Brave New World

On the surface, the London portrayed in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World appears to be a nice place to live. Thanks to the Nine Years’ War (which began in A.F. 141 or 2049 A.D.), England (and most of the rest of the world, one presumes) has been transformed into a utopian society. Most infectious diseases and other maladies have been eradicated, the workday is balanced out nicely with compulsory recreation time, everybody zips around in personal aircraft a la “The Jetsons,” self-medication with the drug soma is encouraged, and, upon reaching adulthood, everyone remains healthy and youthful (though they do die suddenly at age 60).

However, beneath this façade of near perfection lies a negative utopia of sorts—a dystopia of the human condition. Works of great literature have been confiscated and prohibited. Monogamous relationships are considered abnormal and are strongly discouraged (“Everyone belongs to everyone else” is the time honored maxim). Entire generations have been mass produced, or “decanted,” in laboratories for so long that the idea of a “nuclear family” has become not only a forgotten concept, but a revolting one as well. Each person is specifically created to occupy a certain social class such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilon (from highest to lowest caste). Within each caste level men and women are created “physioco-chemically equal,” and a form of subliminal brainwashing, known as hypnopaedia, ensures the consumption of goods, while eliminating the desire to rise above one’s social class.

This perversion of the human soul is largely unexamined by Londoners—with the exception of one man—Bernard Marx, Supervisor of the New Mexico Savage Reservation program. Small in stature, brooding in nature, and more open-minded in his thinking, Marx is the black sheep of his caste. He often forgoes after-work games such as “Obstacle Golf,” likes to spend time alone, and is sickened by the thought of promiscuous sex. While his fellow utopians are comfortable in their perfect world, Marx is unsettled. He sees society’s quest for perfection and stability for what it really is: the suppression of the human spirit. Marx longs to feel the human emotions deprived to him and wishes to express his frustrations to a kindred spirit, but he has no one in which to confide. That is, until he takes a trip to the New Mexico Reservation and meets John Savage.

As his surname would imply, John Savage is an inhabitant of the Reservation—a place devoid of the technological and genetic advancements of the “brave new world.” Here, men and women continue to age—living beyond the 60 year mark—and continue practices considered ancient by those visiting the Reservation—practices such as religion and childbirth. Contrary to his name, Savage is an intelligent and literate young man, having spent the past several years reading a grubby copy of the collected works of Shakespeare. Unencumbered by the science and technology of the modern world, Savage is free to feel all the emotions Marx himself has longed to feel.

Throughout the first half of the novel, Bernard Marx makes several attempts to free himself from the trappings of the society in which he lives. In an attempt to feel “all the emotions one might be feeling if things were different,” he frequently eschews soma and he does not participate in after-work, social functions. Upon meeting Savage, Marx realizes he has come face-to-face with a purer, more natural result of his own experiments.

Sensing the opportunity to observe the effects Savage might have upon his fellow Londoners (not to mention the opportunity to gain the long sought after respect and admiration of his peers), Marx returns to London with Savage in tow.

As one might expect, the inevitable clash of cultures ensues. Neither Savage nor the Londoners can make sense of each other’s ways. Ultimately, Savage is not equipped for a life of suppression and subjugation, and his violent reactions land him in a lighthouse in the English countryside, where he is to spend his time as an experimental subject.

Rather than reveal the rest of the novel’s conclusion, I instead encourage you to read Brave New World for yourself as it is an interesting and compelling book, especially today in an age in which our lives are affected every day by science and technology. Of further interest is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World Revisited in which Huxley considers whether the world has moved toward or away from his original vision.