BRAVE NEW WORLD- Aldous Huxley

callow

inexperienced and immature

proliferate

increase rapidly in numbers; multiply

burgeoned

begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish

prodigious

amazing or wonderful; very impressive; very big

demijohn

a large narrow-necked bottle usually enclosed in wickerwork

surrogate

a person or thing that takes the place or performs the duties of someone or something else

sententiously

given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner

deferential

showing deference; respectful

quartos

a size of a book page resulting from folding each printed sheet into four leaves (eight pages)

sibilant

making or characterized by a hissing sound

imperative

very important; expressing a command in a forceful and confident way

apertures

a hole or small opening in something; an opening that controls the amount of light that passes through a lens (such as a camera lens)

maudlin

showing or expressing too much emotion especially in a foolish or annoying way

surreptitious

done in a secret way

effusive

expressing a lot of emotion

discarnate

having no physical body; incorporeal

evocation

the act of bringing something into the mind or memory; the act of evoking something

pneumatic

using air pressure to move or work, filled with air; of a woman; having a body with full, pleasuring curves

simian

of or relating to monkeys or apes; like a monkey or ape

ruminating

to think carefully and deeply about something; of an animal; to bring up and chew again what has already been chewed and swallowed

incandescence

the quality or state of being white or glowing because of great heat; very impressive, successful, or intelligent

asceticism

relating to or having a strict and simple way of living that avoids physical pleasure

atonement

reparation for an offense or injury: satisfaction

satiety

a feeling or condition of being full after eating food

derisively

expressing or causing the feeling people express when they criticize and laugh at someone or something in an insulting way

blasphemy

irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable

solecism

a mistake in speech or writing; an impolite or improper way of behaving

innocuous

not likely to bother or offend anyone; causing no injury

emphatically

said or done in a forceful or definite way; speaking or acting in a forceful way

ignominy

a situation or event that causes you to feel ashamed or embarrassed

scatological

interest in or treatment of obscene matters especially in literature; the biologically oriented study of excrement

carping

marked by or inclined to querulous and often perverse criticism

queue

a series of instructions that are stored in a computer so that they can be processed later

scathing

very harsh or severe

magnanimous

having or showing a generous and kind nature

mollified

to make (someone) less angry: to calm (someone) down

ingratiating

intended to gain someone's favor or approval

impudent

failing to show proper respect and courtesy: very rude

moribund

no longer active or effective: close to failure: very sick: close to death

interminable

having or seeming to have no end: continuing for a very long time

peremptorily

having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think that they should be obeyed without question

propitiate

to make (someone) pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired

carapace

a hard shell on the back of some animals (such as turtles or crabs)

deprecating

to criticize or express disapproval of (someone or something)

galvanized

to cause (a force that is capable of causing change) to become active

paroxysm

a sudden strong feeling or expression of emotion that cannot be controlled

avowed

to declare or state (something) in an open and public way

vindictively

having or showing a desire to hurt someone who has hurt or caused problems for you

carrion

the flesh of dead animals

turpitude

a very evil quality or way of behaving

Community, Identity, Stability

The World State's Motto is............

The motto is similar to "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" which is the motto of the French Republic during the French Revolution linked by Fénelon.

What is the allusion in the motto?

The symbolism of the end was that John did not fit in anywhere, just like his feet moved in different directions continuously but did not stop. The surface story is how the system of totalitarian ruling effected John, which caused him to kill himself. If you were different from others, you were taken out in some sort of way, like John. The broader story is how totalitarianism affects people of today.

What is the major symbolism of the end and how is it allegorical?

- a stitch in time saves nine = a soma in time saves nine

- Orgy Porgy = Georgie Porgie

- Brave New World = dystopian or anti-utopian novel

What parodies are seen in the novel?

Aldous Huxley

author of BRAVE NEW WORLD

July 26, 1894- November 22, 1963

Date of the author's birth and death

- England

- United States

The author's native country and country when he died

1932

What is the publication date of the novel?

1516

Utopia by Sir Thomas More.......date?

29 years

In 1946 after the bombing of Hiroshima, Huxley remarked the events of this novel may happen within a century. How many years from now is the end of that century?

London, England

Where is the main Hatchery located?

New Mexico, USA

Where is the Savage Reservation?

Puttenham, out from London, English countryside

Where is the lighthouse at the end of the novel?

632 A.F. (After Ford)

What time is the novel set in?

One of Lenina's many lovers, he is a perfect Alpha male. By him being successful at being with Lenina and causually talking about it, it makes Bernard mad, because he has not been with her yet. Henry is seen as the ideal World State citizen, when he does not defend Lenina from John even though he had had an unusual long sexual relationship with her.

Who is Henry Foster?

a young, beautiful fetus technician at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. She is part of the 30% of the female population that are not freemartins. Lenina is promiscuous and popular but somewhat strange in their society: she had a four-month relation with Henry Foster, choosing not to have sex with anyone but him for a long time. She is basically happy and well-conditioned but will use soma when upset, as is expected. Lenina has a date with Bernard to whom she is not very attracted to, and she goes to the Reservation with him. When they return, she tries and fails to seduce John. John loves and wants to be with Lenina but he does not like the fact that she wants to have sex before marriage, rejecting her as an "impudent strumpet". Lenina visits John at the lighthouse but he attacks her with a whip.

Who is Lenina Crowne?

Resident World Controller of Western Europe, "His Fordship" Mustapha Mond presides over one of the ten zones of the World State, the global government set up after the cataclysmic Nine Years' War and great Economic Collapse. He is an advocate for the motto of the civilization "Community, Identity, Stability". Mond argues that art, literature, and scientific freedom must be sacrificed to secure the ultimate goal of maximising societal happiness. He defends the genetic caste system, behavioral conditioning, and the lack of personal freedom in the World State: these, he says, are a price worth paying for achieving social stability, the highest social virtue because it leads to lasting happiness.

Who is Mustapha Mond?

an Alpha-Plus sleep-learning specialist at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Bernard is a misfit. He is unusually short for an Alpha; an alleged accident with alcohol in Bernard's blood-surrogate before his decanting has left him slightly stunted. Unlike his fellow utopians, Bernard is often angry, resentful, and jealous. At times, he is also cowardly and hypocritical. His conditioning is clearly incomplete. He doesn't enjoy communal sports, solidarity services, or promiscuous sex. He doesn't even get much joy out of soma. Bernard is in love with Lenina but he doesn't like her sleeping with other men, even though "everyone belongs to everyone else". Bernard's return to utopian civilization with John from the Reservation puts in motion the downfall of the Director, who had been planning to exile him. Bernard's popularity is limited. Success goes to his head. Despite his excessive begging, he is banished to an island for his uncooperative behavior.

Who is Bernard Marx

Lenina Crowne's friend (they have the same last name because only ten thousand last names are in use in the World State). Fanny voices the values of her caste and society, particularly the importance of promiscuity: she advises Lenina that she should have more than one man in her life because it is unusual to concentrate on just one. Fanny then, however, warns Lenina away from a new lover whom she considers undeserving, yet she is ultimately supportive of the young woman's attraction to John.

Who is Fanny Crowne?

a handsome and successful Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering and a friend of Bernard. He feels unfulfilled writing endless propaganda, and the conformism and philistinism of the World State make him bored and impatient for change. Helmholtz is exiled, along with Bernard, but he goes to the Falkland Islands—a cold asylum for disaffected Alpha-Plus non-conformists—after reading a heretical poem to his students on the virtues of solitude and helping John destroy some Deltas' rations of soma following Linda's death. Unlike Bernard, he sees his exile as an opportunity for inspiration in his writing.

Who is Helmholtz Watson?

also known as Thomas/Tomakin, he is the administrator of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where he is a threatening figure who intends to exile Bernard to Iceland. His plans take an unexpected turn, however, when Bernard returns from the Reservation with Linda and John, a child they both realize is actually his. This fact, seen as disgusting and shameful in the World State not because it was viviparous but because it was procreative, leads the Director to resign his post in shame.

Who is the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC)?

the son of the Director and Linda, born and raised on the Savage Reservation ("Malpais") after Linda was left behind by her lover, the Director. The Savage, as he is often called, is an outsider both on the Reservation—where the natives still practice marriage, natural birth, family life and religion—and the civilized World State, based on principles of stability and "happiness". He has read nothing but the complete works of William Shakespeare, which he quotes often, and, for the most part, though his allusion to the "Brave New World" (Miranda's words in The Tempest) takes on a darker and ironic resonance as the novel unfolds. John is intensely moral according to a code that he has been taught by Shakespeare and life in Malpais but is also naïve: Because he is unwanted in Malpais, he accepts the invitation to travel back to London and is initially excited by the comforts of the World State. However, he remains committed to values that exist only in his poetry. He first spurns Lenina for failing to live up to his Shakespearean ideal and then the entire utopian society: he asserts that its technological wonders and consumerism are poor substitutes for individual freedom, human dignity and personal integrity. After his mother's death, he becomes deeply distressed with grief, surprising onlookers in the hospital. He then isolates himself from society and attempts to purify himself of the bad things of the World State, but is finally unable to do so and hangs himself in despair.

Who is John?

John's mother, decanted as a Beta-Minus in the World State and lost during a storm while visiting the New Mexico Savage Reservation with the Director many years before the events of the novel. Despite following her usual precautions, Linda became pregnant with the Director's son during their time together and was therefore unable to return to the World State by the time that she found her way to Malpais. Having been conditioned to the promiscuous social norms of the World State, Linda finds herself at once popular with every man in the pueblo and also criticized for the same reason, seen as a ***** by the wives of the men who visit her and by the men themselves. Linda is desperate to return to the World State and to soma, wanting nothing more from her life than comfort until death.

Who is Linda?

the feelies are movies that are experienced not only through sight and sound but also through touch. The sensation of touch is transmitted to the viewer via two metal knobs on the armrests. they can feel what is happening, especially the love scenes.

What are the Feelies?

soma is drug given to the people in the World State the suppress any uncomfortable feelings they had

What is soma?

it takes the place of live birth, which involves extracting ovaries and close monitoring the process and end product. decanting basically means to "pour out", so it means the process of pouring out the embryos from their bottle.

What is decanting?

When people get together, sing, take drugs and have group sex, they call it an orgy porgy.

What is Orgy Porgy?

producing living young instead of eggs from within the body

What does viviparous mean?

Hypnopaedia is sleep teaching, and the controllers use it to "condition" the people to accept promiscuity, use and abuse soma, and "brainwash" them to accept the values and tenets of the new World State.

What is hypnopaedia in the novel?

a "freemartin" is a woman who has been deliberately made sterile by exposure to hormones during fetal development; freemartins comprise 70% of the female population.

What is a freemartin?

Alphas- The Alpha caste is the highest caste without being an Alpha plus. Alphas where the color grey.Alphas did not go through the Bokanovsky's process. Alphas do not contain any alcohol in their surrogates. Alphas maintain the highest jobs in the world state. They mostly work in the labs.

Betas- Betas wear the color mulberry. They are the second highest caste. They also do not go through the Bokanovsky's process and they do not have alcohol in there blood. They can interact with the Alphas and they are not looked down upon as much as the lower castes.

Gammas- Gammas wear the color green. Gammas are considered the average caste. Gammas went through the Bokanovsky's process.They also have alcohol in the blood surrogates, but not as much as the lower castes. Gammas also get more oxygen then the Deltas and the Epsilons.

Deltas-Deltas wear the color khaki. Deltas went through the Bokanovsky's process. They have alcohol in the blood surrogate and they have lack of oxygen, but they get more oxygen then the Epsilons.

Epsilons- Epsilons wear the color black. Epsilons are the lowest caste and can not read or write. Epsilons are deprieved 80% of their oxygen and have the most alcohol in their blood surrogates. Epsilons have to do the worst jobs that no one else wants to do.

What are the 5 castes and their characteristics?

1. Depicts a pagan society (The World State)

2. The pagan society of one where all citizens work for and are controlled by totalitarian government (The Hatchery and Conditioning Center, Social castes)

3. Examines how an actual "Utopia" is a ruthlessly controlled environment where pleasure and self-indulgence are primary concerns and where these and all needs of the public are predetermined, endorsed, and promoted/controlled by the totalitarian government. (soma, feelies, solidarity services/community sings)

4. Dissenters of this brain-washed-and-numbed-by-pleasures life are punished/exiled/executed. (Bernard and Helmholtz being exiled and John being executed)

What are 4 characteristics of a dystopian novel and examples each?

Satire is a genre that indirectly ridicules people's aberrant behavior by seeming to present their behavior as acceptable but actually condemning it, with the motive of exposing the aberrant behavior to ridicule, derision, and/or scorn and with the ultimate goal of reform.

What is a satire?

Horatian- humorous form of satire

Juvenalian- bitter form of satire (BNW)

What are the two types of satire and their definitions?

Direct- presented in a sarcastic way; openly condemning

Indirect- presented as normal in society (BNW)

What are the two methods of presenting satire and their definitions?

Brave New World depicts a society where superficial happiness is valued and accomplished through soma, feelies, and other activities that are provided to the people. While they are happy, they are deprived of the true happiness that comes from emotions such as pain, sorrow, and struggle. The author describes the reproductive process through genetic engineering, where the ovaries are extracted and developed in bottles. The young are conditioned according to their caste, which determines what job they take as adults. While being conditioned, the workers use hypnopaedia to brain-wash them so that they are programmed to know what to do or say to keep them from experiencing any bad emotions. This World State is set away from the Savage Reservation and the people inhabited in the World State want nothing to do with the Savages because their customs are so much different from what they are used to. The totalitarian government does not tolerate any rebels, so they exile or "execute" those that go against their ruling. These examples would indicate that the author writes this novel as a satire to criticism totalitarian rule and how it would effect society in the future.

How is BNW a satire?