Book Review: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The novel Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, tells the story of a new society formed after the world wars. In this society, the goal is to be happy. The story shows all that is sacrificed by the people in order to achieve this happiness. In this new world, babies are not born, and there is no such thing as a family, mothers, or fathers. Babies are "decanted" in a way known as "Bokanovsky's Process." Everyone is born into a caste system, being identified as an Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon. Alpha's are the smart, good looking people, while the Epsilon's are the exact opposite. Through the process of hypnopaedia and Neo-Pavlonian conditioning, people are trained to like certain aspects of life and be pulled toward them. This causes them to be happy in their line of work and happy with themselves, no matter what caste to which they belong.

In Brave New World, anytime a spark of a negative feeling erupts, the people simply take Soma, a drug that relaxes them and sends them on a "holiday." Mottos such as "everyone belongs to everyone else" explain the society's way of thinking. They believe in sharing everyone and having sex with as many people as they desire, without any need for commitment.

The main characters, Lenina and Bernard, decide to take a trip to the savage reservation. This reservation filled with savages, or people who have refused to adapt to the new world's way of life. They live just like you and I do, in homes with mothers and fathers. Here, Lenina and Bernard meet a woman named Linda and her son John. They find out Linda used to live in the new world, and that she was dumped at the reservation after the DHC (head of the new world) found out she was pregnant with his baby. She gave birth to John and raised him in the reservation. She had no other choice, as pregnancy is forbidden in the new world.

Bernard thinks it would be a good idea to bring the savages back to the new world for science and entertainment purposes, and he does so. After confronting her ex-lover who impregnated her, Linda brings John to face the DHC. As people are watching, John calls the DHC, named Thomas, "father." Embarrassed and ridiculed, Thomas resigns his position as the DHC.

John begins to have feelings for Lenina and take her to the "feelies". She only knows to seduce men whom she likes and offers him sex. This repulses John because this is not how things work in the world from which he came. Linda becomes depressed and takes too much Soma. She ends up in the hospital in the death ward. John comes to visit her, and while he is there, she dies from an overdose of Soma.

John begins to see all the awful aspects of the new world and hates that he is now known as "the savage" and not by his own name. He makes a scene in the hospital, grabbing all the Soma and throwing it out a window. No one can understand why Linda's death has meant so much to John. The police come and arrest John. They also take in Bernard and Helmholtz, another friend, for helping John out.

Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are sent to Mustapha Mond, the world controller, because of their actions. Bernard and Helmholtz are exiled to an island where reporters ambush them. John locks himself up in his house and becomes depressed. Seeing no hope in the world anymore, the novel ends with John committing suicide.

Brave New World exposes a world in which feelings, other than sexual, are forbidden, where happiness is the goal of life, and where responsibility seems more like leisure than work due to government required drugs. It is a scary concept to imagine, and this novel does a great job of bringing those fears to the forefront. In the end, you will be grateful to live in a society that does not brainwash you and force sedatives into your body in order to create the perfect world in which nothing goes wrong, and there is no standing up against the powerful.