what is the thesis of a brave new world

Themes and Analysis

Brave new world, by aldous huxley.

'Brave New World' explores the perils of technological advancement, the consequences of sacrificing individuality for societal stability, and the ethical dilemmas of manipulating human nature.

About the Book

Article written by Ebuka Igbokwe

Bachelor's degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ‘ is a thematically rich work and the author delivers a profound social commentary with satirical wit and distinctive style. Huxley references a wide range of literary works and philosophical ideas, a touch that gives the work literary weight and sets it in a broader intellectual context.

The story of ‘ Brave New World ’ deals with certain themes such as consumerism, technological control of society, immediate gratification, and loss of personal identity.

Consumerism and Capitalism

While Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ primarily critiques totalitarian control and the sacrifice of individuality, it also provides commentary on the role of capitalism and consumerism in shaping the society of the World State. It invites readers to consider how unchecked production and excessive consumption can influence a society’s values, norms, and priorities, sometimes at the expense of genuine human connections and personal development. So central is this theme that Ford, the father of the assembly line and mass manufacture, assumes the figure of a deity in the story.

In the World State, humans are treated as products to be mass-produced and mere cogs in the wheel of society. Citizens are conditioned from birth to value material possessions and instant gratification over healthy and rich interpersonal relationships and individual experiences. The caste system, the technology for developing human embryos, and the conditioning process for the citizens are eerily similar to the manufacturing of goods in a factory.

The World State deliberately fosters a culture of constant consumption and dispensability. Citizens are conditioned to replace and put aside items and people without hesitation and discouraged from being attached to anything. The rapid turnover of possessions and relationships reflects the concept of planned obsolescence inherent in capitalist economies , where goods are designed to have short lifespans to encourage continuous purchasing.

Technological Control Over Society

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ explores technocracy, a system of government where experts and technology are the driving forces behind social and political decisions. In this dystopian world, technocracy plays a central role in maintaining control and achieving social stability.

‘ Brave New World ’ shows the consequences of technocracy when taken to the extreme. While a technocracy can harness science and technology for the betterment of society, it can also lead to the objectification of its citizens.

In the World State, this system of government is evident in nearly every aspect of society. The government, composed of World Controllers like Mustapha Mond, is a technocratic elite that makes decisions based on scientific principles and advanced technology. Human life itself is highly controlled, with citizens created in hatcheries, conditioned for certain specific roles, and sorted into castes based on their preselected intelligence and potential functions.

Technocratic principles also guide the development of the ideas through which the society is stabilized. The World State utilizes reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, and behavioral conditioning to create a population that is docile, predictable, and content. The aim is to eliminate suffering, conflict, and dissatisfaction, and to create a clock-work, well-ordered society. Here, technical expertise is not merely an aid to governance but radically influences culture. The result is that every aspect of society is meticulously engineered and regulated as if the individual members were parts of a machine.

Immediate Gratification and Pleasure Seeking

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ presents a dystopian society where immediate gratification and pleasure-seeking are cardinal pursuits. The World State is a carefully constructed society that prioritizes shallow, hedonistic pleasures over deeper emotional connections and true intellectual and spiritual pursuits.

The drug “soma” is the primary instrument for immediate gratification in ‘ Brave New World ‘. It provides citizens with a quick and artificial sense of happiness, contentment, and emotional numbness. Whenever individuals in that society experience negative emotions, they are encouraged to consume soma, which promptly alleviates their discomfort.

The society of the World State is designed to stave off intense and prolonged desire through a culture of shallow pleasures and hedonism. Citizens are encouraged to frequently indulge in casual sex and recreational activities. There is a conspicuous absence of deeper, meaningful relationships, intellectually engaging activities, or character-building cultural experiences. For example, the Solidarity Service is a communal gathering that features group singing which ends in a sexual orgy.

By conditioning the citizens to avoid any form of suffering, they are prevented from experiencing the profound joys, sorrows, and personal growth that come from facing life’s challenges.

Loss of Humanity and Identity

The World State views individual agency as a potential threat to social stability. Its government fears that allowing people to make meaningful choices or experience genuine emotions and intellectual autonomy might lead to conflict, dissatisfaction, or nonconformity. Consequently, individual agency is curtailed in favor of a controlled, harmonious society.

Citizens of the World State lack the freedom to make significant life decisions, pursue deep emotional connections, or engage in intellectual exploration. In their society, happiness is a paramount objective. From birth, individuals are conditioned to accept their predetermined roles in society, conform to societal norms, and avoid discomfort or suffering. This conditioning fosters a conformist culture where citizens find happiness in their assigned roles and shallow pleasures, even if these dehumanize them.

Throughout ‘ Brave New World ,’ characters who exhibit any unsanctioned initiative or seek greater agency often face social disapproval and adverse consequences. Bernard Marx, for instance, questions the status quo and longs for more genuine human connections. His desire for agency leads to isolation and eventual exile.

John “the Savage” also embodies the tension between retaining a strong sense of self and succumbing to pressures to conform to the social mold. Raised outside the controlled society, he represents an admirable alternative answer to the question of what it means to be truly human. However, his rebellion comes at a cost. He tries to resist the dehumanizing influence of the society of World State, but he fails to fully resist its corruption, and he commits suicide.

Key Moments in Brave New World

• The novel begins with a tour of a group of boys through the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where human life is artificially created, conditioned, and categorized into castes, led by the DHC and Mustapha Mond.
• Lenina Crowne and a co-worker discuss Lenina’s four-month monogamous relationship with Henry Foster, a situation frowned upon by their society which promotes promiscuity.
• Bernard Marx is introduced. He is a psychologist who has romantic feelings for Lenina and is offended when she is sexually objectified by her former partner.
• Benard and Lenina have a date and he invites her to go on a vacation to the reservation.
• Bernard and Lenina’s visit to the Savage Reservation introduces them to a world where people live outside the controlled society. Here, they encounter John “the Savage,” and Linda his mother.
• John “the Savage” is revealed to be the son of the Director of Hatchery and Conditioning who left his pregnant mother on the Savage Reservation.
• Bernard contrives to bring John over to the World State. His appearance causes a stir and the DHC’s resignation.
• While he gains popularity, John finds it increasingly hard to fit into the society of World State. He makes friends with Helmholtz Watson.
• Lenina tries to seduce John, but John attacks her and calls her a whore. He desists from attacking her when he learns that his mother has died.
• In grief at his mother’s death, John stirs up a minor riot at the hospital and is detained by the police.
• Mustapha Mond summons John, Helmholtz and Benard. In this meeting, Helmholtz and Benard are exiled.
• Mustapha Mond explains the principles behind the society to John, Bernard, and Helmholtz. He provides insight into the government’s use of technology and conditioning to eliminate suffering and conflict.
• Following Mond’s refusal to send John into exile like Bernard and Helmholtz, John is forced to remain in London.
• John’s self-flagellation to cleanse himself from the corruption of the civilization he joins draws a crowd, and in the ensuing chaos, he participates in an orgy. Overcome with guilt, John commits suicide.

Tone and Style of Brave New World

Aldous Huxley’s writing style in ‘ Brave New World ’ is marked by several key characteristics. First and foremost, he frequently adopts a satirical tone, using humor and irony to criticize social norms and to explore the unbridled use of technological and scientific advancements in managing society.

Furthermore, ‘Brave New World ’ is replete with literary, historical, and cultural references, encouraging readers to engage with a broader intellectual context. The narrative is character-driven, emphasizing personal development and psychological exploration. Aldous Huxley excels in world-building, creating immersive and believable environments that contribute to the depth of his story.

Huxley features dialogues that serve as a vehicle for philosophical and moral discussions. He also makes extensive use of irony, both situational and verbal, to underscore the absurdity of societal norms and critique certain aspects of human behavior presented in the story.

About Ebuka Igbokwe

Ebuka Igbokwe is the founder and former leader of a book club, the Liber Book Club, in 2016 and managed it for four years. Ebuka has also authored several children's books. He shares philosophical insights on his newsletter, Carefree Sketches and has published several short stories on a few literary blogs online.

Cite This Page

Igbokwe, Ebuka " Brave New World Themes and Analysis 📖 " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/aldous-huxley/brave-new-world/themes-analysis/ . Accessed 16 April 2024.

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• Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

• Literature Notes
• Society and the Individual in Brave New World
• Book Summary
• About Brave New World
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Bernard Marx
• John the Savage
• Mustapha Mond
• Helmholtz Watson
• Character Map
• Aldous Huxley Biography
• Critical Essays
• Brave New World Revisited: Further Thoughts on the Future
• Full Glossary for Brave New World
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Society and the Individual in Brave New World

"Every one belongs to every one else," whispers the voice in the dreams of the young in Huxley's future world — the hypnopaedic suggestion discouraging exclusivity in friendship and love. In a sense in this world, every one  is  every one else as well. All the fetal conditioning, hypnopaedic training, and the power of convention molds each individual into an interchangeable part in the society, valuable only for the purpose of making the whole run smoothly. In such a world, uniqueness is uselessness and uniformity is bliss, because social stability is everything.

In the first chapter, the D.H.C. proudly explains the biochemical technology that makes possible the production of virtually identical human beings and, in doing so, introduces Huxley's theme of individuality under assault. Bokanovsky's Process, which arrests normal human development while promoting the production of dozens of identical eggs, deliberately deprives human beings of their unique, individual natures and so makes overt processes for controlling them unnecessary.

The uniformity of the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons is accomplished by careful poisoning with alcohol and produces — in Huxley's word — "sub-human" people, capable of work but not of independent thought. For these lower-caste men and women, individuality is literally impossible. As a result, built on a large foundation of identical, easily manipulated people, the society thrives. Stability lives, but individuality — the desire and/or ability to be different — is dead.

"When the individual feels, society reels," Lenina piously reminds Bernard, who strives without success for a genuine human emotion beyond his customary peevishness. This inability is a kind of tragic flaw in Bernard. Even love — acknowledging and cherishing another's unique identity — represents a threat to stability founded on uniformity. The dystopia's alternative — recreational sex — is deliberately designed to blur the distinctions among lovers and between emotions and urges, finding its social and ritual expression in "Orgy-Porgy."

This organized release of sexual urges undercuts passion, the intense feeling of one person for another, as the individuals subordinate even their own sexual pleasure to the supposed joy of their society's unity. At the Solidarity Service, Bernard finds the exercise degrading, just as anyone clinging to any idealism about sex would be revolted. John's sensitive feelings about love suffer even from the representation of such an orgy at the feelies. Significantly, it is the morning after his own experience of "orgy-porgy" that John commits suicide. His most private, cherished sense of love and of self, he feels, has been violated.

In Huxley's dystopia, the drug soma also serves to keep individuals from experiencing the stressful negative effects of conflicts that the society cannot prevent. Pain and stress — grief, humiliation, disappointment — representing uniquely individual reactions to conflict still occur sometimes in the brave new world. The people of the brave new world "solve" their conflict problems by swallowing a few tablets or taking an extended soma -holiday, which removes or sufficiently masks the negative feelings and emotions that other, more creative, problem-solving techniques might have and which cuts off the possibility of action that might have socially disruptive or revolutionary results.

The society, therefore, encourages everyone to take soma as a means of social control by eliminating the affects of conflict. John's plea to the Deltas to throw away their soma , then, constitutes a cry for rebellion that goes unheeded. Soma- tized people do not know their own degradation. They are not even fully conscious that they are individuals.

Both Bernard and John struggle against the society's constant efforts to undermine their individuality, but one character reveals a deeper understanding of the stakes than the other. Bernard rails loudly about the inhumanity of the system. His outrage stems from the injustices he suffers personally, but he apparently is unwilling or unable to fathom a debate or course of action against the malady because he is an Alpha Plus upon whom the process has been at least partially successful. Once Bernard receives the sexual and social attention he believes is his due, his complaints continue merely as a show of daring and bravado. He sees no reason and feels no moral or social compunction to fight for the rights of others oppressed by the social system.

John, on the other hand, truly challenges the brave new world with a view of freedom that includes everyone, even the Deltas who reject his call for rebellion. Although John, like Bernard, suffers from the oppression of the World State, John is able to frame his objections philosophically and debate the issue face to face with World Controller Mustapha Mond because, although John is genetically an Alpha Plus, he has not undergone the conditioning necessary to conform. His objection is not only his own lack of comfort, but the degradation of slavery imposed by the society. John's acceptance of a free human life with all its danger and pain represents an idealistic stand beyond Bernard's comprehension or courage. Flawed, misguided, John nevertheless dares to claim his right to be an individual.

By the end of the novel, all the efforts to free the individual from the grip of the World State have failed, destroyed by the power of convention induced by hypnopaedia and mob psychology. Only Helmholtz and Bernard, bound for banishment in the Falkland Islands, represent the possibility of a slight hope — a limited freedom within the confines of a restrictive society.

The battle for individuality and freedom ends with defeat in Brave New World — a decision Huxley later came to regret. In Brave New World Revisited , a series of essays on topics suggested by the novel, Huxley emphasizes the necessity of resisting the power of tyranny by keeping one's mind active and free. The individual freedoms may be limited in the modern world, Huxley admits, but they must be exercised constantly or be lost.

Previous Aldous Huxley Biography

Next Brave New World Revisited: Further Thoughts on the Future

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley | Context, Summary & Characters

“Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is a classic dystopian novel that explores a future society where humans are engineered and conditioned for societal stability and control. Published in 1932, the novel presents a chilling vision of a world where individuality is suppressed, and conformity is enforced.

Table of Contents

Historical Background

The 20th century was marked by significant societal changes, including advancements in technology, industrialization, and the aftermath of World War I. These factors influenced Huxley’s portrayal of a futuristic society where scientific progress and totalitarian control dominate.

Huxley’s Inspiration

Huxley drew inspiration from contemporary trends in science, psychology, and politics, particularly the rise of totalitarian regimes and the growing influence of mass media. His experiences during the interwar period shaped his critique of society’s trajectory.

Plot Overview

Set in a dystopian future, “Brave New World” follows the story of Bernard Marx, an Alpha Plus member of society who feels alienated and discontent with the rigid social order. Through Bernard’s experiences, the novel explores themes of individuality, freedom, and the consequences of technological advancement.

The novel delves into themes such as the dehumanizing effects of technology, the dangers of conformity, and the loss of individuality in the face of societal control. Huxley’s portrayal of a world devoid of emotions and genuine human connections serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences of sacrificing individuality for stability.

Analysis of Characters

Main characters.

• Bernard Marx : A discontented Alpha Plus who questions the society’s norms.
• John (the Savage) : A character raised outside the World State who provides an outsider’s perspective.
• Lenina Crowne : Bernard’s love interest who represents conformity to societal norms.
• Mustapha Mond : A World Controller who embodies the authoritarian regime’s values.

Character Development

Each character undergoes significant development throughout the novel, grappling with the conflicting forces of individuality and societal expectations. Their interactions highlight the tensions between personal freedom and social stability.

Critical Reception

Contemporary reviews.

“Brave New World” received mixed reviews upon its release, with some praising its prophetic vision of the future while others critiqued its pessimistic outlook. However, it has since become regarded as a seminal work of dystopian literature.

Scholarly Perspectives

Scholars have analyzed “Brave New World” through various lenses, including its commentary on consumerism, technology, and the erosion of individual liberties. The novel continues to spark debates about the ethical implications of scientific progress.

Influence on Literature and Culture

Huxley’s novel has left a lasting impact on literature and popular culture, inspiring numerous adaptations, references, and critiques. Its themes resonate with contemporary concerns about surveillance, social control, and the erosion of privacy.

Comparisons

“Brave New World” is often compared to other dystopian works such as George Orwell’s “1984” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” highlighting similarities and differences in their portrayal of totalitarian societies.

READ MORE :

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley | Background, History & Creation
• Great Expectations | Overview, Characters & Analysis
• Robinson Crusoe | Summary, Author, Characters, & Facts

“Brave New World” remains a thought-provoking exploration of the human condition and the dangers of unchecked technological progress. Its enduring relevance underscores the importance of critically examining the societal forces that shape our world.

FAQs about “Brave New World”

1. Is “Brave New World” still relevant today?

Yes, the novel’s themes of technological surveillance and social control remain relevant in contemporary society.

2. What is the significance of the title “Brave New World”?

The title alludes to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and reflects the irony of a society that appears utopian but is ultimately dystopian.

3. What are some key quotes from “Brave New World”?

“Community, Identity, Stability” and “Everyone belongs to everyone else” are among the memorable quotes from the novel.

4. How does “Brave New World” compare to other dystopian novels?

While sharing common themes with works like “1984” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Brave New World” distinguishes itself through its emphasis on technological control and consumerism.

5. What lessons can we learn from “Brave New World”?

The novel warns against sacrificing individuality and freedom for the sake of societal stability, urging readers to remain vigilant against oppressive systems of control.

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Brave New World

Introduction to brave new world.

Aldous Huxley ’s dystopic novel , Brave New World , was published in 1932. It became an instant hit for the way it presented the futuristic world as amazing and stunning at that time when WWII was still not on the horizon and the people were technologically not as advanced as presented in this novel. On account of the ingenious presentation of that social fabric, the novel was ranked as the best English novel of the century. Huxley wrote sequels in essay form Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962). The story revolves around the World State where people have been put into hierarchical order after they come out of hatcheries and are graded on the basis of their functions and performance duly monitoring and surveilled.

Summary of Brave New World

The story starts from the Hatching and Conditioning Centre, located in London where its director and assistants are lecturing the touring boys. They learn about processes Bokanovsky and Podsnap used for creating identical human beings through the embryonic processes in which different human beings are produced in factories into separate castes of Alpha and Beta at the top. The Alpha takes up the higher positions in the World States and other positions go to other castes in hierarchical order. The last race, the Epsilons, are occupying the final stage at the bottom of the hierarchy for doing labor. One of the employees also informs the boys about the vaccination procedure. From there, they visit the Nursery and see the programming of the infants through different techniques. Such as the use of ‘Soma’ drugs to escape unpleasant experiences.

When the students come into the open, they see games and sexual acts where a World Controller, Mustapha Mond, delivers a lecture to the touring students about history, the State’s narrative , and the nation’s ideology. Simultaneously, Lenina talks to Fanny about her intimacy with Henry Foster at which Fanny rebukes her for becoming too intimate and not being promiscuous. However, Lenina also informs her that she has already met Bernard Marx, a short and funny-looking guy for an Alpha caste and different than his peers.

Meanwhile, Bernard becomes furious about Lenina’s mention in the conversation of Henry and one of the assistants. Engaged in work, Lenina then informs Bernard that she would be gladdened to have the trip to the Savage Reservation. Meanwhile, Bernard meets his friend, Helmholtz Watson, for having disenchanted from the World Estate on account of their shortcomings. When Bernard applies for permission to visit the reservation, he has to go through the rigors of listening to the director’s tales before winning it. The director becomes nostalgic by mentioning his own trip to Reservation twenty years ago with a woman who was never to be recovered. He also learns about his exile and reviles at it but then moves to the reservation.

When he is on the reservation, he and Lenina are surprised to see its aging population contrary to the youth of the World State. They also watch religious rituals going on and they meet John, who narrates the story of Linda, his mother having met years back. Bernard senses Linda associated with his director in the past and learns about her ostracization from the village because of her willingness to sleep with various men and her book reading habit developed by Pope, her former lover. When Bernard agrees to take John to his world, he also asks him to take Linda with him.

Then Bernard promises him and asks Mustapha for permission to take Linda back. All of them fly back to London where the Director is waiting to confront Bernard, but he brings John and Linda instead and forces the Director to resign. So, John becomes a big hit in the society of London on account of his alienated look. However, he does not fit well in this world and with Lenina. Although Bernard becomes promiscuous, John hardly touches Lenina who becomes confused over his self-control and tries to seduce him on many occasions but fails. Despite Bernard’s insistence, John stays reclusive and refuses to meet important guests. Bernard, then, introduces him to Helmholtz and others and ridicules the reading of Romeo and Juliet by John for these ideas being foreign to the World State and its existing cultural milieu.

Lenina soon takes to John, visiting his apartment and taking soma. She confesses her feelings for him and he reciprocates. Hearing this she offers herself to him but ridiculed by the promiscuity of the World state he curses by using the lines from Shakespeare. However, John rebuffs her every effort. During this time, he comes to know about the death of Linda while Lenina was in the bathroom. He, later, says goodbye to her at the Hospital for the Dying. John is left to meet the clones having their soma ration. He tries to raise a rebellion among them but only causes riots which attract the attention of Helmholtz and Bernard.

However, the police arrive and arrest them all to bring them to Mustapha Mond. There they hold a debate on the policies, leading to John argue his cause and Mond responding to his arguments . While John argues in the favor of art and religion, Mond rejects his claims , adding these are useless things. Soon he exiles Helmholtz and throws Bernard out, threatening to reassign him to Iceland. Meanwhile, John says goodbye to them and stays far away in an abandoned lighthouse to purify himself by starving and flagellating. This catches the attention of a photographer leading many sight viewers to visit John. Meanwhile, Lenina arrives at which John calls her ‘strumpet’ and whipping her and himself. He cries out at her ‘Kill it, kill it’. The intensity of emotion leads the crowd to engage a party in which John participates. At the final realization, he commits suicide for submitting to the World State after that.

Major Themes in Brave New World

• Commodification: The novel shows the commodification of life in that human beings are being hatched, brought up, taught, and eliminated as if they are commodities. When the touring students come to know about hatcheries, they also learn how they are run. Thomas is monitoring Hatcheries and Conditioning Centers where Marx and Foster have been born to lead others. Crowne and Linda, too, show commodified human beings. When John visits the World State, he comes to know the application of this commodification by the upper class to keep on ruling the lower class. The purpose of commodification has been shared by Bokanvosky’s process in which it has been ensured that the new generation conforms to the social structure they are going to live in.
• Dystopian Society: The novel presents a dystopian society where human beings have lost not only their freedom but also their independence. Emotionless, they are being marked in the D.H.C. assembly line. Even if they have some common sense , they keep it to themselves such as Thomas and Marx. Human natural conditioning and mental preparation have also created a dystopia where human beings have become subservient to machines and mechanical behavior. That is why Lenina fails in hooking John who questions this very culture of the World State.
• Utilitarianism: The novel shows utilitarianism through the efforts of Big Brother to establish the Hatcheries for human production as well as conditioning. The savage, John, who visits the World State, comes to know this mechanical routine and detests it. He thinks that Soma food does not fit human beings. Instead of appreciating, he rather berates it and debates it with Mustapha. However, John preaches that though this system utilizes human beings, it is not akin to nature such as taking soma to experience human emotions is unnatural. Lenina’s engagement in promiscuity and her suicide points to the absence of this natural element she could not brook.
• Misuse of Science: brave new world shows the thematic strand of the misuse of science in that human engineering through hatching and conditioning has created desired characters. However, they do not conform to the new ethical framework of the World State. The director briefs the student about the paid voluntary work and conditioning of the Alpha males. The characters of Helmholtz and Bernard Marx have been conditioned, yet they are independent in their thinking most of the time. When Marx does not conform to the standards set by the World State, he is exiled. Similarly, hypnopedia for children and soma food point to this misuse of science.
• Dehumanization: The novel presents the dehumanization of its characters through different strategies adopted by the political elite. Human engineering and scientific techniques have successfully changed the behavior of some characters, yet humanity emerges from Lenina who does not find peace or Helmholtz and Marx who do not conform to the existing rules. Although soma has done its job well, yet the use of Bokanvosky’s process has, to some extent, makes dehumanization possible.
• Consumer Society: The theme of consumerism is significant in the novel in that human beings in the World State are primarily consumers who are fed with specific conditioning and specific food, soma, in order for them to conform to the social fabric created by the World State. That is why John does not become its consumer and shows other characters independence of thinking beyond marketing mechanism.
• Human Emotions: The novel sheds light on human emotions that though they could be engineered, robbed, taken away, and even subverted, yet human beings have the capability to feel empathy, sympathy and realize the dearth of these emotions. That is why when Lenina does not feel soma resolving her problems, she commits suicide and Bernard Marx has shown his desire to control his emotions.
• Genetic Engineering: The production line of the Hatchery and Conditioning center shows that the genetic engineering of humanity and its threat to the natural life cycle is not a figment of imagination. The creation of Alpha males or even the best human beings as argued by Mustapha does not seem a far-fetched idea. The subversion of the thoughts of Lenina and Bernard Marx and the surprising arguments of John show that humanity is facing this threat now .
• New Totalitarianism: The theme of new totalitarianism is significant. It is seen through characters like Mustapha Mond or Bernard Marx, as they are being controlled by the center. The World State has produced a culture where individuals have lost their individuality. Thomas views this as an “inescapable social identity” of every individual that conforms to the social structure engineered by the World State.

Major Characters Brave New World

• Bernard Marx: Bernard Marx is one of the protagonists along with John as they meet during the trip of the students to the hatchery. His special task is to teach sleep learning. Belonging to Alpha plus class has blessed him to think independently, a feature that makes him unfit for the World State society. It is, however, attributed to his stunted growth due to alcohol addiction. His mental independence has given him a feature that makes him empathetic toward others. Most of his character traits show that his condition is not executed properly and that his indifference lies in this. That is why he does not enjoy taking soma and feels a grudge against Lenina for enjoying her life. He leaves the World State by the end after his meeting with Helmholtz as he does not seem to fit into the society where his life constantly faces threats.
• John the Savage: Despite his supposed savageness, John is an important character in the novel. He was brought up on the Savage Reservation where he has learned sympathy and empathy, his two manly traits. Despite his otherness in the World State, he seems supposedly unethical except when he comes to know about Malpais. He could not understand the promiscuity of his mother and the enjoyment of the Malpasian males. His poetic rendering stays with him despite his tour of the World State and giving priority to freedom and not reconciling with existing contradictions, he ends his life.
• Helmholtz Watson: The character of Helmholtz Watson is equally important when starts to involve in the building of a new culture through engaging himself in emotional engineering. Befriending Bernard Marx has given him a point to vie for his attractiveness and intelligence despite his efforts to rationalize his dislike for him. Surprisingly, he loves poetry and lashes out at the wrong cultural engineering at the World State policy though he has been brought upon in a culture different from that of John the Savage. When he helps John to throw away soma by the end, he is exiled from the World State, considering his assistance an act of rebellion.
• Lenina Crowne: A teenager of just 19, Lenina Crowne is a female character of the novel who is working in the hatchery as a technician. Despite her being a lucky figure in the World State, she is promiscuous and becomes easy-going with almost everyone. Being in a relationship with Henry Foster does not impact her. She often uses soma to support her emotional state and goes to the reservation to enjoy life with Marx. When John spurns her advances by the end, she disappears from the novel.
• Mustapha Mond: As the controller in the country, Mond presides over the administration of one zone to consolidate the reins of the government. He controls the people about their do’s and don’ts in this connection and knows what to put on the pedestal of sacrifice for the greater good of the state. Although he is a physicist, he loves to please the public by proving that history is just a bunk and nothing else. He has evolved his own concepts about different social and individual values and finally lets John go to his mother by the end of the novel.
• Henry Foster: As an Alpha male, Foster musters the courage to flirt with Lenina, though, he quits immediately sensing his own future going to dogs. His casual behavior angers Bernard who warns him after which he moves on with the conventions, not showing his waywardness.
• Linda: Belonging to Beta-minus class, Linda is another significant female character who has a savage son, has brought upon on the reservations, yet she works in the Fertilizing Room. Having become a prostitute, Linda shows her other side that she cannot tolerate the type of life. Not able to bear it anymore, she takes too much soma to take her life.
• Thomas: Working as a D. H. C., Thomas is well-known in his circle as Tomakin and only appears in the initial chapters of the story. He briefs the students about the working of the hatchery and its role in the World State. Having a pedantic persona , Tomakin keeps a close watch on rebellious people like Bernard to whom he dispatches to Iceland as punishment. He resigns after Bernard confronts him about John to whom he fathered on the Reservation.
• Fanny Crowne: A friend of Lenina, Fanny presents herself as a typical lady in the World State. She is not her relative, yet she has a strong impact on Lenina in ruining her life by asking her to become promiscuous. Despite her own conditioning, she advises others to go wayward which is rather a surprising thing about her.
• Benito Hoover: A minor character, Hoover loves Lenina despite belonging to the Alpha class in the state. His name signifies two great dictators of the WWII era.

Writing Style of Brave New World

The writing style of Brave New World is known for highly detailed and technologically loaded diction . The characters are conditioned to live in that technologically modified world where the use of emotions is considered an abomination. The overall ironic style is called a mocking style in which the most vital information is held to be disclosed quite late in the text. It happens not only in the case of Bernard but also in Lenina. However, in terms of language, Huxley is highly precise to the point of clinical accuracy. He knows how to use diction appropriately to convey suitable meanings. For figurative language and literary devices , the author mostly turned toward metaphors , similes, irony , and sarcasm .

Analysis of the Literary Devices in Brave New World

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the whole life and growth of the political landscape of the World State as shown through Mustapha Mond, John, Bernard, and Lenina. The falling action occurs John could not brook the situation, isolates himself, and engages in punishing himself. The rising action moment of the novel arrives when Marx and Lenina visit the Savage Reservation and meets John.
• Anaphora : The novel shows examples of anaphora such as, i. We slacken off the circulation when they’re right way up, so that they’re half starved, and double the flow of surrogate when they’re upside down. They learn to associate topsy-turvydom with well-being; in fact, they’re only truly happy when they’re standing on their heads. (Chapter-One) The example shows the repetitious use of “they’re.”
• Alliteration : brave new world shows the use of alliteration at several places as the examples given below, i. Government’s an affair of sitting, not hitting. You rule with the brains and the buttocks, never with the fists. For example, there was the conscription of consumption. (Chapter-3) ii. “As though I’d been saying something shocking,” thought Lenina. “He couldn’t look more upset if I’d made a dirty joke–asked him who his mother was, or something like that.” (Chapter-4) iii. But though the separating screen of the sky-signs had now to a great extent dissolved, the two young people still retained their happy ignorance of the night . (Chapter-5) Both of these examples from the novel show the use of consonant sounds such as the sound of /s/ occurring after an interval to make the prose melodious and rhythmic.
• Allusion : The novel shows good use of different allusions as given in the below examples, i. “Well, Lenina,” said Mr. Foster, when at last she withdrew the syringe and straightened herself up. (Chapter-I) ii. “O wonder!” he was saying; and his eyes shone, his face was brightly flushed. “How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!” (Chapter-8) iii. He hated Popé more and more. A man can smile and smile and be a villain. Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain. What did the words exactly mean? (Chapter-8) iv. Did he dare? Dare to profane with his unworthiest hand that … No, he didn’t. The bird was too dangerous. His hand dropped back. How beautiful she was! How beautiful! (Chapter-9) The first example shows the reference to Lenin, the second to The Tempest by Shakespeare and the third to Hamlet , and the fourth to Romeo and Juliet both by Shakespeare.
• Antagonist : Mustapha Mond is the antagonist of the novel as he appears to have tried his best to spread the domination of the World State by working as the Controller.
• Conflict : The novel shows both external and internal conflicts. The external conflict is going on between John who has been bred up in the natural world and other characters who have been conditioned. There is also an internal conflict in the mind of Lenina who could not brook this controlling atmosphere .
• Characters: The novel shows both static as well as dynamic characters. The young boy, John, is a dynamic character as he shows a considerable transformation in his behavior and conduct by the end of the novel. However, all other characters are static as they do not show or witness any transformation such as Mustapha Mond, Bernard Marx, and Helmholtz Watson as well as Fanny.
• Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Linda commits suicide and John vows to bring a revolution to change the system.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows many instances of foreshadows. For example, i. A SQUAT grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State’s motto , COMMUNITY , IDENTITY, STABILITY. (Chapter-1) ii. INFANT NURSERIES. NEO-PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING ROOMS, announced the notice board. (Chapter-II) The mention of state, slogans, and nurseries show that this is some modern state set in the future. Therefore, this is an apt use of foreshadows.
• Hyperbole : The novel shows various examples of hyperboles such as, i. He was digging in his garden–digging, too, in his own mind, laboriously turning up the substance of his thought. Death–and he drove in his spade once, and again, and yet again. (Chapter-18) ii. The Savage nodded. “I ate civilization.” “What?” “It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then,” he added, in a lower tone , “I ate my own wickedness. (Chapter-18) Both examples exaggerate things as digging the mind and eating civilization are exaggerations .
• Imagery : brave new world shows the use of imagery . A few examples are given below, i. Hot tunnels alternated with cool tunnels. Coolness was wedded to discomfort in the form of hard X-rays. By the time they were decanted the embryos had a horror of cold. They were predestined to emigrate to the tropics, to be miner and acetate silk spinners and steel workers. Later on their minds would be made to endorse the judgment of their bodies. (Chapter-1) ii. There was a loud noise, and he woke with a start. A man was saying something to Linda, and Linda was laughing. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin, but the man pulled it down again. His hair was like two black ropes, and round his arm was a lovely silver bracelet with blue stones in it. (Chapter-8) iii. A moment later he was inside the room. He opened the green suit-case; and all at once he was breathing Lenina’s perfume, filling his lungs with her essential being. His heart beat wildly; for a moment he was almost faint. (Chapter-9) The above examples show images of feeling, sight, color, and sound.
• Metaphor : brave new world shows perfect use of various metaphors as given in the below examples, i. Two shrimp-brown children emerged from a neighbouring shrubbery, stared at them for a moment with large, astonished eyes, then returned to their amusements among the leaves. (Chapter-4) ii. Lenina did her best to stop the ears of her mind; but every now and then a phrase would insist on becoming audible. (Chapter-6) iii. The rock was like bleached bones in the moonlight. (Chapter-8) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel as the first shows a comparison of children to fish, Lenina’s mind to a body, and rock to bones.
• Mood : The novel shows various moods; it starts with quite a dry and rocking mood and turns to be highly exciting at times and tragic when it reaches Linda’s suicide.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, Brave New World, are sex, drugs, and consumerism.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated from the third-person point of view , which is the author himself.
• Personification : The novel shows examples of personifications such as, John began to understand. “Eternity was in our lips and eyes,” he murmured. (Chapter-11) ii. Pierced by every word that was spoken, the tight balloon of Bernard’s happy self-confidence was leaking from a thousand wounds. (Chapter-12) These examples show as if the eternity and balloon have feelings and lives of their own.
• Protagonist : Bernard Marx is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the world and moves forward as he grows and transforms.
• Repetition : The novel shows the use of repetition as given in the below example, i. “ Silence , silence,” whispered a loud speaker as they stepped out at the fourteenth floor, and “Silence, silence,” the trumpet mouths indefatigably repeated at intervals down every corridor. The students and even the Director himself rose automatically to the tips of their toes. They were Alphas, of course, but even Alphas have been well conditioned. “Silence, silence.” All the air of the fourteenth floor was sibilant with the categorical imperative. (Chapter-2) This passage from the second chapter shows the repetition of “silence.”
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the dystopian future country of the World State showing events of 632AF.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes as given in the below examples, i. The tropical sunshine lay like warm honey on the naked bodies of children tumbling promiscuously among the hibiscus blossom. (Chapter-4) ii. Like the vague torsos of fabulous athletes, huge fleshy clouds lolled on the blue air above their heads. (Chapter-4) iii. At Brentford the Television Corporation’s factory was like a small town. (Chapter-4) iv. Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly–they’ll go through anything. (Chapter-4) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things. The first example shows sunshine compared to honey, the torsos of athletes to clouds, the factory to a town, and the words to X-rays.

Related posts:

• Brave New World Themes
• Brave New World Characters
• The World is Too Much With Us
• All the World’s a Stage
• Once the World Was Perfect
• Discovery Of the New World
• Aldous Huxley

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Essays on Brave New World

Brave new world essay topics and outline examples, essay title 1: dystopian themes in "brave new world": a critical analysis of social control, consumerism, and individuality.

Thesis Statement: This essay explores the dystopian themes in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," focusing on the concepts of social control, consumerism, and the suppression of individuality, and examines their relevance to contemporary society.

• Introduction
• Dystopian Elements: Defining Characteristics of "Brave New World"
• Social Control: The Role of Soma, Conditioning, and Surveillance
• Consumerism: The Pursuit of Pleasure and the Commodification of Life
• Suppression of Individuality: The Conformity of Citizens in the World State
• Relevance to Contemporary Society: Analyzing Parallels and Warnings
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Ongoing Significance of Huxley's Vision

Essay Title 2: The Role of Technology in "Brave New World": Examining the Impact of Genetic Engineering, Conditioning, and Entertainment

Thesis Statement: This essay investigates the pervasive role of technology in "Brave New World," specifically genetic engineering, conditioning, and entertainment, and analyzes how these elements shape the society portrayed in the novel.

• Technological Advancements: Genetic Engineering and the Creation of Citizens
• Behavioral Conditioning: Shaping Beliefs and Social Roles
• Entertainment and Distraction: The Use of Soma, Feelies, and Escapism
• Impact on Social Order: Maintaining Stability Through Technology
• Critique of Technology: The Dangers and Ethical Questions Raised
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Relationship Between Technology and Society

Essay Title 3: Character Analysis in "Brave New World": Exploring the Development of John "the Savage" and Bernard Marx

Thesis Statement: This essay provides a comprehensive character analysis of John "the Savage" and Bernard Marx in "Brave New World," examining their backgrounds, motivations, and the roles they play in challenging the societal norms of the World State.

• John "the Savage": Origins, Beliefs, and Struggle for Identity
• Bernard Marx: The Outsider and His Quest for Authenticity
• Comparative Analysis: Contrasting the Journeys of John and Bernard
• Impact on the World State: How These Characters Challenge the System
• Symbolism and Themes: Analyzing Their Roles in the Novel
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Complex Characters of "Brave New World"

Modern Conflict in Brave New World

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Stability in Brave New World

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The Relation of Brave New World to Our Society Today

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Ascertaining Whether The Brave New World is Actually Brave

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1932, Aldous Huxley

Science Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Bernard Marx, Mustapha Mond, Helmholtz Watson, Lenina Crowne, John the Savage

The novel is based on a futuristic society that is heavily controlled and manipulated by a powerful government. It is inspired by Huxley's observations of the rapid scientific and technological advancements during the early 20th century, along with his concerns about the direction in which society was heading. Huxley's vision in "Brave New World" presents a world where individuality and personal freedoms are sacrificed in favor of stability and societal control. The novel explores themes of dehumanization, social conditioning, and the dangers of unchecked scientific progress. It serves as a critique of the emerging consumer culture, where people are distracted and numbed by mindless entertainment and shallow pleasures.

In the futuristic society of "Brave New World," the world is governed by a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of people's lives. Humans are engineered in laboratories and categorized into different castes, each conditioned from birth to fulfill specific roles in society. Among them is Bernard Marx, an Alpha Plus with feelings of alienation and discontent. Bernard travels to a Savage Reservation with Lenina Crowne, his love interest, and encounters John, a young man born to a woman from the civilized world but raised by a native woman on the Reservation. John becomes a symbol of the old, natural ways of life that the World State has eradicated. Back in civilization, John's presence disrupts the rigid social order, leading to chaos and rebellion. However, the government suppresses the uprising and maintains its control. Ultimately, John becomes disillusioned with the superficiality and lack of humanity in the brave new world, leading to tragic consequences.

The setting of "Brave New World" is a dystopian future where the world is tightly controlled by a centralized government known as the World State. The story primarily takes place in London, which serves as the central hub of the World State's operations. London in this future society is a highly advanced city characterized by technological advancements, efficient transportation systems, and elaborate social conditioning. Beyond London, the novel also explores the Savage Reservations, which are isolated regions where people still live in a more primitive and natural state. These reservations are juxtaposed against the highly regulated and artificial world of the World State, highlighting the stark contrast between the two.

One of the central themes is the dehumanization of society in the pursuit of stability and control. The World State prioritizes uniformity and conformity, suppressing individuality and natural human emotions. This theme raises questions about the price of a utopian society and the loss of essential human qualities. Another theme is the manipulation of technology and science. In this dystopian world, advancements in genetic engineering and conditioning have been taken to extreme levels, resulting in the creation of predetermined social classes and the elimination of familial bonds. This theme highlights the potential dangers of unchecked scientific progress and the ethical implications of playing with human nature. Additionally, the novel explores the theme of the power of knowledge and the importance of intellectual freedom. The characters in "Brave New World" struggle with the limitations placed on their understanding of the world and the suppression of critical thinking. This theme emphasizes the importance of independent thought and the pursuit of knowledge in maintaining individuality and resisting oppressive systems.

One prominent device is symbolism, where objects or concepts represent deeper meanings. For example, the "Savage Reservation" symbolizes a world untouched by the World State's control, showcasing the contrasting values of individuality and natural human emotions. Another literary device employed is irony, which serves to highlight the disparity between appearances and reality. The World State's motto, "Community, Identity, Stability," is ironically juxtaposed with the lack of true community and individual identity. The citizens' pursuit of happiness and stability comes at the expense of their authentic emotions and experiences. A significant literary device used in the novel is foreshadowing, where hints or clues are given about future events. The repeated mention of the phrase "Everybody's happy now" foreshadows the disturbing truth beneath the facade of happiness and contentment. Additionally, the author employs satire to critique and ridicule societal norms and values. The exaggerated portrayal of consumerism, instant gratification, and the devaluation of art and literature satirizes the shallow and superficial aspects of the World State's culture.

One notable example is the television adaptation of the novel. In 2020, a television series titled "Brave New World" was released, bringing Huxley's dystopian world to life. The series delves into the themes of technology, social control, and individual freedom, exploring the consequences of a society built on conformity and pleasure. The novel has also inspired numerous references and allusions in music, literature, and film. For instance, the band Iron Maiden released a song called "Brave New World" in 2000, drawing inspiration from the novel's themes of societal manipulation and the loss of individuality. The song serves as a commentary on the dangers of an oppressive system. Furthermore, the concept of a technologically advanced but morally bankrupt society depicted in "Brave New World" has influenced science fiction works, such as "The Matrix" and "Blade Runner." These films explore themes of control, identity, and the implications of a society driven by technology, echoing the concerns raised in Huxley's novel.

"Brave New World" has had a significant influence on literature, philosophy, and popular culture since its publication. The novel's exploration of themes such as totalitarianism, technology, social conditioning, and individuality has resonated with readers across generations. One major area of influence is in dystopian literature. "Brave New World" established a blueprint for the genre, inspiring subsequent works such as George Orwell's "1984" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." These novels, among many others, have drawn upon Huxley's critique of societal control and the dangers of sacrificing individual freedom for stability and pleasure. The novel's influence also extends to the fields of psychology and sociology. The concept of social conditioning, exemplified by the conditioning techniques in the novel, has contributed to discussions on the influence of environment and societal norms on individual behavior. Additionally, "Brave New World" has made a lasting impact on popular culture, with its themes and phrases becoming embedded in the collective consciousness. References to the novel can be found in music, films, and even political discourse, highlighting its enduring relevance.

Brave New World is an important novel to write an essay about due to its enduring relevance and thought-provoking themes. Aldous Huxley's dystopian vision offers a powerful critique of the dangers of unchecked scientific and technological progress, as well as the potential consequences of a society driven by pleasure, conformity, and the suppression of individuality. By exploring complex topics such as social conditioning, consumerism, and the loss of human connection, Brave New World prompts readers to reflect on their own society and its values. It raises critical questions about the nature of happiness, free will, and the balance between individual freedom and societal control. Furthermore, the novel's literary techniques, such as its vivid imagery, symbolism, and satire, provide ample material for analysis and interpretation. Students can delve into Huxley's use of irony, character development, and narrative structure to deepen their understanding of the novel and engage in critical analysis.

"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced." "Happiness is never grand." "Civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic." "You can't make flivvers without steel, and you can't make tragedies without social instability." "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."

1. Huxley, A. (2007). Brave New World (1932). Reading Fiction, Opening the Text, 119. (https://link.springer.com/book/9780333801338#page=128) 2. Woiak, J. (2007). Designing a brave new world: eugenics, politics, and fiction. The Public Historian, 29(3), 105-129. (https://online.ucpress.edu/tph/article/29/3/105/89976/Designing-a-Brave-New-World-Eugenics-Politics-and) 3. Kass, L. R. (2000). Aldous Huxley Brave new world (1932). First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, 51-51. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA60864210&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10475141&p=AONE&sw=w) 4. Meckier, J. (2002). Aldous Huxley's Americanization of the" Brave New World" Typescript. Twentieth Century Literature, 48(4), 427-460. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3176042) 5. Feinberg, J. S., & Feinberg, P. D. (2010). Ethics for a Brave New World, (Updated and Expanded). Crossway. (https://www.crossway.org/books/ethics-for-a-brave-new-world-second-edition-ebook/) 6. Buchanan, B. (2002). Oedipus in Dystopia: Freud and Lawrence in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Journal of Modern Literature, 25(3), 75-89. (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/46720) 7. McGiveron, R. O. (1998). Huxley's Brave New World. The Explicator, 57(1), 27-30. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144949809596803?journalCode=vexp20) 8. Higdon, D. L. (2002). The Provocations of Lenina in Huxley's Brave New World. International Fiction Review, 29(1/2), 78-83. (https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/IFR/article/download/7719/8776?inline=1)

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Brave New World

Aldous huxley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Dystopia and Totalitarianism

Brave New World envisions a future totalitarian society in which individual liberty has been usurped by an all-powerful state. But while other dystopian novels envision totalitarian measures being carried out through tactics like surveillance and torture, Brave New World , in contrast, argues that the most powerful totalitarian state would be one that doesn't suppress and frighten its citizens, but instead manages to convince its citizens to love their slavery.

As the Director of London’s…

Technology and Control

Brave New World raises the terrifying prospect that advances in the sciences of biology and psychology could be transformed by a totalitarian government into technologies that will change the way that human beings think and act. Once this happens, the novel suggests, the totalitarian government will cease to allow the pursuit of actual science, and the truth that science reveals will be restricted and controlled. Huxley argues that the more human beings harness technology to…

The Cost of Happiness

If someone were given the choice between getting what they wanted and not getting what they wanted, they'd probably choose the first option every time. This satisfaction of desire, the person would believe, would make them happy. In order to maintain its stability, the World State in Brave New World ensures that all its citizens get exactly what they want all the time. This universal "happiness" is achieved in three ways. First, psychological conditioning is…

Industrialism and Consumption

Brave New World criticizes the industrial economic systems of the era in which it was written by imagining those systems pushed to their logical extremes. The industrial revolution that began in the second half of the 19th century and sped up through the 20th allowed for the production of massive quantities of new goods. But there's no value in producing new goods that no one wants, so the willingness of the masses to consume these…

Individuality

All of World State society can be described as an effort to eliminate the individual from society. That doesn't mean the elimination of all people—it means the conditioning of those people so that they don't really think of themselves as individuals. Individualism, which encompasses an awareness of one's own opinions and abilities, the joys of personal relationship, and the accompanying sorrows of loneliness and isolation, is suppressed as aggressively as possible by the World State…

111 Brave New World Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

The importance of Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World can’t be overestimated. Today, its themes are as relevant as ever. If you’re looking for Brave New World essay titles or examples, you’re on the right page! But first, check out our simple writing guide.

🔝 Top 10 Brave New World Essay Topics

🏆 best brave new world topic ideas & essay examples, ✔️ good research topics about brave new world, 🔍 interesting topics to write about brave new world, ❓ brave new world essay questions, ✅ interesting brave new world research paper topics, brave new world essay topics: how to choose.

First, you should pick up the topic. The first thing that your readers interact with when they read your paper is the topic and title. That’s why you should carefully select the issue you’re going to discuss in the essay.

Here’s how to select the perfect paper subject:

• Carefully read the essay instructions. Make sure that you understand them correctly.
• Look through the Brave New World essay examples on the page below. Make notes while reading them and select relevant topics.
• Adapt the topic to meet your requirements and start the research.

Brave New World Thesis: How to Write

After you’ve finished your research, it’s time to write Brave New World thesis statement. It should reflect what your paper will be about.

Remember, you should analyze the book instead of summarizing, unless you’re assigned to write a book summary. Keep the thesis statement short and strong.

Brave New World Essay Outline

The next step is to create a Brave New World essay outline. The more detailed it is, the easier will be the whole writing process. Point out key ideas you’re going to cover in your writing: your opinion, supporting arguments, and research results.

In your Brave New World essay introduction present your topic and thesis statement. Then, in the main body, share your point of view and provide supporting arguments. Lastly, in conclusion, summarize the key issues.

Brave New World Essay Prompts

Now, let’s talk about the content of your future paper. Below, you’ll find examples of Brave New World essay questions with prompts to discuss in your writing:

• Happiness and truth. Can anyone be happy without expressing their will freely? What are the elements of happiness described in the book? Investigate, what do you think happiness is and what constitutes it.
• Characters. Who is your favorite character? Provide in-depth character analysis in your paper.
• Shakespeare and John. What is the role of Shakespeare in Brave New World?
• What modern issues does Brave New World cover? How does the novel correlate to current events? Provide examples.
• Theme of drugs. How does soma contribute to the main theme of the novel? Express your opinion if people should self-medicate when they want to avoid true emotions?
• Theme of love. Is there a place for love and sentiment in the World State?
• Racial equality. How does the author describe gender and racial equality in the book? Does the World State have it?
• Depression and suicide. What are the reasons that led to John’s suicide? Could he avoid it?
• Technology and its impact on society. How did technological breakthroughs impact the establishment of the World State? How does the power of technology affect the citizens of the World State?

Aldous Huxley’s book still remains one of the most controversial masterpieces and has much more ideas for analysis than we provided above. IvyPanda essay samples presented below will also reveal some interesting opinions and thoughts you can use as a source of inspiration for your writing. Whether you’re looking for argumentative, descriptive, narrative, and expository essay topics, check the paper examples below!

• The World State’s Idea of Perfection
• The Role of Escapism in Huxley’s Novel
• Huxley’s Novel as a Critique of Modernity
• Love in a World of Artificial Happiness
• Individuality vs. Conformity in Brave New World
• Themes of Control and Oppression in Brave New World
• Technology as a Double-Edged Sword in Huxley’s Novel
• Conditioning and Indoctrination in Brave New World
• Freedom of Thought vs. Censorship in the World State
• Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Contemporary Societies
• Quotations in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that […]
• Comparison of G. Orwell’s “1984”, R. Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and A. Huxley’s “Brave New World” The leadership is in charge of virtually each and every single activity that takes place in the lives of the inhabitants of the society.
• The Brave New World Dystopia by Aldous Huxley The primary assertion in the novel is that the cost of this stability is the loss of individuality, creativity, and genuine human connection.
• Biographical Analysis of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World The writers came up with books and articles that tried to warn the society about the effects of their actions, while others tried to educate the society on what it needed to do to better […]
• Dystopias “Brave New World” by Huxley and “1984” by Orwell The modern world is full of complications and the moments when it seems like a dystopia the darkest version of the future. In the novel, promiscuity is encouraged, and sex is a form of entertainment.
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley He chooses to stay on, despite his clear disapproval of the society around him Before his trip to the wilds, he becomes aware of the imminent threat of exile.
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Novel Analysis In addition, the clash of Alphas and Betas is drastic some strive for recognition and living in a fake world, while others try to preserve their human nature.
• The Future of Society in “Brave New World” by Huxley and “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Postman Thus, this work will study the similarities between the visions of the authors of these literary works and their view of society.
• Huxley’s Brave New World Review Huxley has written in the introduction of his recent print of the book that much of the inspiration for the book was a result of his visit to the high technology Brunner and Mond plant […]
• Technology Control in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” They leave you with a, but there is a self-limiting effect of all of our contemporary psychotropics and mood-alterers. The tabloid news is full of people who have become addicted to prescription drugs, or find […]
• Circumstance and Individual in Huxley’s “Brave New World” He is not allowed to participate fully in the rites and ceremonies of the Reservation, so he fashions his system of thought out of the scripture and the dramas he reads.
• The Dystopian Societies of “1984” and Brave New World The three features which are discussed in this respect are the division of the two societies into social strata, the use of state power and control over citizens, and the loss of people’s individualities.
• Novel Response: Brave New World For instance, he uses changes in the world state society of the characters to illustrate how the changes influence their lives in a negative way.
• Common Theme Between Books These include psychological manipulation of the citizens, exercising physical control on the people, and using technology to control information, history and the citizens for the benefit of the party.
• The Predicted Modern Society in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Depiction of the Utopian Community in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Funhouse Mirror: An Examination of Distortion of Government in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Consequences of Living in a Society Under a Totalitarian Rule in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Analysis of Satiric Elements in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Lost of Emotions for Social Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• Alcohol in Our Society; Huxley’s View in Relation To “Brave New World”
• The Similarities Between Government Control and Suppression of Individuality in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Satirical Representation of the Perfect Society in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• Constant Individual Conditioning Is Needed to Reinforce Society in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Analysis of the Reality That the World Have Inhuman Society Controlled by Technology in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Theme of History in “Brave New World” by Arthur Huxley and “1984” by George Orwell
• The Origin of Happiness in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of Propaganda and Hypnopaedic Teachings in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• A Literary Analysis of a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Suppression of Individuality in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Important Role of Reproductive Technology in the Social Control of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• A Contrast Between Two Societies in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Superficial Reality of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Advancement of Science and Its Effects on the Individual in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Social and Sexual Interaction in the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Values of Society in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”
• A Review of the Dangers of Technology in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Moral Dilemmas in Our Society in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of the Futuristic London in the Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Theme of Selfishness in a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Implications of Having Adults Filled With Suggestions From the States in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Dystopian and Utopian Societies in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “1984” by George Orwell
• The Pursuit of Happiness in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• A Society of Drugs and Promiscuous Sexual Relations in a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Using Soma to Find Happiness and Pleasure in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Issue of Cloning as Described in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Role of Government and Technology in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Role of Technology in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Importance of Soma in Control of Social Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Overview of the Construction of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Portrayal of Community, Identity and Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Use of Distortion in “Brave New World” By Aldous Huxley
• A Critique the Depiction of Role of Science in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Non-Existence of Individualism in the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of the Advancement of Science in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Utopia and Dystopia in the Futuristic Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• How Does “Brave New World” Illustrate the Point of Happiness?
• Does “Brave New World” Suggest That We Should Seek Something Else in Life Rather Than Our Happiness?
• How Are Women’s Bodies and Reproduction Depicted Within “Brave New World”?
• What Are the Parallels Between “Brave New World” and Our World Today?
• How Does “Brave New World” Compare to Biology?
• What Does “Brave New World” Suggest Be Valuable?
• How Does “Brave New World” Resemble the 21st Century?
• Why Does John Reject the Civilization Represented in “Brave New World”?
• How Does “Brave New World” Reflect the Context in Which It Was Written?
• Why Would Shakespeare Not Work in Brave New World?
• How Does the Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley Suggest That the Individual Will Be Treated in the Future?
• Will Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” Be Our Brave New World?
• How Far Have the Prophecies of “Brave New World” Come True?
• What Are Mustapha Mond’s Arguments Against Freedom in “Brave New World”?
• How Does Huxley’s “Brave New World” Portray Authority of Science and Technology on Society?
• Is John From “Brave New World” Really Freer Than the World State Members?
• How Would Plato and Sophists View the World of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley?
• What Is Huxley’s Vision of a Utilitarian Society in “Brave New World”?
• How Does the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley Compare to the Real World?
• Why Does Mustapha Mond Insist That Science Must Be Constrained in the Same Way That Art and Religion Are in “Brave New World”?
• How Does the “Brave New World” Fit Into the Six Characteristics of Malark’s Theory of Characteristics?
• What Traits of Humanity Does John Savage Represent in the “Brave New World”?
• Is Huxley’s Society in “Brave New World” Able to Suppress Religious Impulses Completely?
• In What Ways Does Huxley Moralize Sexuality in the “Brave New World”?
• Do You Believe That Huxley’s Blindness Influenced the Way He Viewed Society in “Brave New World”?
• Why Does John Savage Kill Himself at the End of the “Brave New World”?
• Do You Believe That Mustapha Mond Is the Antagonist of the “Brave New World”?
• Is “Brave New World” a Utopia or a Dystopia?
• What Is the Main Message of “Brave New World”?
• Can Happiness Be Reached Through Drugs Like “Soma” From “Brave New World”?
• Ethical Implications of Genetic Engineering in Brave New World
• Brave New World vs. 1984: A Comparison of Dystopian Societies
• The Critique of Consumerism and Mass Production in Brave New World
• The Theme of Dehumanization of Art and Creativity in a Technologically Advanced Society
• Psychological Manipulation and Mind Control in Brave New World
• How Gender and Sexuality Are Represented in Huxley’s Brave New World
• Religion and Spirituality in a Technological Utopia
• How Control and Surveillance in the World State Create the Illusion of Freedom
• The Impact of Conditioning and Sleep-Learning on Characters’ Behavior
• Huxley’s Vision of the Future: Predictions That Came True
• The Historical Events That Inspired Brave New World
• The Role of Soma in Maintaining Social Stability in the World State
• Satire and Social Commentary in Brave New World
• Savage Reservation’s Contrast with the World State’s Society
• Brave New World and Utopia: The Paradox of Perfection
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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Brave new world revisited'

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Bai, Di. "A feminist brave new world : the cultural revolution model theater revisited." Connect to resource, 1997. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1129217899.

Kretzer, Leonilda Campestrini. "Brave new world & 1984: a comparison." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 2013. https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/106253.

Gonzalo, P. Rodrigo. "HPC scheduling in a brave new world." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-132983.

Work also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) and we used resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, supported by the Officece of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, both under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Chizmar, Paul Christopher. "Miranda's Dream Perverted: Dehumanization in Huxley's Brave New World." Kent State University Honors College / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1335827209.

Kylin, Sebastian. "Brave New World : Blind Perception of the Early 20th Century." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-66354.

Larsson, Mats. "Brave New World. : The Paths towards a Neolithic Society in Southern Scandinavia." Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper, KV, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-24676.

Illerhag, Erik. "Life or Death: Biopower and Racism in Huxley´s Brave New World." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Engelska, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-26762.

Franzén, Martin. "Deconstructing Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World’s Ambiguous Portrayal of the future." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-70827.

Fredriksson, Erik. "The Human Animal : An Ecocritical View of Animal Imagery in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-23625.

Janney, Michael William. ""A brave new world?" a study of the disappearing boundaries between entertainment and hard news /." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2007. https://eidr.wvu.edu/etd/documentdata.eTD?documentid=5438.

Harris, Clea D. "The Germ Theory of Dystopias: Fears of Human Nature in 1984 and Brave New World." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/699.

Desjardins, Olivier. "A BRAVE NEW BUILDING. Réédition expérimentale et design d'information." Thesis, Université Laval, 2010. http://www.theses.ulaval.ca/2010/27118/27118.pdf.

Burgmann, Mark J. "Fearing an inhuman(e) future the unliterary or illiterate dystopia of Aldous Huxley's Brave new world /." Diss., Connect to the thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10066/3612.

Santos, Julio Cezar Colbeich dos. "A Brave new world: formas atuais de distribuição de produtos comunicacionais através da comunidade heroes Brasil." Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, 2011. http://www.repositorio.jesuita.org.br/handle/UNISINOS/3269.

Moors, Amkiram. "“O Brave New World, That Has Such Critics In’t”: An Argumentative Essay on Criticism of The Tempest." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-99794.

Wavre, Robert Andre Auchmuty. "How brave should the new world be? : a study in constructivism, consequentialism and the theory of value." Thesis, University of York, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.424581.

Arvidsson, Jessica. "I frestarens grepp : En arketypanalytisk undersökning av temat manipulation med utgångspunkt i Karin Boyes Kallocain." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-14380.

Volcato, Jose Carlos Marques. "Piling up logs in a brave new world : brazilian invisibility abroad and the genesis of Shakespeare's The Tempest." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/10759.

Dündar, Hayri. "Dystopia as a vital peek into the future : The importance of dispatching antiquated morals and establishing new ethics." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-14737.

Buchiu, Cristian. "Welcome to the brave new world inquiries on the gains and losses of modernity from a post-Byzantine Orthodox perspective /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2003. http://www.tren.com.

Kringstad, Johan. "From Alphas to Epsilons : A study of eugenics and social caste in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World from a biographicalperspective." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-62645.

Rebelo, Maria Raquel de Gouveia Durão Pina. "Entre a civilização e a selvajaria : os estereótipos do nativo americano e o selvagem de Brave New World de Aldous Huxley." Dissertação, Porto : [Edição do Autor], 1999. http://aleph.letras.up.pt/F?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&request=000101358.

Kringstad, Johan. "From Alphas to Epsilons : A study of eugenics and social caste in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World from a biographical perspective." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-62584.

Rebelo, Maria Raquel de Gouveia Durão Pina. "Entre a civilização e a selvajaria : os estereótipos do nativo americano e o selvagem de Brave New World de Aldous Huxley." Master's thesis, Porto : [Edição do Autor], 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10216/14514.

Naudé, Bernard. "The portrayal of subjectivity in selected dystopian novels." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79906.

Rowland, Steffanie. ""One is not born a women; one becomes one" : perpetuating gender roles in the dystopian novels Brave New World and The Giver." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-4877.

Casagrande, Eduardo Vignatti. ""Each one of us goes through life inside a bottle" : a reading of Brave new world in the light of Zygmunt Bauman's theory." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/141236.

Fegert, Kai. ""...to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled" : the role of science and technology in Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and Nineteen Eighty-Four /." Title page, contents and introduction only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09AR/09arf295.pdf.

Berrios-Ayala, Mark. "Brave New World Reloaded: Advocating for Basic Constitutional Search Protections to Apply to Cell Phones from Eavesdropping and Tracking by Government and Corporate Entities." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2013. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1547.

Santee, Daniel Derrel. "Modern utopia : a reading of brave new world, nineteen eighty-four, and woman on the edge of time in the light of More's utopia." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 1988. http://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/75596.

Touzani, Hamza. "Itinéraires d'Aldous Huxley et de George Orwell à travers l'étude de Brave new world et de Nineteen eighty-four et leurs rapports au contexte actuel." Paris 4, 1994. http://www.theses.fr/1994PA040205.

Kuzmina, Irina. "Inscription du mythe dans le roman français, anglo-saxon et russe du XXe siècle." Versailles-St Quentin en Yvelines, 2005. http://www.theses.fr/2005VERS005S.

Wilson, Mark Robert. "Historicizing Maps of Hell." Miami University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1115503544.

Hachtel, Julia. "Die Entwicklung des Genres Antiutopie : Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood, Scott McBain und der Film "Das Leben der Anderen" /." Marburg : Tectum-Verl, 2007. http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?id=3008882&prov=M&dok_var=1&dok_ext=htm.

Leth, Corina. "What is the Meaning of Meaningless sex in Dystopia?" Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Akademin för utbildning och ekonomi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-16223.

Dunphy, Patricia. "Den nya generationen: Dystopisk reproduktion : En tematisk genusanalys av Karin Boyes Kallocain, Aldous Huxleys Du sköna nya värld och George Orwells 1984." Thesis, Södertörns högskola, Institutionen för genus, kultur och historia, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-5700.

Wojciekowski, Mauricio Moraes. "Utopia/distopia e discurso totalitário : uma análise comparativo-discursiva entre Admirável Mundo Novo, de Huxley, e A República, de Platão." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/17521.

Lupold, Eva Marie. "Literary Laboratories: A Cautious Celebration of the Child-Cyborg from Romanticism to Modernism." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1339976082.

Picot, Jean-Pierre. "Contribution à une étude de l'imaginaire chez quelques écrivains des XIXe et XXe siècles." Clermont-Ferrand 2, 1988. http://www.theses.fr/1988CLF20012.

He, Qi, and 何齊. "Welcome to the Brave New World." Thesis, 2018. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/ydmytq.

Hsu, Ya-Ping, and 徐雅萍. "A Study of Brave New World in the Light of Wittgenstein’s Philosophy." Thesis, 2018. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96rkbg.

Wen, I.-fen, and 溫宜芬. "A New Perspective for Awakening the World - Twelve Towers Revisited." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/53625568683893145320.

Chiu, Ya-Ching, and 邱雅菁. "The Affirmative Nightmare:The Dystopian Self-Other Relation in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World." Thesis, 2006. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/71424801942149551635.

Reinhard, Maria. "Brave New World: The Correlation of Social Order and the Process of Literary Translation." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/4146.

Sousa, João Paulo Neves da Rocha e. ""A brave new world": mulheres e os cargos de chefia no sector segurador português." Dissertação, 2015. https://hdl.handle.net/10216/83238.

Gonçalves, Maria. "O feminismo distópico: as vozes de Brave New World e de The Handmaid's Tale." Master's thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10316/30493.

Hsieh, Meng-Tsung, and 謝孟宗. "In the Year of Our Ford:Domination and Resistance in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World." Thesis, 2005. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/93599083970630055281.

Sousa, João Paulo Neves da Rocha e. ""A brave new world": mulheres e os cargos de chefia no sector segurador português." Master's thesis, 2015. https://hdl.handle.net/10216/83238.

LING, QUAN, and 凌銓. ""Utopia"-a dehumanized world under totalitarian rule:a comparative study of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and the Chicom regime." Thesis, 1991. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/02582737429534051000.

McGowen, Ernest Boyd III. "The brave new world : the social and participatory behaviors of the modern suburban African American." 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/19837.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

Author Interviews

Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

TED announces rebrand, invites more conversation (and controversy) at 2024 conference

For about 20 years, all of the TED Talks watched online fell under the theme or tagline: "Ideas worth spreading." 

But as the major media company celebrates its 40th anniversary at TED2024 in Vancouver this week, it also celebrates a slight pivot in its branding. 

On Monday evening, head of TED Chris Anderson unveiled TED's new tagline : "Ideas change everything."

"In a doom-scrolling era, it's very easy for stuff to be regarded as dopamine hits," Anderson said in a conversation with the press. "[TED] is not a dopamine hit. Our content matters."

He said this new tagline is a "more confident assertion" of what TED is and what TED Talks mean.

"When you want to invest in lifelong learning, these ideas change you. These ideas change the world." 

Many long-time TED attendees shared that they welcomed the change, and that the new tagline better represented TED's role in an online ecosystem where TED Talks compete against countless other sources of ideas. Some expressed that the word "spreading" had become taboo in a COVID-conscious world and were glad to see the updated tagline.

Others expressed indifference over the new tagline.

In a conversation with Good Good Good, one long-time TED supporter expressed concern over one word missing from the updated tagline: Worth. The supporter explained that TED's removal of this word indicates that the organization doesn't necessarily endorse every Talk given on its stage but will still platform influential speakers, even when a Talk's thesis could be harmful. 

But what exactly does this rebrand mean for the actual programming of TED's flagship conference - and, by extension - its online content? 

Anderson said the approach invites deeper thought about how TED happens. 

"Which ideas do we bring to this stage?" he asked upon welcoming guests to the conference in Vancouver. "Good people can disagree deeply on what the best ideas are."

The solution, he said, is to invite in a diversity of ideas and to, "listen respectfully, learn, debate, discuss, try to find some common ground."

"This year at TED, we're trying to do that more than we've ever done before," Anderson concluded. 

This choice to further the depths of discourse and human connection are already clear in the conference's programming. The week in Vancouver kicked off with a conversation between Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon, who are Palestinian and Israeli peace activists, respectively. 

Andrew Yang is scheduled to speak on "how to fix American politics," and Utah governor Spencer J. Cox will discuss healthy disagreement in politics. Other "controversial" names on the 2024 program include Bari Weiss and Bill Ackman - billed as "provocateurs." 

Isaac Saul of Tangle News will also speak at the end of the week about the importance of non-partisan journalism. Saul's popular newsletter curates perspectives from the right and left about controversial news topics - and then shares Saul's own perspective to round out each piece. 

And John and Julie Gottman of the acclaimed Gottman Institute will discuss how healthy couples fight - solidifying the conference's undertones of moving through conflict and disagreement more seamlessly.

55 Best Quotes from Angela Davis

All of this comes on the heels of what Anderson himself would call a "storm" of feedback about a 2023 speaker, Coleman Hughes, who gave a Talk on "color blindness" at last year's conference.

During a town hall forum at the 2023 conference,  several TED attendees voiced concerns about platforming the idea of "color blindness" from the TED stage.

Months later, Hughes accused TED of suppressing his Talk after it was posted online - and even went as far as to critique the honesty of the "Ideas worth spreading" tagline. His article and subsequent interviews about the suppression elicited a personal response from Anderson on X - leading to further backlash online from both sides of the political aisle. 

Learning from this experience, Anderson remained steadfast in his belief that disagreement is healthy on and off the TED stage.

The new tagline and programming approach, Anderson told Good Good Good, "has been a growing conviction as a result of a lot of the internal debate and discussion at TED about the right way to respond to the current moment."

A current moment, he explained, which is rife with divisive political narratives, where meaningful connection gets lost to the tribal landscape of modern media.

"That whole incident [with Hughes] shows both how challenging it is and how important it is," he said, emphasizing the value of spaces where intentional discourse can thrive.

In an audacious move - aligned with TED's 2024 theme of "The Brave and The Brilliant," it seems the TED team is eager to lean into differing perspectives.

"We're determined to find our best way to present ideas in a way people can be heard and understood. And then, sure, yeah, critiqued," Anderson added.

"We're committed to figuring this out as a community. I think that's how the future needs to be. Or the alternative is people just stop talking to each other, and I think that's really dangerous."

Outside of main stage Talks, the conference will offer additional programming for attendees to have conversations with other people, including small group conversations called "Brain Dates," two town hall discussions during the conference, and professional facilitators for lunch conversations.

Monique Ruff-Bell, the chief program and strategy officer at TED shared that this attempt to build bridges in a heavily divided world is what TED attendees and fans love most about the company.

"TED… is a place where people want to have optimism," Ruff-Bell said. "They want to connect and learn from each other. They want to understand the future of something. They want to be connected to humanity in a very different way." 

In a world where it's easy to stay within an echo chamber or avoid discourse entirely, TED wants people to feel connected - even when they disagree.

"They believe in ideas, they believe in the possibility of a better future," Jay Herratti, CEO of TED conferences, said of the conference's attendees. 

"They believe in solutions to problems and looking for them together. That's a big unifier that really runs through all of TED. I think much of it happens here in community."

Header photo: SESSION 1 at TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Monday, April 15, 2024. Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED

This article was originally published by Good Good Good . Good Good Good celebrates good news and highlights ways to make a difference.

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59 Powerful Quotes from John F. Kennedy

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The Beautiful World of Birding

More from our inbox:, civility on the court, but these are not civil times, a history of deception about politicians’ health, test the candidates, banning plastic foam.

To the Editor:

Re “ Birds Open Our Eyes and Ears ,” by Ed Yong (Opinion guest essay, March 31):

Mr. Yong has written a marvelous article that will resonate with many birders, especially in these troubled times. Many are the mornings when I’ve put aside reading the news in favor of watching the birds at my home in southeast Arizona.

To Mr. Yong’s article I would add that seeking and identifying new birds are wonderful ways to experience the world. Spending time getting to know the birds you’ve already seen can be equally fulfilling, if not even more so.

People who don’t have the luxury of traveling to find exotic species need not feel deprived; they can find fulfillment creating a songbird habitat in their backyard.

Craig Coray Patagonia, Ariz.

Thank you for the wonderful birding article. I too have become obsessive, and I am learning the names of different birds.

The positive healthy aspects of birding are obvious, but people should not just get to know birds, but also think about their safety and their food. Sanctuary and breeding grounds are being depleted around the world. Shorelines are being paved and water conditions are subpar.

Birds are not just for us to enjoy, enhancing our photo albums or improving our species lists. Stay a distance from their habitats, and don’t let your dog or cat tread on them. Get protected glass for buildings. Think of birds as precious, not as a game for humans.

Susan McHale Greenwich, Conn.

I enjoyed Ed Yong’s piece about becoming a birder. He didn’t mention some of the special joys in birding: introducing others to the pleasures of really experiencing birds; sharing a handful of seed with a child so chickadees will alight on small, outstretched fingers; taking the blue-haired receptionist out to see the red crown of a pileated woodpecker; installing a feeder for hummingbirds in a seniors’ residence.

The wonders of nature are naturally wonderful.

Susan Lindenberger White Rock, British Columbia

Ed Yong’s piece is beautiful, and I hope it inspires people to respect not just birds in the wild, but all avian species as well.

Over eight billion chickens, turkeys and ducks are brutalized and killed in America’s industrialized food system per year, and they are no less worthy of consideration than the rarest of birds spotted in the wild.

In the words of Jane Goodall: “Farm animals feel pleasure and sadness, excitement and resentment, depression, fear and pain. They are far more aware and intelligent than we ever imagined.”

Stewart David Venice, Fla.

Re “ Unlikely Personal Alliances on the Supreme Court ,” by Stephen Breyer (Opinion guest essay, April 4):

I am glad that Justice Breyer had a cordial relationship with the justices with whom he served on the Supreme Court. I, too, have friends with whom I disagree. However, there are times when friendship and reaching a consensus are quite beside the point.

We are living through a period of discord in the nation perhaps not seen since the Civil War. Hard-won rights are being disassembled before our eyes.

Our Capitol was attacked by a mob that threatened the peaceful transfer of power in the last presidential election. A president twice impeached escaped conviction because of the radicalization of his political party. Antisemitism is rampant in a way not seen since the 1930s and ’40s.

The Supreme Court has lost the trust of the American people. This is not only a crisis for the court but, more important, for the rule of law in general.

Civility is a two-way street. Moreover, there are times when it is more important to stand firm on principles whatever the cost to civility. We are living through such a time.

Bruce Neuman Water Mill, N.Y.

Please send Justice Stephen Breyer’s wisdom to all members of our Congress. For some it is not needed. For some, a gentle reminder. For a few, a whole new concept.

P.S. The same for candidates for president.

Stalky Lehman Orange, Calif.

Re “ ’24 Candidates Guard Details About Health ” (front page, April 5):

The history of the health of U.S. presidents and presidential candidates, which I study, offers a master class in secrecy and deception.

The American people learned only long after the fact of Grover Cleveland’s oral cancer, Franklin Roosevelt’s paralysis and Lyndon Johnson’s secret surgery to remove a skin tumor, while Jimmy Carter’s hemorrhoids remained a private matter until they were revealed to the public by President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt.

Doctors treating former Senator Paul Tsongas, a lymphoma survivor and a serious contender for the presidency in 1992, overtly lied in claiming the candidate had been cancer-free since 1986; he was dead of the disease just before what would have been the end of his term.

The notion that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are somehow less forthcoming on medical matters than the majority of their predecessors is misleading. Rather than lament that these men have not released cognitive testing results, one might ask what use such neurological testing would serve.

I have spoken to many voters on this subject over the course of the past year and, although the public may express an interest in such testing, the outcome appears unlikely to change their votes.

Jacob M. Appel New York The writer is a professor of psychiatry and medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

We need to learn which candidates are well qualified for government. Do they understand economics, health care, technology, government and history?

Let’s make standardized tests available for voluntary testing. Then we could see who is brave enough to be tested and who understands the important issues. This could help avoid electing politicians who are charming, but inept.

Thomas James Dolan Ionia, Iowa

Re “ Unwrapping Plastic’s Grip on Produce ” (Food, April 3):

While the substitutions cited in Kim Severson’s article offer a positive step to reduce plastic waste, we should also consider reusable and refillable alternatives.

Plastic pollution harms our health, oceans, climate and communities. The solution is to invest in reusable alternatives and phase out unnecessary single-use plastics — starting with plastic foam.

States are noticing the harmful environmental and health effects of foam foodware. Styrene, the building block of plastic foam, is probably carcinogenic, according to the World Health Organization , and is one of the most common plastics found polluting our beaches and coasts.

Last year Delaware became the 11th state to pass a law to reduce plastic foam, and more states should follow this lead. In December, the Farewell to Foam Act, a bill to phase out plastic foam across the country, was introduced in Congress. Americans should call on their elected officials to pass this bill.

Christy Leavitt Washington The writer is campaign director of Oceana.