a brave new world book review

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - review

"O brave new world, that hath such people in it!"

Brave New World is a classic - it is a dystopian novel similar in theme to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. I was recommended to read this book, by my cousin, as I enjoy dystopian novels. Brave New World revolves around the idea of totalitarianism and is set in a futuristic world where a combination of science and pleasure form a rather feudalistic society. This idea of totalitarianism is achieved through test tube babies, and hypnotism, resulting in a pre-ordained caste system consisting of intelligent humans suited to the highest positions and conversely, serf-like beings genetically programmed to carry out menial works. In this world of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and the unfortunate Epsilons, exists drug-induced happiness, caused by what is known as soma. Here, "everyone belongs to everyone else" emphasising the system of forced promiscuity, brainwashed into the people from the moment of birth. At the core of this book is the horrific idea of eugenics and despite being written several decades ago, its message remains valid for our generation.

Brave New World explores the negatives of a ostensibly successful world in which everyone appears to be content and satisfied, with excessive carnal pleasures yet really, this stability is only achieved by sacrificing freedom in its true sense and the idea of personal responsibility.

I think this book is really interesting as it explores the dangers of technology and what it can do to a whole world; indeed, Huxley is trying to convey the idea that technology does not have the power to save us successfully. This theme is what makes the novel controversial - yet a classic that we can relate to, especially in today's world, where technology is close enough to ruling our lives, what with high tech computers, music players and gaming consoles fast becoming a natural part of our lives. Additionally, Brave New World explores the idea of just how far science can go without being immoral. Would we really want to live in a world where eugenics rule and despite everyone being equal on the surface, deep underneath bubbles the idea of inequuality and unfairness? Not for me, thanks! The novel presents the contradictory idea of a Utopia, a perfect world, yet the word "utopia" is derived from two Greek words meaning "good place" and "no place"; this suggests that the perfect world is impossible.

It is true that this book is a complex read and I must confess that some parts I did not understand; however, the novel's meaning has left a deep impression on me. It's certainly a book I won't forget, and I would recommend it to readers aged fourteen and over as the ideas presented are complex, and Huxley writes in a very adult-like manner, with exceedingly complicated sentences and very complex vocabulary.

Overall, Brave New World is a scary depiction of what could soon be our future. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well written and thought provoking novel.

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Brave new world, common sense media reviewers.

Satire of ultimate consumerist society still packs punch.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Brave New World is an extremely influential dystop

By showing the hollowness of lives devoted to cons

John, also known as "the Savage," comes as close t

Science seems to have eliminated most violent tend

Brave New World is permeated by sex, although ther

African Americans are referred to as "Negroes" and

The novel is set in a society given completely ove

In Brave New World, "soma" is the drug of choice f

Parents need to know that Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World is one of the most famous dystopian satires in the English language. Set in a society given completely over to pleasure and consumerism, it is both humorous and chilling, and ultimately raises questions about what makes us human…

Educational Value

Brave New World is an extremely influential dystopian science-fiction novel that presents both a richly imagined future and a sharp critique of trends prevalent at the time of its publication that are still relevant today.

Positive Messages

By showing the hollowness of lives devoted to consumerism, promiscuity, and empty pleasure, Huxley tacitly endorses community, literacy, family, service, faithfulness, and reverence.

Positive Role Models

John, also known as "the Savage," comes as close to a sympathetic character as this novel permits. It is his belief that there is more to life than empty sex, emotion-numbing drugs, and meaningless pastimes. A white boy raised on an Indian reservation, he feels like an outcast among the Native Americans, only to be overwhelmed by the promiscuous consumer culture promoted by the World State.

Violence & Scariness

Science seems to have eliminated most violent tendencies in the inhabitants of Central London. On the Indian reservation, however, life is far harsher and physically punishing. John's mother is abused by her lover, by other men, and by other women in the camp. There are also scenes of self-flagellation. The end of the novel features a violent orgy and a suicide, both of which are more implied than directly dramatized.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brave New World is permeated by sex, although there are no explicit descriptions of sexual acts. Promiscuous sex is the norm, and characters routinely speak of "having" each other. Young children are encouraged to engage in sex play with their peers. Orgies are not unusual. Men chew sex-hormone gum. Women carry elaborate contraception kits. Having grown up on the reservation in New Mexico, John seeks a romantic relationship in Central London but cannot bear the gulf between his idealistic notions and his own physical urges.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

African Americans are referred to as "Negroes" and Native Americans as "savages," terms not unusual at the time of the novel's publication. Because the inhabitants of Central London regard Henry Ford as a secular prophet, they use his surname as a mild expletive. Also, the word "mother" is practically an obsenity to a populace conceived and decanted from bottles.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

The novel is set in a society given completely over to pleasure and consumerism. There are fictional products mentioned, but nothing that matches one-to-one with real-world items. The Ford brand is presented as a quasi-religion, but it's not meant to be taken seriously.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

In Brave New World , "soma" is the drug of choice for nearly everyone. It seems to be a tranquilizer with hallucinatory effects. It is addicitive, and prolonged use inevitably leads to physical deterioration. On the Indian reservation, mescal is drunk by the residents, and peyote is used during tribal initiations. A major character's mother succumbs to the slow deterioration brought on by soma.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World is one of the most famous dystopian satires in the English language. Set in a society given completely over to pleasure and consumerism, it is both humorous and chilling, and ultimately raises questions about what makes us human. Although there are no explicit descriptions of sexual acts, promiscuous sex is the norm, and there is a violent orgy. There is also a suicide. Citizens of the World State take a tranquilizing, hallucinatory drug called soma, and on an Indian reservation, residents drink mescal and use peyote during tribal initiations.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (14)
• Kids say (23)

Based on 14 parent reviews

Everything in Context

Favorite book, what's the story.

In the far future, humanity has become almost completely dissociated from the process of reproduction. Fetuses are developed in bottles, cloned and treated with chemicals to produce infants that will fit within rigidly structured caste systems. Marriage and motherhood are unheard of. Citizens do their jobs and then relax by indulging in promiscuous sex, elaborate games, and doses of tranquilizing, hallucinatory \"soma.\" When John, a \"savage\" from an Indian reservation in what was once New Mexico, is brought to Central London, he must reconcile his beliefs with those of a bewildering, responsibility-free society.

Is It Any Good?

Along with George Orwell's 1984 , this chilling novel is one of the most famous dystopian science-fiction novels in the English language. Aldous Huxley envisions a future where a person's destiny is determined through in vitro fertilization and prenatal treatments, leading to adulthoods ruled by consumerism and aimless sex. Although originally a critique of social trends in the 1930s, the novel is still funny, disturbing, and relevant for today's readers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how well author Aldous Huxley predicted the future when he wrote Brave New World in 1932. Was he only imagining the future, or was he also commenting upon trends at the time of the novel's publication?

Why do you think Henry Ford is viewed as a kind of prophet by the citizens of the World State? What satirical point was Huxley trying to make with this choice?

Why do you think Huxley has John quote Shakespeare so often in the novel? And why do you think Huxley chose to quote Shakespeare's play The Tempest in the book's title?

Why do you think Brave New World continues to be read and taught in high school and college literature courses?

Book Details

• Author : Aldous Huxley
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : Science and Nature
• Book type : Fiction
• Publication date : February 1, 1932
• Number of pages : 288
• Last updated : June 9, 2015

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Brave New World

By aldous huxley.

Aldous Huxley skillfully blends social critique with philosophical inquiries on the cost of sacrificing individuality for stability and technological advancement.

About the Book

Article written by Ebuka Igbokwe

Bachelor's degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

‘ Brave New World ’ was published in 1932. It was Aldous Huxley’s fifth novel and introduces us to a prescient social commentator and a brilliant storyteller whose ideas about a possible future are as compelling as they are believable.

Aldous Huxley was born in 1894 to the illustrious Huxley family and was a prolific writer. He wrote over 50 books in his career and his interests ranged from Eastern meditative philosophy to war and pacifism, and from poetry to social satire. He also wrote screenplays for Hollywood.

In ‘ Brave New World ,’ Huxley explored a novel idea: presenting a world of pleasure and contentment as a dystopia. What began as a parody of an idea of a utopia he read in ‘ Men Like Gods ‘ by H.G. Wells was transformed into one of fiction’s most remarkable conceptions of dystopias.

Revisiting Brave New World

‘ Brave New World ’ is a novel by Aldous Huxley that envisions a future society where people are engineered in hatcheries and conditioned for specific roles. In this highly controlled world, pleasure, consumerism, and conformity are paramount. The government uses behavioral conditioning and a drug called soma to maintain social stability.

The story follows Bernard Marx, an individual who struggles with his conditioned place in society, and John, a “savage” from a reservation where the customs of old times persist. As John is introduced to the “civilized” world, he becomes a focal point for the novel’s exploration of the clash between individuality and a society obsessed with controlling its citizens with conformity-inducing pleasurable activities.

The novel explores how technology can be used to dehumanize people, the effects of mass production and consumption on society, and the hollowness of a culture driven by instant gratification. It raises questions about the costs of sacrificing individuality for the sake of social stability.

The story of ‘ Brave New World ‘ by Aldous Huxley is surprisingly simple and spare. This makes it a perfect vehicle for the complex and imaginative ideas explored in the story in a way that does not overwhelm the reader.

From Bernard’s romance with Lenina, which leads to their trip to the reservation in the first arc of the story, to John’s immigration to World State from the reservation in the second, we learn much about the strange world, can identify with and understand the characters responding to the events in it, and Huxley ably handles the topical issues he intended to with the story.

However, by focusing on the society of World State alone, the novel’s vision is limited. Huxley doesn’t explore a diverse range of cultures or perspectives to offer alternative societal structures or solutions. ‘ Brave New World ‘ does not answer the question of how a balanced and humane society could be achieved given the same set of conditions.

The world-building of ‘ Brave New World ’ is creative and ambitious and plays a crucial role in shaping the novel’s narrative. A futuristic World State with advanced technology , genetic engineering, and conditioned social norms provides a rich backdrop for exploring the novel’s dystopian themes .

Also, the inclusion of the Savage Reservation in the story as a contrasting setting adds depth to the narrative by highlighting the clash between traditional and futuristic societies. It allows for a comparison between different ways of life. Aldous Huxley’s carefully crafted setting serves as a platform for his critique of contemporary societal trends, including mass production, consumerism, and the potentially dehumanizing consequences of scientific advancements.

However, readers might find the portrayal of the Savage Reservation as overly stereotypical or romanticized. Also, the technology in the story would appear dated and quirky to the modern reader and affect the immersive quality of the fictional world.

Themes and Symbolism

‘ Brave New World ’ is rich with ideas and insights about humans in society and Huxley deals with the themes he explores in, for his time, novel ways.

The tension between individuality and conformity is a central theme in the novel, and the book raises important questions about the cost of sacrificing individuality for societal cohesion. Also, the use of genetic engineering and conditioning in processes that dehumanize the citizens of World State, reducing human beings to mere commodities or cogs in a machine, brings up valid and relevant ethical issues.

‘ Brave New World ’ explores consumerism as a dominant social value and critiques a culture driven by constant consumption and instant gratification. The theme of technology and its use in social control highlights the novel’s concern with its potential misuse to manipulate and dominate individuals.

However, Huxley can be accused of being heavy-handed in his criticism of technology use. In the novel, he hardly speaks approvingly of an instance where technological advance is an unequivocal good. He also fails to give a nuanced treatment of where the line between anarchy and individual freedom, or between healthy social order and oppressive rule lies.

• Characterization

Characterization in ‘ Brave New World ‘ is a key element in its narrative and Aldous Huxley uses a range of characters that serve specific purposes in the storytelling.

Characters like Bernard Marx and John “the Savage” embody different critiques of their society, contributing to the novel’s depth. The characters in the novel often have distinct traits and personalities that make them memorable, and they undergo personal struggles that add emotional depth to the narrative. Another crucial touch is how Huxley introduces characters with contrasting perspectives, and the clash between their views presents a platform for exploring the novel’s theme to great lengths.

One of the shortcomings of the novel’s characterization is Huxley’s use of the characters as didactic pieces, making them feel less like realized humans and more like instruments. Also, the novel does not go into the backgrounds of the characters, and this limits the reader’s understanding of the character’s motives.

Generally, Huxley’s writing style is clear and accessible. His prose is straightforward. He uses satire and irony to drive home his points in a subtle but stimulating way. His description is rich and evocative, painting a vivid and immersive image of the futuristic World State, and he probes complex and profound philosophical and social issues in very approachable language. However, his stylized language, which uses a variety of literary references, might be a barrier to some readers.

Brave New World: A Dystopian Vision of Technocratic Control

Book Title: Brave New World

Book Description: Written by Aldous Huxley, this is a dystopian novel that explores a future society where technology, conditioning, and genetic engineering control every aspect of human life. Citizens are bred for specific roles, conditioned to accept their predetermined social status, and kept content through a drug called soma.

Book Author: Aldous Huxley

Book Edition: Modern Classics Edition

Book Format: Paperback

Publisher - Organization: Harper Perennial

Date published: October 18, 2006

ISBN: 978-0060850524

Number Of Pages: 288

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on Reader

In ‘ Brave New World ,’ Huxley critiques consumerism, societal mass control, and hedonism. He foretells specific themes relevant to our modern age. Still, like most dystopian creators, he focuses more on the negatives of his world and offers little positives in his vision of the future.

• Engaging narrative
• Compelling characters
• A masterful exploration of philosophical themes
• Heavily didactic writing 
• Limited exploration of alternative views
• Somewhat technophobic in tone

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.

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'Brave New World' Overview

Aldous Huxley's Controversial Dystopian Masterpiece

Leslie Holland / Chatto and Windus (London)

• M.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan
• M.A., Journalism, New York University.
• B.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan

Brave New World is Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel set in a technocratic World State, a society that rests on the core of community, identity, and stability. The reader follows two main characters, first the disgruntled Bernard Marx, then the outsider John, or “The Savage,” as they question the tenets of the World State, a place where people live on a baseline-state of superficial happiness in order to avoid dealing with the truth.

Fast Facts: Brave New World

• Title: Brave New World
• Author: Aldous Huxley
• Publisher:  Chatto & Windous
• Year Published: 1932
• Genre: Dystopian
• Type of Work: Novel
• Original Language: English
• Themes: Utopia/dystopia; technocracy; individual vs. community; truth and deception
• Main Characters: Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne, John, Linda, DHC, Mustapha Mond
• Notable Adaptations: Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Brave New World for SyFy
• Fun Fact: Kurt Vonnegut admitted to ripping off the plot of Brave New World for Player Piano (1952), claiming that Brave New World ’s plot “had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We.'" 

Plot Summary

Brave New World follows a few characters as they live their lives in the seemingly utopian World State metropolis of London. It is a society that rests on consumerism and collectivism and has a rigid caste system. Bernard Marx, a petty and depressive psychiatrist who works for the Hatchery, is sent on a mission to the New Mexico Reservation, where “savages” live. He is accompanied by Lenina Crowne, an attractive foetus technician. On the Reservation, they meet Linda, a former citizen of the World State who had stayed behind, and her son John, born through a “viviparous” procreation, a scandal in the World State. When Bernard and Lenina bring the two back to London, John serves as the mouthpiece for the conflicts between the Reservation, which still abides by traditional values, and the technocracy of the World State. 

Main Characters

Bernard Marx. The protagonist of the first part of the novel, Marx is a member of the “Alpha” caste with an inferiority complex, which prompts him to question the core values of the regime of the World State. He has an overall bad personality.

John. Known also as “The Savage,” John is the protagonist of the second half of the novel. He grew up in the Reservation and was birthed naturally by Linda, a former citizen of the World State. He bases his world view on Shakespeare’s work and antagonizes the values of the World State. He loves Lenina in a way that is more than lust.

Lenina Crowne. Lenina is an attractive foetus technician who is promiscuous according to the social requirements of the World State, and seems perfectly content with her life. She is sexually attracted to Marx’s melancholy and to John.

Linda. John’s mother, she got accidentally impregnated by the DHC and was left behind following a storm during a mission in New Mexico. In her new environment, she was both desired, since she was promiscuous, and reviled for the very same reason. She likes mescaline, peyotl, and craves the World State drug soma.

Director of Hatchery and Conditioning (DHC). A man devoted to the regime, he at first intends to exile Marx for his less than ideal disposition, but then Marx outs him as the natural father of John, causing him to resign in shame.

Main Themes

Community vs. Individuals. The World State rests on three pillars, which are community, identity, and Stability. Individuals are seen as part of a greater whole, and superficial happiness is encouraged, and difficult emotions are artificially suppressed, for the sake of stability

Truth vs. Self Delusion. Delusion for the sake of stability prevents citizens from accessing the truth. Mustapha Mond claims that people are better off living with a superficial sense of happiness than with facing the truth.

Technocracy. The World State is ruled by technology and is particularly controlling of reproduction and emotions. Emotions are mitigated through shallow entertainment and drugs, while reproduction happens in assembly-line fashion. Sex, by contrast, becomes a very mechanized commodity. 

Literary Style

Brave New World is written in a highly detailed, yet clinical style that reflects the predominance of technology at the expense of emotions. Huxley has a tendency to juxtapose and jump between scenes, such as when he interposes Lenina and Fanny’s locker-room talk with the history of the World State, which contrasts the regime with the individuals that dwell in it. Through the character of John, Huxley introduces literary references and Shakespeare quotes. 

About the Author

Aldous Huxley authored nearly 50 books between novels and non-fiction works. He was part of the Bloomsbury group, studied the Vedanta, and pursued mystical experiences through the use of psychedelics, which are recurring themes in his novels Brave New World (1932) and Island (1962), and in his memoiristic work The Doors of Perception (1954).

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The Best Fiction Books » Science Fiction

Brave new world, by aldous huxley, recommendations from our site.

“It shows the ways in which technology, our need for certain creature comforts and consumer culture can be used to manipulate us.” Read more...

The best books on Alternative Futures

Catherine Mayer , Politician

“It is a hilarious, and also very prescient, parody of utopias. Huxley goes back to the idea that coming together and forming a community of common interests is a great idea – it’s the basis of civil society. At the same time, when communities of common interests are taken to utopian degrees the self starts to dissolve into the larger community, you lose privacy and interiority; that becomes frightening. In Huxley’s parody, the people are convinced that they are melding together and that they are completely happy, but in the end it is utterly empty.” Read more...

The best books on Utopia

Ellen Wayland-Smith , Miscellaneou

“Brave New World was written in the 1930s, and the book portrays a happy dystopia. There is an abundance of sex. People have a good time.” Read more...

The best books on Dystopia and Utopia

Chan Koonchung , Novelist

“Huxley posits the idea that the political system actually does perfect things for people and it turns out to be nearly as scary as the horror shows actually created in the 20th century in the attempt to create the new man, whether as Aryan super-German or Marxist and whatever Mussolini and Franco were up to. So Huxley was showing us that this is a rum goal however ‘well’ it turns out.” Read more...

The Best Political Satire Books

P. J. O’Rourke , Political Commentator

“The lesson I draw from this is that the purpose of utopia is not so much as an achieved state, as to give people the freedom to pursue their own projects. That freedom requires that people are free of the fear of unemployment, or of financial disaster through poor healthcare. They should be free to have access to the kind of resources they need for their education and we should maintain and extend access to things like the Internet. Then we would have a situation where everyone is free to participate in whatever way they choose – rather than aiming for the mindless state of contentment that is the implied goal in Brave New World .” Read more...

John Quiggin , Economist

Other books by Aldous Huxley

Island by aldous huxley, moksha: aldous huxley's classic writings on psychedelics and the visionary experience by aldous huxley, our most recommended books, the left hand of darkness by ursula le guin, the dispossessed by ursula le guin, the word for world is forest by ursula le guin, world war z: an oral history of the zombie war by max brooks, flight behaviour by barbara kingsolver, the city & the city by china miéville.

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In BRAVE NEW WORLD, Aldous Huxley conjures up a horrifying, but often comic, vision of a future Utopia in which humans are processed, conditioned, regimented, and drugged into total social conformity.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• Publication Date: September 1, 1998
• Genres: Science Fiction
• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
• ISBN-10: 0060929871
• ISBN-13: 9780060929879

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Brave New World By Aldous Huxley

Rating: terrific.

First Published: 1932 Pages: 311

Review © 2010 by Stephen Roof Genre:  Science Fiction, Utopian/Dystopian, Literature

Brave New World is one of the few science fiction classics that are also generally considered a classic of literature.  This novel, along with George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 are probably the most famous literature classics that also fall into the science fiction category.  All three are also in the subcategory of utopian/dystopian fiction.  Besides the fact that these 3 novels contain quality writing, they also all contain scary projections or warnings about where the future could lead.  Nineteen Eighty-Four is the most famous of these novels with the iconic image of “Big Brother” but for my money, Brave New World is the best.

Brave New World starts off with a tour of a new kind of factory that produces human babies through methods of mass production.  Natural birth has been completely eliminated in civilized countries.  Test tube reproduction has been optimized with the ability to divide the fertilized eggs to create up to 96 identical eggs from the original.  This allows whole factories to be staffed with identical workers.  In addition, different levels of intelligence are purposefully developed so that jobs can be matched to workers with an appropriate intelligence for the job.  I could go on but for more fascinating details, you should read the novel. 

The novel continues with further descriptions of a civilization that has finally succeeded in eliminating war.  It has also eliminated traditional religions which have been replaced with consumerism and instant gratification of all needs.  If any individual starts to experience discontentment or unhappiness, they can pop a few Soma pills, a drug that help make anyone feel good and forget about all troubles.  Huxley does a great job of creating a fully realized future described with a generous amount of satire as he finds ways to poke fun at just about every aspect of society. 

Within this fascinating future, we meet Bernard who is very unusual in that something happened during his test tube gestation which left him in with a substandard physique.  He also has personality issues from not being like everyone else that cause him unhappiness.  Somehow he manages to convince an attractive co-worker to go with him on a vacation to visit a “savage” reservation where American Indians continue to live traditionally apart from the civilized world.  When Bernard finds a young “half breed” named John among the Indians, he brings him back to England where John becomes a celebrity as a curiosity.  John experiences extreme culture shock and is horrified with many of the sacrifices civilization has made in order to create a stable society.  However, John, dubbed “Mr. Savage” by the press, finds it impossible to convince civilized people that his ideas have any merit.   

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Book Review For Teens: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

This classic dystopian novel illuminates very clearly how the fears of eighty years ago still remain today. Only by looking to the future, and to the past, can readers come to understand what it truly means to be happy.

Previous review: Book Review: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

TEACHER REVIEW | by Matt Peterson

Published in 1932, Aldous Huxley’s futuristic, anti-industrial dystopia, Brave New World , offers a blithe picture of a bleak possibility. The novel is set in an era called After Ford (A.F.) and by 632 A.F., global civilization has solved over-population, geo-political violence, unemployment, class conflict, and social malaise—all within the pillars of Community, Identity, and Stability.

To us, perhaps, it sounds like the citizens of the World State have it all. Until we count the cost. For the people of “Our Ford,” the best way to “have it all” is not, actually, to have it all. Instead it’s to change the terms, to constrain and redefine the goal. Fordians live by a narrower bandwidth, free from the chasms of life, but also alien to its heights. They exchange happiness for pleasure and quality for quantity. As readers, we can’t shake the notion that Huxley’s future gains stability at the cost of what truly gives us life: purpose, love, and belonging.

At the start of each school year , to reclaim my educational footing (as much for myself as for my students), I take to the chalkboard and define what fiction is: “an imaginative response to a social reality.”

By implication, all serious fiction is prophecy. It is a call to the masses and to the human heart to reconcile what we are becoming with all that we should become. Huxley’s dystopia is not about the future. It’s no cautionary tale, but an indictment of the principles we live by. Huxley’s readers are shocked, not by how shallow his future is, but by how similar it is to their own.

No spoiler alert here: I don’t know the end of our story. We are, as Rainer Maria Rilke said, living our way into the answers. We read on to learn the fate of Lenina Crowne, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and John Savage. And we read to learn to author a fate different from theirs—a fate far richer, even if refined by the crucible of an uncertain world.

TEEN REVIEW | by Lexi Hubbel

Brave New World is a stunningly current novel that presents social critique through a dystopian world. The conversations prompted by this novel are no less relevant today than when the book was first published 83 years ago.

Huxley fabricates a world centered on the pillars of “Community, Identity, and Stability,” one that has chosen to “shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness.” This society achieves comfort and happiness through pre-birth conditioning of its members. You have a predestined role, and in that role you are happy, desiring nothing greater. When you slip away from happiness, you drink a soothing beverage called soma “to calm your anger, to reconcile your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering.” Rather than bothering with the complexities and instability caused by families and marital relationships, in this society “everyone belongs to everyone else.” You have no mother. You have no spouse, no god to rely on. Instead you rely on the system, the soma, the conditioning.

Then a man called “the Savage,” raised by his mother with beliefs founded in God, disrupts the system. He exposes this carefully planned world to life dictated by passion. For the Fordians, this is an entirely unfamiliar concept. The Savage is familiar with the highs and lows that accompany the intense feelings of passion. He brings about the instability this world works to control.

Brave New World prompts readers to reconsider their own values, and how through these values they find meaning—whether they choose the path of happiness, or truth, or perhaps a combination of the two.

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Book Review

Brave new world.

• Aldous Huxley
• Dystopian , Futuristic , Science Fiction

Readability Age Range

• Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2006) is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers
• Modern Library 100 Best Novels list, The Guardian’s Best 100 Novels and others

Year Published

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

The year is 632 A.F., (which stands for After Ford). Henry Ford’s name is reverenced and used the way Christians once used the Lord’s name. Innovation and technology abound in this society, which abides by the motto “Community, Identity, Stability.”

The story opens with the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC) explaining his work to young students. He shows them around the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where children are mass-produced. He explains the Bokanovsky Process, in which groups of up to 96 identical human beings can be created at once. It provides uniformity and stability, he explains, if groups of identical individuals can all work in the same factories doing the same tasks.

Children are grown and conditioned at the Centre to be Alphas or Betas and downward to include the least intelligent Epsilons. They receive messages when they sleep (called hypnopaedia) and conditioning, including shock therapy, while they’re awake. They’re trained to know exactly what to think, say, feel and believe based on their predestined position in society.

They’re also conditioned about how to think and feel about the other social classes. They’re repeatedly assured that everyone is happy now. They’re told history is bunk, including religion and other stories contained in forbidden books like the Bible or anything else published before 150 A.F.

No matter the social class, children are taught to be consumers for the good of society. They should always buy something new rather than try to repair something old. Some embryos are developed as freemartins. They are structurally normal but guaranteed sterile. Technology allows people to remain fairly young-looking until they reach about 60, when they die quickly and happily.

Viviparous reproduction (or the development of a child within its mother’s body) is scorned as an antiquated and repulsive practice. Leaders believe the kind of strong love and passion that once existed between mother and child or monogamous lovers caused unnecessary pain and isolation. In this society, sexual promiscuity is encouraged and even required.

As all children are taught hypnopathically, everyone belongs to everyone else. People also use a substance called soma regularly. It supposedly includes all of the advantages of Christianity and alcohol but none of the side effects.

Lenina Crowne is a young woman who follows the conventions of her time. The problem is that she’s been having sex with the same man lately. Her friend urges her to follow protocol and be more promiscuous. Lenina decides to accept an invitation from co-worker Bernard Marx to go on holiday in America.

Even though he’s an Alpha, Bernard is shorter and thinner than the typical highly intelligent male. Some speculate alcohol accidentally got mixed in with his chemicals during fertilization. Bernard always feels he’s not receiving the credit and attention he deserves. He feels isolated on many levels, and people look down on him for his desire to spend time alone.

He seems less susceptible to the conditioning messages and soma -induced relaxation than others. Bernard’s only real friend is Helmholtz Watson. Helmholtz is a massive, handsome specimen. But like Bernard, he suffers from mental excess. Both men are just a little too smart, which makes them keenly aware of the emptiness in the people and activities around them.

Bernard wants to take Lenina to an Indian reservation in New Mexico, but he has to get clearance from the Director. The Director lapses into a story of a time he took a woman named Linda to that same reservation. She got lost, and he was never able to find her again. He had to leave without her.

The reservation is a startling contrast from Bernard and Lenina’s insulated society. The so-called savages don’t have pleasant golf games, scented rooms or anti-aging technology. They honor Jesus and practice other ancient worship rituals. Most unsettling, women still give birth to babies.

Bernard is fascinated, but the overwhelmed Lenina drowns her feelings in soma until she runs out. They meet a young savage with light-colored skin named John. When Bernard hears that John’s mother was trapped here, he realizes John must be the Director’s son. Bernard and Lenina are shocked to meet Linda, an ugly and old woman.

On the reservation, Linda had continued to practice her conditioned promiscuity. She was scorned and even beaten by the Indians who believed in marriage and fidelity. Since soma wasn’t used on the reservation, Linda drowned her sorrow in alcohol. She tells Bernard and Lenina she doesn’t know how her contraception failed. Since there was no abortion clinic available, she had to go through the horrible process of childbearing.

Because of Bernard’s unorthodox behavior at the Centre, the Director has threatened to transfer him to an island. Bernard realizes Linda and John are his bargaining chips. He brings them back to London with him as part of a social experiment. When the Director tries to publically transfer him, Bernard brings the boy and his mother in to meet Daddy.

The abashed Director resigns immediately. Linda is too horrid for anyone to look at, so she’s hospitalized and given large doses of soma that will ultimately kill her. People are fascinated by the savage John, and Bernard quickly takes on the role of publicist. For the first time in his life, Bernard enjoys the respect of others.

He starts taking soma , sleeping with more women and enjoying all the happiness offered by his society. John, however, is shocked and appalled by the society he’s entered. Having grown up with a combination of Native American tradition and a love for Shakespeare, he can’t fathom people’s desire to numb all of their emotions.

John is enamored with Lenina, but he’s a romantic with a vastly different value system. They go on a date to see a feely, which is a 4-D, sexually-charged movie. Lenina is disappointed that John is appalled by the movie and that he won’t sleep with her.

Bernard plans a major event at which his savage is supposed to appear. John, who is growing more distraught, refuses to attend. Bernard is scorned by all, and his foray into fame immediately ends. Lenina tries again to seduce John, who wants to have a pure and romantic relationship.

He asks her to marry him, which she considers absurd. She begins to undress, and the aghast John pushes her off, calling her a whore. She hides in the bathroom while, in his anger, he quotes Shakespeare . Just then, John gets a call that his mother is dying. He rushes to Linda’s side.

John is shocked by the cheerfully decorated Hospital for the Dying. Linda barely knows John, though she remembers her old lover from the reservation. John panics and starts crying out God’s name as her face turns blue. Traumatized children, who are present because they’re supposed to be receiving positive conditioning about death, are quickly given chocolate eclairs.

John rushes from the ward to find the menial staff, two large Bokanovsky groups, lining up for the nightly soma distribution. John addresses the men and women, passionately urging them to choose freedom from soma . When they will not, he starts throwing the pills out the window. Their supervisor calls Bernard to tell him John is there and has gone mad. Bernard and Helmholtz arrive while police calm the anxious employees by playing relaxing messages and spraying soma gas.

The police take John, Bernard and Helmholtz to the office of Western Europe World Controller, Mustapha Mond. John is surprised to hear Mond likes Shakespeare, too. He’s allowed to read such an old book because he makes the rules. But, Mond explains, Shakespeare doesn’t work in the society he rules.

People must be encouraged to find beauty in new things, not old. In their blissful ignorance, the people in his society wouldn’t understand the pain and passion in Shakespeare. This is the price that must be paid for a stable society. Science, too, must be muzzled. That’s the reason he’s sending Bernard and Helmholtz to an island. He explains this is really a reward. It means they’ll get to be with smart, interesting people who don’t fit in with the bulk of society.

Mond should be on an island himself, but he chose to help the greater good by staying and creating false happiness for the masses. He acknowledges John’s points when the savage says true happiness means a person can feel things. John and the Controller then discuss God and His absence in this society.

The Controller says he believes God may very well exist, but that a culture of perfect, ignorant happiness like theirs can’t include Him. They don’t feel a need for Him. The Controller explains there is even a compulsory treatment that produces all the feelings of rage and passion so the people won’t have to express them outwardly. John says he chooses the right to feel pain.

John moves to an old lighthouse where he can be alone. He repeatedly prays, beats himself and drinks warm mustard-water in an effort to purge himself of societal evils and lustful feelings. Reporters stalk him. At one point, reporters chant that they want to see him whip himself. Lenina arrives on the scene. In his rage, John turns the whip on her. A giant orgy ensues. When John awakens from a soma haze to realize what he’s done, he is devastated and hangs himself.

Christian Beliefs

The savages on the reservation believe in God and Jesus, along with other gods and ancient rituals. John tries to purify himself by standing with arms outstretched like Jesus on the Cross and by practicing various forms of self-punishment. John and the Controller engage in a lengthy debate about God and His place in modern society.

The Controller is familiar with and quotes the writings of religious leaders such as Cardinal Newman. He believes there may be a God, but he says too much has changed in their modern society for people to find God appealing or necessary. People don’t suffer or grow old, so they have no occasion to seek Him.

Since God isn’t compatible with their utopian society, He manifests himself as an absence, as though He weren’t there at all. John contends that belief in God is natural in people. The Controller argues that belief in God comes because people are conditioned to believe in Him.

Other Belief Systems

In this new society, Christianity is no longer accepted. Most books are banned, including the Bible. Christianity is remembered as a philosophy that encouraged people not to consume. It also repressed women, forcing them to continue giving birth to babies.

When God and Jesus were eliminated from their societal consciousness, all crosses had their tops cut off and became “T”s in honor of Ford’s Model T. People genuflect in the shape of a “T” when Ford’s name is mentioned. A narrator recalls the concepts of immortality and heaven in ancient times, but notes that people still consumed a lot of drugs and alcohol. The current society offers a substance called soma as an answer to the old society’s drugs, alcohol and religion. The Controller calls soma Christianity without tears.

Members of the society attend Solidarity groups. They listen to music, sing Solidarity hymns, and make the sign of the “T.” They partake in the dedicated soma tablets and soma -laced strawberry ice cream drink. They sing praises to Ford, calling him the Greater Being and asking him into their presence. They strive to annihilate self as they become one with Ford and each other. Caught up in the music and the high from the soma , they begin to dance and sing their orgy song. As the music pulsates, members cry that they hear him coming. The service morphs into an orgy. The twice-monthly service offers peace, balance and release.

Authority Roles

The Controller believes he is serving the greater good by offering the society false happiness rather than God, pain and passion.

Profanity & Violence

A– , d— , h— appear. The Lord’s name is taken in vain. Ford’s name is used in any context “Lord” might be used in our society, both in reverence and in vain. John calls Lenina a strumpet and a whore . He misuses the name of God repeatedly, generally when he feels remorse for things he’s done or experienced in the brave new world.

Linda slaps John around when he’s a child, banging his head. She calls him a beast who has turned her into an animal because she gave birth like one. Later she feels remorse and kisses him over and over. John catches his mother sleeping with a man, the man’s hand on her breast. John tries to stab the man, who only laughs at him.

The violence John experiences on the reservation conditions him to act out violently when Lenina offers herself to him sexually. Another time, he whips Lenina when she tries to give herself to him. Crowds and media are on the scene, and a soma orgy ensues.

Sexual Content

Children are urged to engage in erotic play, just as adults are encouraged to have many sexual partners. The Director laughs with the students about a time when erotic play was suppressed and considered immoral.

Lenina sees a group of men in her office and recalls sleeping with most of them. Lenina has been sleeping with Henry Foster on a regular basis. Her friend chides her for not having more random sex and urges her to be more promiscuous. Women are required to have pregnancy substitutes, pills and injections that stimulate the effects of pregnancy.

Bernard dislikes that men talk about their sexual conquests and discuss women as though they were pieces of meat. As Lenina prepares for a trip with Bernard, she wears a belt bulging with the regulation supply of contraceptives. Hypnopaedia from age 12 to 17 along with drills three times a week have ensured that contraception use is automatic in young women.

People chew sex-hormone chewing gum. The society’s religious services, called Solidarity meetings, end in orgies. Linda regularly sleeps with several men at the reservation. Most people attend movies called “feelies.” These are erotic motion pictures that also include tactile sensations.

Lenina and John attend a feely in which a black man rapes a white woman. Lenina is relieved when Bernard starts fondling her breast on their trip. Bernard and John note that sex without relationship is infantile and unsatisfying. Lenina can’t comprehend this idea and throws herself at John by undressing in front of him.

Discussion Topics

Additional comments.

Note: The book always uses a capital H in “Him” when referring to Ford.)

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• Publication Date: October 17, 2006
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
• ISBN-10: 0060850523
• ISBN-13: 9780060850524
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Book Review: Brave New World

Brave New World is a classic dystopian novel, written in the early 1930s by Aldous Huxley. Set in a society in which humans are manufactured and programmed depending on their assigned social class, it addresses individualism, conformity, and the dangers of complete government control. Citizens in this dystopia frequently take a drug to subdue their emotions, living in a state of ignorance and 'bliss' as they go through the motions unquestioningly. In order to keep the system of manufacturing people running smoothly, certain things are considered taboo--such as literature, religion, and family--while what we typically consider unorthodox is commonplace in this society.

The story follow several central characters who don't completely fit in or believe there could be more to life than what they experience every day. Huxley takes readers to a 'Savage Camp' where John, the protagonist (whose ideals are completely different from everyone else's), is introduced, and the other characters experience an extreme contrast to their advanced and ordered society. Readers experience John's intense internal conflict as he attempts to find his place in the new world into which he is thrust; they also learn more about the ideology of the dystopia, and what goes on behind its 'perfect' facade.

I enjoyed most aspects of Brave New World, and would recommend it to dystopian readers who appreciate a deeper meaning. However, there were some parts of this novel that I found disturbing, as what's considered taboo is the opposite of how we view things in our world. Sometimes I had trouble connecting with the story emotionally, and I would've liked more specifics about how the dystopia came to be. But looking past the negatives, the themes Huxley brings up are very important, and even pertinent to society today. His characters have depth, the underlying themes make readers think, and overall it is an interesting concept of a future world with complete dictatorship. Brave New World is a classic that I believe everyone should read.

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Review: Peacock’s ‘Brave New World’ Is Neither Brave Nor New

This adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel, inaugurating the NBCUniversal streaming service, is generic and tame (despite the orgies).

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By James Poniewozik

Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World” famously imagined a future society in which people were enslaved to pleasure. The future’s diversions were so absorbing that they commanded attention over everything else.

If only you could say that about its latest TV adaptation. Dull, generic and padded, the series, one of the premiere offerings for NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service on Wednesday, transmutes a provocative warning into a vision of a sci-fi world that feels neither brave nor new.

The premise, as in so many new series based on pre-existing intellectual property, is essentially that of the novel, but stretched out. We arrive in New London, the gleaming citadel of a hedonistic society that has snuffed out discontent with three rules — “No privacy, no family, no monogamy” — and an endless supply of soma, a feel-good drug dispensed like Pez.

The citizens, stratified into castes labeled “Alpha,” “Beta” and so on, shrug off the class inequities with the help of pills, orgies and “feelies,” tactile entertainments in which a populace mostly alienated from physical struggle can experience virtual thrills like getting punched in the face.

Outside the city, “savages” still practice primitive rites like having babies biologically, and perform at theme parks for the amusement of their safariing betters. (“Brave New World” shares with “Westworld” a faith in the future health of the live-amusements industry.)

Bernard (Harry Lloyd), a supercilious Alpha, strikes up a friendship with Lenina (Jessica Brown Findlay), a Beta whom he’s investigated for having sex too often with the same man — a transgression of “solipsism” against the “social body,” in which “everyone belongs to everyone else.” After a getaway to the Savage Lands adventure park goes awry, they return to New London with a fugitive native, John (Alden Ehrenreich), whose defiant authenticity makes him a subject of fascination.

That John will threaten the complacency of New London by teaching its citizens how to feel is no surprise. “Brave New World,” while an enduring tale, was also a product of a time concerned with totalitarianism and threats to the individual. The job of any adaptation is to retain the DNA of the original while mutating it to the times, and that’s where this version fails.

“Brave New World” was originally developed for NBCUniversal’s Syfy channel, then for USA , and as in some of those networks’ less-accomplished series, its future feels off-the-rack. It’s one of those dystopias in which the prosperous locations vaguely resemble the World Trade Center Oculus and the impoverished zones are strewn with fires burning in oil drums. Its main distinction from basic-cable fare is the copious nudity in the orgies, which are nonetheless antiseptic and unsexy, like a fancy cologne ad.

And this world is populated with flat characters. Demi Moore has little to do as John’s drunk, idle mother, and the antagonists back in New London — suspicious of John’s popularity and of Bernard’s interest in him — are one-note sneering technocrats.

The series doesn’t lack for dystopian pedigrees. The showrunner, David Wiener, hails from Amazon’s “Homecoming” and it shares a director, Owen Harris, with “Black Mirror.” But it doesn’t compare well with either predecessor, each of which better explored the dangers of digitally and biologically fine-tuning humanity.

The one area in which this “World” is reimagined to relate to 2020 is its focus on social technology. The denizens of New London are equipped with eye implants that not only apply a digital overlay to everything they see but connect them to a universal network, in which they can they can see through the eyes of anyone else logged on to the system. It’s the ultimate overshare: Facebook for your face.

This builds on Huxley’s original idea of an anti-individualist society. But more thought seems to have gone into the design of the optical device (a lens with a nerve-like wire, unsettling for those of us who don’t even like putting contacts in) than to what led this society to fetishize radical openness.

In theory, “Brave New World” is ripe for a newly relevant update. After the 2016 election, there was renewed interest in George Orwell’s “1984,” with its warnings about totalitarian politics and language. But as the media critic Neil Postman wrote in his 1985 fire alarm “Amusing Ourselves to Death” (revivified after that same election), the “Huxleyan warning” was in many ways more relevant to Western culture, in which the populace was often seduced by entertainments rather than bludgeoned by blunt force.

This speaks to 2020 — to a point. One difference is how our society’s versions of soma — Twitter, YouTube algorithms — as often seek to inflame as to pacify us. (The pacification, maybe, comes more from the surfeit of streaming-TV services that Peacock is adding to.) If you’re not going to delve into what Huxley has to say to a future nearly a century later, why bother making another adaptation?

There are a few, welcome flashes of life. Lloyd gives Bernard a pitiable desperation as he comes to find his accustomed life more and more empty. (“Everybody’s happy unless they choose not to be!” he tells himself, crankily popping a soma.) And by late in the season, the series starts to loosen up and have dark-humored fun with its premise.

But it’s not enough to be worth the wait. For the most part, we’re left with an unsexy portrait of decadence, a thriller without thrills, a prescription that’s less soma than Sominex.

James Poniewozik is the chief television critic. He writes reviews and essays with an emphasis on television as it reflects a changing culture and politics. He previously spent 16 years with Time magazine as a columnist and critic. More about James Poniewozik

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• Entertainment /
• TV Show Reviews

Brave New World has nothing to prove

The slick new peacock show is a dystopia that feels hopelessly out of date.

By Joshua Rivera

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At a time where you can show just about anything on TV, Brave New World , the biggest new drama premiering on the brand-new Peacock streaming service, still manages to surprise. It’s all the orgies — the show just has so many of them. The volume and length of the orgy scenes in Brave New World is completely unexpected for any show — let alone one based on a novel from 1932, before they invented sex — but Brave New World , like Aldous Huxley’s novel, is set in a world where absolutely everything is chill, as long as you keep popping pills. You might need a few for yourself if you’re going to make it to the end. 

First, the biggest problem: you’ve seen all this before. Brave New World is one of the foundational texts of dystopian sci-fi, and as such has been echoed in homage countless times. Its minimal vision of the future where much of our social ills are solved at the cost of free will and expression is stale on arrival. The ways Brave New World gives this familiar vision texture — in lavish set design, interesting costumes, and yes, the orgies — is paper-thin and good for grabbing your attention but not holding it.  

Brave New World is largely set in New London, a city where everyone is happy all the time. That they’re only happy because everyone is genetically bred into a strict caste system and drugged out of their minds is beside the point. They’re trained and conditioned to take a drug called soma to keep their “levels” steady, and everyone seems mostly chill with it, clicking their pen-like dispensers at regular intervals as they interact with each other. 

Like any dystopia, there is rot here, small cracks that are beginning to grow into fissures and bring about tectonic shifts. The first is Lenina Crowne (Jessica Brown Findlay), who is in a sexual relationship that’s threatening to turn monogamous. That’s verboten in New London — monogamy is a selfish act that deprives the citizenry of your body (all sex in New London is casual sex, the notion of virginity or saving yourself for one person is scoffed at). Then there’s Bernard Marx (Harry Lloyd), a middle-management type who makes sure New London is running smoothly. Despite being very down with the New London lifestyle, he doesn’t quite fit in. 

Together, the two make a journey to America, which has been reduced to a theme-park-style world where well-heeled New Londoners can see how “Savages” (language lifted right from the book and barely considered in its new context) live. It’s like a zoo, except the animals are carnival-style exaggerations of how poor working-class white people lived. On Lenina and Bernard’s trip, things go awry and the pair return to New London with John (Alden Ehrenreich), who worked at the park and has nowhere else to go. 

capitalism just got bigger

John’s arrival in New London turns it upside down. He’s the individual personified, the person who is absolutely into everything New London has eschewed: raw emotions, disdain for the soma and the rigid social categories the city abides by, and yes, monogamy if the right person comes along. 

Summing up more of the plot feels rote; you know where this is heading. Brave New World is another story of the individual vs. the collective, and the only real surprise is where the show’s sympathies might ultimately lie. There are some things that are unexpected as the show accelerates toward its conclusion, but as most of its characters fall flat, there’s very little reason to get invested in some of the more out-there implications delivered in the series’ back half. 

This is the most damning thing about Brave New World . It never makes a terribly compelling argument for why Huxley’s vision of a populace in the thrall of its own optimization is relevant today, long after most of Huxley’s ideas seem to be borne out. It’s a story concerned with the corrupting influence of capitalism, at how its scale and greed would lead us to homogeneity that would not stop at the products we buy but to how we are governed and how we feel. The Peacock show emphasizes sex in a way that seems to muddy its metaphor — it’s both another form of gamified stimuli used to keep people docile and the avenue by which the “social body” is corrupted and lost to individual desire. 

Brave New World rings false in the same simple way its novel does now: capitalism just got bigger and more inhumane. Misery is what we’ve optimized and produced at scale. Outrage drives us, and if there is a soma, we probably can’t afford it. 

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