The first protagonist introduced is Bernard Marx, who is “a dominant Alpha, imperfect in physique and perhaps more intellectually alert because of some abnormality in his birthing process” (Green and Karolides 70).

Huxley creates two characters that serve as an opposition to the beliefs of the typical citizen in the novel. This practice affirms that “the purpose of sexuality is pleasure” (Green and Karolides 69) and that sexuality has no true meaning other than casual enjoyment. In Brave New World, procreation is outlawed and citizens abide by a social code known as “Every one belongs to every one else” (29). The novel also distorts Sigmund Freud’s “pleasure principle” by introducing sexual acts that counteract what people view as healthy. This society is solely based on the creation of people in test tubes, nurtured specifically to have a certain role. By creating this system, the people in the novel are unable to form a traditional family society where people provide love and support for one another. The novel challenges the typical social order by incorporating a “predetermined caste system designed to fulfill the economic and occupational functions and the population’s requirements of the society” (Green and Karolides 69). Karolides explain that the basis of the novel is one that “disavows personal relationships, including intimate love and family, rejects concepts and practices of democracy, and abjures religion” to the point where people do not feel it is appropriate to the public, or specifically school systems (69). It also grows humans inside bottles and prescribes drugs known as “soma” (Huxley 38).

In the story, a totalitarian government controls society by using technology and science to condition (or brainwash) humans.

The book itself takes place in London and the state of New Mexico. Why: obscenity, language, profanity, and sexualityĪldous Huxley’s Brave New World depicts a futuristic, dystopian society and was published in 1932 in London, England. When: 1932 in Ireland, 1964-present in the U.S. Figure 1: One English Edition of the Book Cover

Brave new world book text