Brave New World

Brave New World was written by Aldous Huxley in 1931. It is a dystopian novel, set in London in 2540 CE.

Plot

The book begins in a conditioning center in London. Children are not cared for by a mother and father, but conditioned to posses certain traits. There is a Director in London to oversee everything. There is no "Individual" as many people are exactly the same. They have the same appearance, the same DNA, the same traits, etc. There is one "World State". Different countries do not exist. There are 10 World Leaders that censor what is published, what conditioning goes on, where everyone lives and works, etc. They are drugged up all of the time on soma, which makes them vulnerable to behave as society conditions them to.

There is one man, however, who starts to think for himself. His name is Bernard.

Bernard is of higher intelligence and therefore higher up on the social scale. One of the World State's motto's is "Everyone belongs to everyone else" meaning you do not marry. You do not date. You do whatever you want with whoever you want. Bernard doesn't feel this is right. He falls for a woman named Lenina, which is ironic. She is exactly what society wants. She does what is expected of her. Bernard wants freedom and individuality. He wants to be different, even if it results in imperfection.

Bernard later takes Lenina to visit a Reservation for "Savages". These are people who still live as we do today. Many of them have religion, families, sicknesses, literature, sin, aging, etc. They are outcasts from the World State, and confined to live in the New Mexico area. It is here where Bernard feels a sense of freedom, and where Lenina feels uncomfortable.

They meet a "savage" there, John, and his mother, Linda. They are family of the Directors, which is unacceptable in their "perfect" society. So after Bernard and Lenina take them back to London, the Director is humiliated and runs off.

Linda hasn't had soma in so long. So after coming back to London, she overdoses all the time, and it eventually kills her. John is devastated, and never quite fits in to society in London. Lenina eventually falls for him instead of Bernard. Bernard is sentenced to banishment to an island for disrupting the stability of the World State by Mustapha Mond, 1 of 10 World leaders.

John falls deeper into depression in the World State. He never fits in, never quite understands the concept of being drugged up all of the time. He tries to escape society, but only hurts himself and Lenina in the process. He hangs himself in the end.

Suggesting This Book To...

I'm suggesting this book to anyone who ever wonders what it would be like to live in a more stable community with no problems, no sickness, no religion, etc. This book really made me think. No matter how stable and perfect a civilization may seem, there will always be downfalls. There really is no perfect. It took me a bit to completely understand the novel. It is a deep work of literature when you scratch the surface. But when you really get into it and give it some thought, it will be on your mind for days. 

Rating

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a meaningful novel, and it really captures imperfection in an interesting way. It also gives the readers the opportunity to answer the question "What if...?" What if life were different? What if everything was "perfect"?