"O brave new world," he repeated. "O brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once."
"You have a most peculiar way of talking sometimes, " said Bernard, staring at the young man in perplexed astonishment. "And, anyhow, hadn't you better wait till you actually see the new world?"
Brave New World, where do I begin. I'd have to agree with what a friend of mine said about this book. It should not be read in high school. I think that it's point would be missed. At face value, it's a fascinating read. Huxley's world is so upsettingly vivid that it lures the reader in and makes one turn pages continuously. What's even more fascinating is the social commentary beneath the outward appearance of the novel. And I think that would be missed among adolescents.
Brave New World is the story of a world that has come to be after the "nine years war." In this world, individuality is no longer welcomed. Humans are no longer born in the traditional sense of the world. They are grown. Mankind has been reduced down to genetic manipulation and is created on an assembly line. Mankind comes in various ranks. There are the best of the best, golden and chiseled, and there are the worst of the worst, the fetuses who are injected with alcohol while they are growing. Whether the best or the worst, each person serves a very specific function to the new society.
There are so many disturbing aspects of this book. Mother is a word that causes people to blush since there are no mothers anymore. Love is disgusting and unfathomable yet sex is encouraged even as children during "erotic play" time. Contraceptives are carried around on a belt worn by women. Relationships do not exist beyond sex. People are discouraged from ever being alone (after all, one may have time to think). And if one ever gets unhappy, all you do is take a soma, a hallucinogen that makes everything o.k. God does not exist.
"But if you know about God, why don't you tell them?" asked the savage indignantly. "Why don't you give them these books about God?"
"For the same reason as we don't give them Othello: they're old; they're about God hundreds of years ago. Not about God now."
"But God doesn't change."
"Men do, though."
God has become nothing but a myth that society mocks and laugh at. God has become replaced with the term "Ford". I must say that Huxley had excellent insight into what the invention of an automobile could lead to. The book is filled with "Oh Ford!", "The year of our Ford", and "his Fordship." I can't help but think of the first commandment and the story from the bible of the golden calf. "You shall not worship false idols." Huxley has given us the extreme of worshipping false idols and shows societies tendency to replace God with material possessions. The soul of a human has been replaced with chemicals, "groupthink", genetic engineering, and false happiness. What we are left with is an empty shell; a robot that looks like a human. Sex exists to make people happy, not to reproduce. If reproduction occurs, there are whole buildings dedicated to abortion. Motherhood is not welcomed in this brave new world. And what a brave world it is to make so many assumptions.
These are some of my initial thoughts on the novel. I can't do it justice with a simple blog post. Huxley has created a masterpiece that was relevant from the day it was published and will always remain relevant. It is a telling example of what the loss of spirituality can do and of the necessity of so many emotions that we perceive as negative.
This book was read for the banned books challenge. It's ashame that people ban books such as these. Yes it's disturbing, but it's message is one that should be heard by all. It warns of the dangers of banning books that make one think. It shows the power of the human mind that is actually able to think out of the box. It opens one's eyes to the dangers of being just like everyone else. It's a book that should be required reading, but maybe not in highschool. Save this one for the college years.
I loved the cover to this edition. It drew my eye right away. Greg Kulick did the cover design and illustration. It's the Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition and it is packed with extras in the back. I recommend this one!
