, for the deaf refuse to hear. The prophetic elements in Brave New World contribute much to its continuing popularity because year by year we see more and more of Huxley's fantasy becoming reality. Huxley himself later commented that we are moving in the direction of this Utopia much more rapidly than anyone could have imagined. At the time the novel was written only a comparatively few research scientists were concerned with conditioning, the importance of heredity and environment, and the effect of chemical imbalance on physical and mental development. Today, governments, educational institutions, and industries are exploiting the results of research in these areas. The prophetic elements in Brave New World contribute much to its continuing popularity because year by year we see more and more of Huxley's fantasy becoming reality. Huxley himself later commented that we are moving in the direction of this Utopia much more rapidly than anyone could have imagined. At the time the novel was written only a comparatively few research scientists were concerned with conditioning, the importance of heredity and environment, and the effect of chemical imbalance on physical and mental development. Today, governments, educational institutions, and industries are exploiting the results of research in these areas. The breadth and depth of Huxley's interests and ideas prompted one critic to refer to him as one of the most prodigiously learned writers of all time. In addition to his ten novels, Huxley wrote poetry, drama, essays, biography, and history. His interests and capabilities embrace art, religion, philosophy, music, history, politics, psychology - and this novel expresses Huxley's concern with the importance of each of these areas. The breadth and depth of Huxley's interests and ideas prompted one critic to refer to him as one of the most prodigiously learned writers of all time. In addition to his ten novels, Huxley wrote poetry, drama, essays, biography, and history. His interests and capabilities embrace art, religion, philosophy, music, history, politics, psychology - and this novel expresses Huxley's concern with the importance of each of these areas. Huxley's satire expresses his profound pessimism. In Brave New World the only choice is between insanity on the one hand and lunacy on the other. In an early essay "Revolutions," he expresses this same pessimistic idea: "Now that not only work, but also leisure has been completely mechanized; now that, with every fresh elaboration of the social organization, the individual finds himself yet further degraded from manhood towards the mere embodiment of a social function; now that ready-made, creation-saving amusements are spreading an ever intenser boredom through ever wider spheres - existence has become pointless and intolerable. Quite how pointless and intolerable the great masses of materially - civilized humanity have not yet consciously realized." In Brave New World Huxley helps humanity to this realization.

An Historical Perspective:

Some of the ideas and aspects of life in the World State of Brave New World are contained in several of Huxley's earlier works. In chapter five of Crome Yellow, which was published in 1922, Mr. Scogan speaks of a scientific Utopia: "... An impersonal generation will take the place of Nature's hideous system. In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear. . . ." By the time Huxley started to write Brave New World, the tremendous political, economic, and philosophical changes taking place in Europe and America contributed to his disillusionment. On the international political scene we have the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the dictatorship of Mussolini in Italy, and the Nazi Party movement in Germany. Huxley had always been concerned about threats to man's freedom and independence. He realized that communism and fascism place the state above the individual and demand total allegiance to a cause. Recognizing the danger, he demonstrated the end result of this tendency in his fantasy. At the same time there were tremendous economic changes in and between individual countries - more and bigger factories, more manufactured goods, the advent of mass-produced automobiles. Big business used and misused the individual - man became important as a producer and a consumer. Industry exploited the individual by molding him according to its image and likeness. Huxley goes one step further in his novel - man's chief importance is his ability to produce and consume manufactured goods. With more and more people moving to the cities we see a change in attitude and point of view. As "one of the crowd" the individual is not responsible for himself or for anybody else - having lost his individuality he has also lost his respect for individuality. Huxley carries this loss of individuality one step further in his projection of scores of identical twins performing identical tasks. Huxley was concerned when he saw these things happening because he saw them as very real threats to man's freedom and independence. His bitter satire results from his conviction that although man is able to do something about these threats to his freedom and individuality, he is unwilling to make the effort "to turn the tide." In the latter part of Brave New World Huxley discusses this shift in emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness.

Some Definitions And Allusions:

A number of references, names, and allusions in Brave New World could be missed by the casual reader. Huxley draws upon his own extensive background in history, economics, and science and often assumes the reader is immediately aware of the significance of a particular word. Some of the more important of these words and concepts are discussed below. Conditioning is defined as the training of an individual to respond to a stimulus in a particular way. The great Russian scientist Pavlov conducted experiments to determine how this conditioning takes place. Further experimentation has proven that individuals can be conditioned to respond in a predetermined way. In Brave New World individuals are conditioned to think, act, feel, believe, and respond the way the government wants them to. Predestination is the act of deciding an individual's fate or destiny for him. Both the Old and New Testaments contain allusions to God as the Predestinator, but since the World State has eliminated God, predestination is now the function of a government bureau. In the World State each individual has been predestined according to the needs of society. Thomas R. Malthus (the Malthusian belt) was an English political economist who propounded a doctrine on the theory of population. He believed that unless famine or was diminished the population, in time the means of life would be inadequate. In the World State mandatory birth-control measures are used to regulate the growth of population. Ford was the most important figure in the formation of the World State. In a Christian society the life, work, and teachings of Christ are the source of inspiration and truth; in Huxley's Utopia the life, work, and teachings of Ford are the sources of inspiration and truth. Even time is reckoned according to Ford. A.F. 632 is the year when these events take place. Since Huxley had projected his fantasy six hundred years into the future, by our reckoning the year would be approximately 2532 A.D. Decanting is the name given to the completion of the artificial and mechanical stimulation of the embryo resulting in what we would call birth - an independent existence. Huxley details this process to emphasize the tremendous advancement of scientific knowledge and practice and to show the complete control of the individual from the time of conception.

Theme Of Brave New World:

In his foreword to the New Harper edition of Brave New World, Huxley states its theme as "the advancement of science as it affects human individuals." Within the last ten years we have seen tremendous advances in science and technology. In any single ten-year period since 1900 the advances in science and technology have overshadowed the advancement made during any previous hundred-year period. Huxley realized that these advances which were almost universally hailed as progress were fraught with danger. Man had built higher than he could climb; man had unleashed power he was unable to control. Brave New World is Huxley's warning; it is his attempt to make man realize that since knowledge is power, he who controls and uses knowledge wields the power. Science and technology should be the servants of man - man should not be adapted and enslaved to them. Brave New World is a description of our lives as they could be in the none too distant future, if the present obsessions persist for standardization according to the sciences - eugenics and psychology, as well as economics and mechanics.

Detailed Summary

Chapter One The novel opens with the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning taking a group of students on a tour of the "Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre."

Comment: We notice that the World State's motto is "Community, Identity, Stability." A World State would necessitate a single political ideology and a single point of view. This singleness of purpose emphasizes the need for conformity in social, political, and personal matters. The first part of the book discusses in detail how this stable society was established and is maintained.

Since babies in the Brave New World are "artificially" produced, the tour begins in the "Fertilizing Room." The students are shown the incubators where the male and female reproductive cells are kept. The year is A.F. 632.

Comment: Huxley introduces us to several startling ideas at this point which he will develop in more detail as the story progresses. We learn that babies are artificially produced in a laboratory, and that the people have a new way of reckoning time.

The Director explains the process whereby a single human egg reproduces up to ninety-six identical twins. These individuals are mentally and physically identical and thus contribute to social stability.

Comment: We begin now to understand better the motto of the World State: "Community, Identity, Stability." The World State controls every aspect of the person's life, including his conception.

Mr. Foster, one of the workers at the Centre, joins the tour. They enter the "Bottling Room" to continue observing the mechanical process being used to produce babies. The fertilized eggs are placed in bottles, labeled, and sent into the Social Predestination Room." The Director and Mr. Foster explain that a World Government bureau, the Predestinators, determines the number of each type of individual desired. Mr. Foster explains that the entire process from fertilization to maturity takes two hundred and sixty-seven days.

Comment: Scientific knowledge is used extensively in this section. The Bottling Room process artificially reproduces much of the maturation process which normally takes place in the mother's womb. The two hundred and sixty-seven days is, of course, the normal gestation period.

Mr. Foster explains how the fetus (the child still in the womb) is predestined and conditioned according to the caste and adult life that has been selected for him. On the highest level are the Alphas, who will hold leadership positions, and at the lowest level are the Epsilons, who will do the simplest jobs in the World State. This conditioning begins at the time of fertilization and continues until decanting (birth). Conditioning prepares the yet unborn child for the kind of job he will do as an adult.

Comment: Society in the World State is determined by the government. The society consists of five main groups or castes: Alphas (leadership positions), Betas (positions demanding high intelligence), Gammas and Deltas (positions demanding some intelligence), and Epsilons (positions demanding no intelligence). Illustrations of the five types occur throughout the book.

The conditioning that takes place from the time of fertilization through the individual's formative years guarantees, in most cases, the individual's complete acceptance of every aspect of life in the World State. Since an individual, any individual, is conditioned by hereditary and environmental factors, if these factors are controlled, the individual may be controlled. And if an individual is conditioned to think, to act, and to react in a particular way to a particular stimulus, then free will has been abolished.

A government office in the World State determines the number and kind of individual needed in various positions and in various parts of the world. The Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is then given an order for a certain number of individuals with particular characteristics, abilities, and beliefs. In the words of the Director: "All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny."

Chapter Two The Director and his students go to the "Infant Nurseries - Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms." Here the conditioning continues. At this time eight-month-old babies belonging to the Delta caste are being conditioned to hate books and flowers. The babies are frightened by loud noises and electrical shocks when they attempt to teuch these objects; thereafter they will refuse to touch these objects.

Comment:

The importance of conditioning is a scientific fact first proved by Pavlov, a Russian scientist; hence the reference to him in designating this area.

The Director explains that babies in the lower castes are conditioned to hate books and flowers because of the economic policy of the World State. In order to keep the factories busy and maintain a high level of employment, all classes are compelled to consume as many of the products of industry as possible - reading and nature study would not help the economy. One of the slogans based on their economic system is "The More Stitches, The Less Riches."

The Director tells the students that the principle of sleep-teaching dates from Ford's lifetime. This principle was later used to teach children the values they should hold. The group visits a dormitory where sleep-teaching is taking place, the two lessons for the day being Elementary Sex and Elementary Class Consciousness. These lessons teach the children to be happy in the group chosen for them. They learn that each group has its own color clothes and its own duties.

Comment: The conditioning that takes place influences the individual throughout his life. Since values can be taught, in Brave New World the values established by the World State are impressed upon the children. Many of these values are taught as slogans: "Ending is better than mending - A gramme (of soma) is better than a damn - Civilization is sterilization."

At the end of chapter two, one of the first uses of "Ford" instead of "Lord," or "God," or "Christ" occurs. Society in Brave New World is State-centered rather than God-centered. Since Ford has had, and continues to have, the greatest influence on their society, he is invoked as a supernatural being would be and is looked to as a source of inspiration and wisdom. We will see further reference to this substitution of Ford for God later in the book.

Chapter Three Going outside, the Director and his students watch six or seven hundred naked little boys and girls at play. Many of the children are playing simple sex games. The Director explains that at one time this sexual play had been regarded as abnormal and immoral.

Comment: This chapter contains considerable reference to sexual activity. We find that what the World State considers to be normal, we consider to be abnormal and immoral. Since Huxley makes many references to sexual activity, some explanation may be of value.

This Brave New World, through the advancement of science, has affected every aspect of the human individual's life. In some instances man's beliefs and values have been completely reversed or eliminated. Man is no longer responsible for himself - the state is his master. Man is simply "a cog in the wheel." Therefore, the individual uses sex as he would use a telephone, a spoon, a car - because it is needed at the particular moment. The individual must not "fall in love," marry, and raise children because this would demand allegiance to others, and the individual's allegiance is to the state only. The sexual license encouraged by the World State also eliminates emotional tension which may engender creative or destructive impulses. By removing tension and anxiety, the World State can better control its citizens.

The students find it difficult to believe that erotic play between children was once considered abnormal and immoral. A stranger arrives - it is the Resident Controller for Western Europe.

Comment: The rest of this chapter places characters in a variety of situations, and we are introduced to a number of new characters: (1) Mustapha Mond is the Resident Controller, one of ten World Controllers; (2) Bernard Marx is from the Psychology Bureau and does not seem to belong in the Brave New World; (3) Lenina Crowne, Fanny Crowne, Henry Foster, and the Assistant Predestinator work at the Centre.

Although Huxley has written this section to indicate that a number of things are occurring at the same time, it will be easier to discuss each conversation separately: the first conversation involving the Director, the Controller, and the students; the second involving Lenina Crowne and Fanny; the third involving the Assistant Director, Henry Foster, and Bernard Marx.

Notice Huxley's choice of names for his characters - Ford, Marx, Lenina, Benito Hoover. These have been chosen because of their connotations at the time the novel was written and their connotations today. Ford calls to mind Henry Ford, whose utilization of the mass-production technique has had a tremendous influence on social, political, and economic life. Marx is an obvious reference to Karl Marx, a German Socialist, whose greatest and best - known work, Das Kapital, expresses his belief that the fundamental factor in the development of society is the method of production and exchange. Lenina is a variation of Lenin - Nikolai Lenin, the Russian Socialist, who had a tremendous influence in the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the present-day Russia. Benito Hoover combines the names of two men who wielded tremendous power at the time Huxley was writing Brave New World-Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, and Herbert Hoover, the American President. Huxley's choice of names for his characters is significant because of his concern with the ways people are controlled - politically, economically, and socially.

The Controller recalls a saying of Ford that history is bunk. He speaks of "mother," "home," "family," "romance," and "love," and the students find such ideas and situations repugnant. He insists that stability is the most important thing for society and discusses the importance of conditioning. The Controller outlines the rise of Ford and the World State. Scientific progress has led to the abolition of old age, to innumerable distractions for everyone, to "no leisure from pleasure," to the elimination of thinking and worrying.

Comment: The importance of conditioning is shown throughout this section - the students find the idea of "normal family life" repulsive and the idea of motherhood embarrassing. They have been conditioned to consider their way of life superior, and they do.

The historical account of the rise of Ford and the World State provides the reader with some insight into how this society came about. Note Huxley's use of the inequalities of a democratic social system to show some reasons why this new society came about - poor housing, poverty, sickness.

Henry and the Assistant Director discuss the merits of Lenina Crowne as a sex partner. Bernard is upset by their conversation because of his own interest in Lenina. Henry and the Assistant Director advise Bernard to take Soma.

Comment: Although this is the shortest of the three conversations, it reveals much about Bernard Marx. Conditioning has not made him accept life as it is. He is not satisfied with his life and often refuses to take Soma, a drug which produces a feeling of happiness and well-being.

Lenina and Fanny discuss the men in their lives. Fanny is concerned because Lenina has been going out with only one man - Henry Foster. (Everyone expects a young woman to have sexual relations with many men because "everyone belongs to everyone else.") Lenina tells Fanny that Bernard Marx has invited her to visit the Savage Reservation with him, but Fanny is concerned because Bernard has the reputation of being odd (he does not conform).

Comment: The comments on the World State view of love are especially applicable to this conversation. Because the state considers any close relationship between two people could lessen the power and stability of the state, Fanny is concerned about Lenina's relationship with Henry. The state expects her to be "available" for anyone who wants her sexually; the state considers a person abnormal if he is not promiscuous.

While these conversations are taking place, the work of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre continues - the work of the World State goes forward.

Comment: Huxley's juxtaposition of past, present, and future in this chapter emphasizes the enormous control the World State exercises over the individual and every facet of his existence. The Controller discusses and explains the need for control and the methods of control; at the same time we see the results of this conditioning (control) in the thoughts, actions, and reactions of the other characters. And not content with simply explaining and illustrating, Huxley keeps referring to the continuing operations at the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre - producing tomorrow's citizens of the World State.

Chapter Four - Part One On the way to the helicopter roof Lenina meets Bernard and tells him she wants to visit the Savage Reservation in New Mexico with him. He is embarrassed to discuss the trip with her in public. She leaves to meet Henry Foster and they fly to the Obstacle Golf Course.

Comment: This chapter makes reference to various castes in the World State: Henry and Bernard are Alphas; the lift (elevator) operator is an Epsilon - Minus; the Beta-Minus group is playing tennis; the Deltas are holding a gymnastic display and community sing; the Gamma girls are waiting for the tramcars. Each group has its own work and its own recreation.

Chapter Four - Part Two Bernard, somewhat upset by his encounter with Lenina, rushes to his plane. He feels guilty and alone - he feels inadequate because he is shorter and thinner than others in the Alpha caste. Physically and emotionally he considers himself a misfit.

Comment: Huxley draws our attention to Bernard Marx because he does not look and act as a member of his caste should. He is short and slight when he should be tall and robust; he feels guilt and depression while others are happy; he is modest and unassuming rather than boastful and self-confident.

Bernard flies to Propaganda House to pick up Helmholtz Watson, a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing). As on other occasions, Bernard and Helmholtz discuss their individualism and their desire to find some meaning in life.

Comment: Helmholtz is introduced at this point to indicate that the conditioning process is not always entirely successful. Although Bernard and Helmholtz are very different physically, psychologically, and emotionally, both are dissatisfied with life in the World State. What causes this dissatisfaction, they do not know, but somehow they sense that their existence is meaningless. Because they do not feel, act, and react in exactly the same way as others in their peer group do, both of them are being observed by their respective superiors.

Bernard is considered odd not only because he is physically smaller than the other members of the Alpha caste, but also because he likes to spend time by himself, and he does not like to participate in sport activities. (In the World State one should always be with others, always busy, never alone.) When discussing Bernard, reference is often made to the rumor that alcohol was accidentally put in his blood - surrogate - and this supposedly accounts for his oddness. Because individuals are decanted according to specification, any deviation would seem to be the result of some mistake, some chemical imbalance.

Helmholtz is suspect because he is too able, too intelligent, too successful. Because he is outstanding physically and mentally, because he is a good committeeman and a highly successful lover, he is an individual whose talent sets him apart - and the World State does not want extraordinary individuals; it wants "cogs in a wheel."

Chapter Five - Part One On the way back from the golf course, Lenina and Henry fly by a crematorium. They discuss the social usefulness of all the castes and the fact that everybody is "happy." Landing on the roof of Henry's apartment house, they go down for dinner. Later, they spend the night in Henry's room, Lenina having taken the proper precautions to prevent pregnancy.

Comment: As at other points in the book, the necessity of doing things according to schedule and in a prescribed manner is stressed: the golf course and night club close at specified times; Lenina takes the contraceptive precautions specified by the regulations.

Chapter Five - Part Two Every other Thursday Bernard has to attend a "Solidarity Service" at the Fordson Community Singery. He arrives a little late and takes a place in the group. Twelve men and women take alternate seats around the table. Soma tablets and liquid are taken as communion. As the Soma begins to take effect, individuals jump to their feet and shout as if in religious ecstasy. Although he feels nothing, Bernard acts his part. They all dance around the table shouting "orgy-porgy" in a kind of frenzy and then fall on the couches exhausted. Indiscriminate sexual relations conclude the "service."

Comment: The Solidarity Service takes the place of religious services and provides emotional release for the participants. But Bernard feels nothing - no rapture, no peace, no solidarity. He remains alone and unsatisfied.

Huxley's substitution of the Solidarity Service for the expected religious service re-emphasizes the extent to which the World State controls the people. The religious impulse in man has manifested itself through the ages; the World State recognizes this impulse and makes use of it. The Solidarity Service is a parody of and substitute for the Christian Communion Service; Soma is used to induce a "religious" feeling. Karl Marx called religion the opium of the people; in Huxley's Brave New World Soma is substituted for religion.

Chapter Six - Part One Lenina at first questions whether or not she should visit the Savage Reservation with Bernard Marx. She remembers his odd views - his dissatisfaction with his life, his desire to be different.

Chapter Six - Part Two Bernard receives a permit to visit the Savage Reservation. The Director, who must sign the permit, tells Bernard of his visit there some twenty years before. He recalls that the girl who had accompanied him on the trip disappeared, and he had to return to London without her. While in the office, the Director reprimands Bernard for his odd behavior and warns him that conformrty is necessary.

Comment: The Director's account of his visit to the Savage Reservation becomes very important later in the book. In discussing Bernard's odd behavior, the Director uses an interesting term - "infantile decorum." People in the World State were expected to satisfy every desire without thinking - they were to be like infants, completely dependent on the state.

Chapter Six - Part Three Bernard and Lenina arrive at the Reservation. The Warden attempts to impress them with statistics and tells them there is no escape from the Reservation for the sixty thousand Indians and half-breeds. Since the Savages have not been conditioned, they still preserve their old beliefs and customs (religion, marriage, natural birth, family life).

Comment: Again we see the reversal in the values held by the World State. The Savages are considered uncivilized because they believe in marriage and morality as their ancestors had.

Bernard calls Helmholtz and finds that the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning intends to replace Bernard and have him sent to Iceland because of his odd views and lack of conformity. Bernard and Lenina are given permission to enter the Reservation and are flown to the guesthouse.

Comment: In this chapter Huxley is preparing us for the contrast between life on the Reservation and life in the "civilized" part of the World State. Lenina recalls "truths" she has been taught - "A gramme in time saves nine" or "Progress is lovely" - and Bernard mockingly makes reference to the number of times this was repeated during conditioning to assure her acceptance of a particular idea. The Savages have not been conditioned; consequently they do not hold the same "truths." Their beliefs are based on tradition and what the Controller referred to as "old-fashioned" ideas about morality and right and wrong.

Chapter Seven An Indian guide takes Bernard and Lenina to see the Savages dancing. Lenina is disgusted by the Savages - seeing evidence of old age, disease, and dirt horrifies her.

Comment: The things that horrified Lenina are the things that are not characteristic of the world she knows. The World State has abolished disease, marriage, motherhood, and old age everywhere except on the Reservations. (The government did not consider it worthwhile to "civilize" certain ethnic groups and certain remote areas of the World State.)

The drums, the singing, and the performance remind Lenina of the Solidarity Services. The dance continues, with the leader of the dancers throwing snakes to the others. The ceremony ends with the whipping of a young man. Lenina shudders at the sight of blood. Suddenly a young white man appears.

Comment: Lenina is distressed by the sufferings of the young man because she was conditioned to consider blood and violence disgusting, not because she feels sorry for him. The young man (John) tells Lenina and Bernard that his mother (Linda) came to the Reservation from the Other Place (London) with a man who was his father. The man was Tomakin, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning.

Comment: Bernard recalls the Director's story and realizes that knowledge of this affair with Linda could result in the Director's disgrace.

Lenina and Bernard meet Linda, who is a fat, ugly blonde. She is pleased to see them and recounts with horror that she, a Beta, had had a baby. She tearfully describes her life on the Reservation and speaks fondly of her life in the Other Place.

Comment: Huxley stresses the difficulty Linda had in adjusting to life on the Reservation since she had been conditioned to act and think only one way. She considers John "mad" because he accepts the Savage's values rather than hers.

Life on the Reservation contrasts violently with life in the Other Place. Here pain, suffering, disease, filth, and old age still exist - in the Other Place science has succeeded in abolishing anything which interferes with or impairs the physical well-being of the citizenry. We have already noted the contrast and conflict regarding morality.

Note that both ways of life are based on ignorance - an ignorance based on superstition or an ignorance fostered by the state. Huxley does not consider either way of life attractive or desirable because he believes that life should be conscious existence - a life based on reflection and study and an acceptance of one's own being.

Chapter Eight Bernard finds the life that John, Linda, and the Savages lead unbelievable, and he asks John to explain it as far back as he can remember.

Comment: Although Bernard is considered odd because he does not conform blindly to life in the World State, he has known no other life.

John tells Bernard of the many men who visited Linda, the women who beat her because of her sexual activities, Linda's stories of life in the Other Place, his learning to read, and his life among the Savages.

Comment: The account of Linda's and John's life among the Savages underlines the differences between the two cultures. Linda, having been decanted and conditioned as a "Beta," had one set of values; the Savages, having maintained the "old ways," had a different set. John accepted the values, ideas, and ideals of the Savages.

Having received a superior education because of her caste, Linda was able to teach John how to read. And one of the books John acquired from Pope, one of Linda's male friends, was The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. His close reading of Shakespeare provided him with many ideas and beliefs and helped him develop a strong code of moral conduct.

Bernard tells John he will try to obtain permission for him and his mother to come to the Other Place (London). John is thrilled with the idea and, like Miranda in Shakespeare's The Tempest, exclaims, "O brave new world that has such people in it."

Comment: Huxley selects this quotation from The Tempest because of the parallel in the lives of Miranda and John: both are anxious to embrace a way of life that neither knows or understands.

Chapter Nine After the horrifying events of their first day at the Reservation, Lenina takes a large dose of Soma and sleeps. Bernard contacts Mustapha Mond, the World Controller, and receives permission to bring Linda and John to London. John enters Lenina's room and finds her asleep, but he is too modest to touch her.

Comment: Bernard realizes that the return of John and Linda to London will assure his position and prevent his transfer to Iceland.

Chapter Ten Bernard returns to London with Linda and John. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, wishing to humiliate Bernard because of the unorthodoxy of his behavior, publicly announces his banishment to Iceland. Linda enters and exclaims that the Director is John's father; the crowd roars with laughter, forcing the Director to rush from the room.

Comment: Bernard realized that the presence of John and Linda in London would prevent any untoward action being taken because of his lack of conformity. The Director had hoped to use Bernard as an example of the consequences of nonconformity and had decided to make a public announcement. The arrival, of Linda and John (a physical manifestation of the Director's own unorthodoxy) saves Bernard.

This chapter opens with a rather detailed description of the work of the Hatching and Conditioning Centre - fertilization, predestination, decanting, conditioning. Then, in conversation with Mr. Foster concerning Bernard Marx, the Director says, "Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself." Thus our attention is again called to the necessity of conformity - the individual is not important, but the group is. Bernard's "crime" is his desire to do what he wanted to do instead of what they wanted him to do.

Chapter Eleven Bernard becomes a celebrity and John a curiosity; Linda is content to take an extended Soma-holiday. Bernard takes the "Savage" to see many aspects of the Brave New World. At this point Lenina is attracted to John, but he ignores her.

Comment: A change takes place in Bernard in his new role as celebrity - he enjoys the attention he now receives. John is unimpressed by what he sees and still maintains his "old-fashioned" ideas and values; although attracted to Lenina, he considers such impulses immoral and represses them.

These tours which Bernard and John take provide descriptions of other aspects of life in the World State - specifically, the factory system and the educational system. Remembering that science has developed a method of producing up to ninety - six identical twins from a single egg, we see these identical automatons performing identical tasks. The upper-caste students (Alphas and Betas, each produced from a single egg) are not really educated - they are indoctrinated. In both situations individuality is nonexistent - each is but a member of a particular group.

Chapter Twelve Bernard invites many important personages to meet John, but John then refuses to attend. Having thus lost the friendship of these people, he turns again to John and Helmholtz.

Comment: Bernard realizes that his popularity is based on the curiosity others have about the Savage. He realizes that John and Helmholtz are his only "real" friends. At this point we find John reading Shakespeare to them - making them aware of new ideas, new beliefs, and new values which they find difficult if not impossible to accept.

This chapter emphasizes the difference in character of Bernard and Helmholtz, and their differences in point of view and attitude. Bernard's dissatisfaction with the life he is leading seems to stem from his not being accepted (alcohol in his blood - surrogate), while Helmholtz's dissatisfaction seems to stem from his belief that life must have some meaning beyond the purely physical.

Chapter Thirteen Lenina and John have "fallen in love," but she finds his desire to marry repulsive; she makes advances to him, and he locks himself in another room. The telephone rings, and John rushes from the apartment.

Comment: We see again the conflict between the two value systems - between the life on the Reservation and the life in the World State. Lenina and John are attracted to each other, but Lenina expects to have sexual relations with "no strings attached"; John considers sexual relations outside of marriage immoral and disgusting.

Chapter Fourteen John arrives at the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying, where Linda has been sent. He sits by her bed, remembering his early life at her side, and weeps at her death.

Comment: The nurses at the hospital are mystified by John's reaction to Linda's dying; they cannot understand his being upset. Since close personal ties are forbidden and all were conditioned to accept death impersonally, they consider John's reaction indecent and disgraceful.

Chapter Fifteen Saddened and enraged by Linda's death, John realizes that the government of the World State has made the people the way they are, and that they are being controlled; he warns those around him. Bernard and Helmholtz arrive, the police are called, and the three are taken away.

Comment: John recalls the words of Miranda in The Tempest, "O brave new world!" Having observed life in the World State, these words mocked him; now he hears them as a challenge to do something. He tries to warn those around him, but they refuse to listen - they do not want to change. Conditioning has made them unwilling or unable to desire freedom or to do anything to obtain it.

The difference in the reactions of Bernard and Helmholtz when they see the Savage pleading with the people to change emphasizes the differences noted earlier. Helmholtz sympathizes with John's comments on freedom and his desire to make others aware that the government of the World State has taken away their freedom, and he rushes to aid him. Bernard hesitates - he does not want to become involved.

Chapter Sixteen Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are brought before Mustapha Mond, the World Controller. The Controller explains that since their society is organized for stability and happiness, individuality and free choice must be abolished. Both Bernard and Helmholtz are to be deported because of their unorthodox behavior and belief.

Comment: In this chapter Huxley makes known the Controller's ideas and, by inference, includes his own views of how the evolution of a World State is possible. The Controller's reference to the inability or unwillingness of the individual to act intelligently and reasonably, to the loss of individuality, and to the shift in emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness, gives emphasis to many of the comments made by thoughtful men about modern society. Huxley himself has commented on the possible consequences of these shortcomings of society in numerous essays.

Huxley believed that man was unable or unwilling to act intelligently and rationally. He was especially critical of the educated class because he believed they should take the initiative in bringing about needed social and political reform. The Cyprus experiment alluded to by the Controller seems to illustrate this point of view. In this experiment twenty-two thousand Alphas were given the opportunity to manage their own affairs - to use their superior intelligence to establish an ideal society. Within six years civil war broke out. Although given the opportunity to create a democratic Utopia, the Alphas were unable or unwilling to act independently, intelligently, and rationally, and chose, instead, to return to a system of rigid state control.

Note that in this chapter the World Controller addresses himself primarily to the Savage. Although dissatisfied with life in the World State, Bernard and Helmholtz do not know any other way of life nor any other values; only John and the Controller are able to discuss an alternate way of life and system of values. The Savage's questions about the value system of the World State and its inhabitants provide an opportunity for Huxley not only to summarize what has gone before but also to illustrate how the creation of an all-powerful World State is possible.

The Controller explains that even during the time of Ford (1932) there was a shift in emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. The people were willing, even anxious, to bring about this shift. Mass production contributed to this shift since material goods were an important aid to comfort and happiness; when the masses seized political power, it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered. Once the choice had been made, truth and beauty, art and science, were seen as threats to universal happiness since such inquiry can lead to dissatisfaction with the status quo. Most people are happy when they get what they want and never want what they can't get. In the World State of A.F. 632, the government provides what the people want and through conditioning prevents them from wanting what they can't have. Anyone who becomes "too self-consciously individual to fit into community life" is sent to an island lest he "contaminate" the others.

Chapter Seventeen The World Controller and the Savage are left alone and discuss God and philosophy. The Controller again declares that a stable society is possible only if all conflict, internal and external, is abolished - God and modern society are incompatible.

Comment: Huxley, through the World Controller, says that modern man has chosen machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness instead of God, has chosen them as substitutes for God and the religious impulse. This reference to God and the religious impulse embraces all the attributes and aspects of a human being that make him noble and fine and heroic; in the words of the Savage, "I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin." Huxley believed that since man was composed of body and soul, flesh and spirit, his life should reflect this dichotomy. Modern man's values often glorify the body and deny the spirit.

Chapter Eighteen Bernard and Helmholtz are leaving London, but the Controller has forced the Savage to remain in the area. Seeking refuge in an abandoned lighthouse, the Savage attempts to resume his old life. He disciplines himself severely to remove the taint of the Brave New World, but the curious come to watch his strange antics and disturb the solitude he seeks and needs. Finally, in despair, he hangs himself.

Comment: The Savage attempted to duplicate his old life and his old ways - working with his hands and disciplining his mind and his body. But he could not remove the horror and corruption within or without - he could not forget Lenina, and he could not find peace and solitude. When he could no longer control his thoughts, when he could no longer be an individual, he killed himself. In the World State the choice is conformity or annihilation.