Huxleys Brave New World - Book Report/Review Example

As the suggests, the world in the novel of Huxley's Brave New World is truly brave and new from our point of view. It is totally in contrast with the world we are living in today. It has more of negative shades. To be more precise the writer has described all the human moral values as vices in this world. Every chapter in this novel sends jitters through the body of a reader. The time showed in this novel is in the future (AF 632 means year 2540 as per Gregorian Calendar). The significant thing about this World is that it is not divided into different continents, as is the case in our world. The whole world on this earth is treated as a single World State. And a single Government, a Controller, governs this world. As we go through the novel, we realize that before writing this novel the author has made a thorough study of science and technology. The values, which we talk of today, are considered as obsolete or outdated in this new world. The people are divided into five classes, namely - Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilons. The Alphas and Betas are supposed to be in authoritarian positions whereas Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons belong to the labor class. Those who follow the norms of the New World are considered as civilized people whereas those who do not believe or who do not abide by the rules or norms set by the New World are referred to as uncivilized or dirty people. Although the ideas are shocking, we are amused by the new concepts and it gives us a feeling as if we are in a wonderland. So it is contrary to our ideas of being civilized and uncivilized. In the very first chapter, we learn that humans in this world are not born naturally. They are created in laboratories. The World Controller has full control over the births of humans so as to combat the problem of growth in the population. Humans are considered to be mere products, which are produced according to the requirement of the Society. They are conditioned right from the stage when they are still babies. In our world it is the mother who takes cares of all the needs of her children. And once a child grows up, it is he who decides about his career and his future. That is why the students in the new world are shocked when Mr. Mond imitates an uncivilized woman breastfeeding and cuddling her kid. They are totally oblivious to the term 'Mother'. There is no such term as the word ' Family' and is perceived as something vulgar. This is something very absurd or totally contradictory to our ideas. In our world we just cannot imagine of such overpowering of Science and Technology over Nature. Humans in this world do not have the freedom to think independently. Children are taught to love their own caste and hate others. Also, it is the controller who decides which activities they should be engaged in. He explains his point by using the slogan, "Ending is better than mending". He opines that their involvement in useless activities will be a waste of time and will also hamper productivity. Another major shock comes when we see small children involved in an erotic play. Those who are hesitant are punished. In our world such things just cannot be thought of. Promiscuity is encouraged in the New World and anybody can have anyone whereas our World does not approve of it. It is termed as an offense and a person can also be punished for the same. The Controller informs students that the prehistoric books like Bible are banned because he feels that rebellion and sadness are the outcome of such books. Such sufferings have no place in the New World. Science helps humans to satisfy their urges. The sexual desires of humans are satisfied by 'feelies' and that too without the risk of having a baby. Women are compelled to take birth control pills to avoid pregnancy. The people living in this new world control their emotions by resorting to taking drug called Soma, under the influence of which a person's senses are benumbed. Our world does not approve of taking drugs and is considered to be a punishable offense. Resorting to drugs is also an act of cowardice in our world. Readers are appalled when they learn that the characters in this novel find the crematorium to be a wonderful place. Death of a person has no effect on the civilized people and mourning over a death of a person is considered to be very funny. There is absolutely no emotional bonding between the humans as none of them is related with each other. We feel sorry when we learn that Linda and many patients like her lie unattended in the hospital made for dying. And nobody visits them in the hospital. Also, when John the Savage mourns over his mother's death, others are bemused by his act, as they have never experienced this. Even when John whips himself for his guilt of lusting for Lenina, the curious onlookers totally unknown to such kind of behavior are awestruck and wonder as to why he is punishing himself in this manner. This is totally contradictory to our norms. Death is considered to be the ultimate loss in a human life. And people who lose their near and dear ones feel really bad and mourn over their deaths. In our world an individual is taught to share joys and sorrows with others. An individual also respects privacy of others. Every person's fate is decided by the way he is brought up, his education, his performance, achievements and finally his destiny. In the New World the destiny of people is controlled by the World Controller. It is very agonizing to learn that humans are not allowed to be alone, and if at all they have any strong feelings for something they are supposed to take Soma to suppress their feelings. The writer has tried to experiment by writing this novel in a very unique way. He is convinced about the fact that ultimately a man struggles to have happiness, good health and money throughout his life. He has to go through ups and downs to achieve his goal. Considering these points he has kept no room for sufferings in his novel. Every person gets whatever he yearns for and he is very happy and does not suffer. If for a single moment we think of living in such a world, it will be difficult for us to live in such a world which is devoid of emotions and a person gets all the pleasures in life without struggling for it. He will definitely yearn to have sorrows and sufferings, as it happened in the case of John the Savage. Thus the world described in this novel is good to read as a fiction but not to live. Our world is the best as compared to this Brave New World. Sources: The Brave New World - Aldous Huxley Websites: http://www.huxley.net/bnw/index.html http://www.bookrags.com/notes/bnw/ Read More