.. e novel. Everything came out naturally in the situation. But the plot wasnt the best. What kept the story going more was the humor of the situation.
It was humorous the way that this future society laughed at mothers, and looked down upon monogamy and marriage. The way that John continued to call Thomas father causing the laughter of the people working at the hatchery was humorous. Also, another thing that kept the story going was the ideas that this story discussed. Bernard in the beginning of the novel had some morals. He felt uncomfortable to have sex on the first date and he felt deep in his gut that there was more to life than what was spoon fed to him. Sadly, all of his morals and yearnings came crashing down when he found success by bringing John from the reservation.
Also, Johns rejection of technology is something to be looked at. I think Huxley was trying to make a point with that. John was supposed to be the hero of this book. He knew that this lifestyle was pointless, and that soma was killing the vast majority.
He knew that everyone, no matter how old, was just infants. He knew that to truly mature you need to face sufferings and a constant cleansing. Even though this is true, I think John went overboard with it by beating himself at the lighthouse. If I were him, I would have gone to the lighthouse alone and just admired the view.
This idea of “something more” was one major reason I kept reading. I feel the same way. There must be a purpose to live, not just to live, enjoy life, and die. Characters The characters are really described and molded as individuals, but theyre more like a type of people. Each character represents a group. For example, Bernard would represent those who rejects society just because society represents them.
Hes the incarnate of Timons wisdom, “When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on it.” When Bernard was accepted by society, he embraced it. John represents those who grew up without prejudices and was open minded to the yearning of his soul. He listened and heard that this lifestyle wasnt right. These people were perverted. Society (in the form of Lenina) embraced him and he ran.
Lenina is society. She represents those people who go with the flow. Bernard Marx: An alpha plus member of the Central London Hatchery. He is shorter and less handsome than his caste and, therefore, rejected by society. John: This is the savage brought by Bernard into civilization from the reservation. He expects the new world to be wonderful but detests the world for being too shallow.
Lenina Crowne: A typical alpha girl in this utopian society. She falls in love with John but he attacks her calling her whore and strumpet. Thomas (D. H.
C.): The director of hatcheries who is in charge decanting and condition new children. Finds out that John is his son and falls apart. Linda: Left at the savage reservation. She gave birth to John on the reservation.
She was once part of the civilized world. Mustapha Mond: The Resident Controller for Western Europe. This is the guy in charge. He knows about everything the normal people might have a chance to do and decide if its better for society or not. He exiles Bernard and Helmholtz.
Helmholtz Watson: A friend of Bernard and John. He was professor of emotional engineering and admired Shakespeare for his prowess in that field. He had ideas that were similar to Johns and was exiled because of them, but to him they were only theory and he never acted upon his ideas of solitude, etc. Setting The setting is fictional since the story takes place in the future.
It is well thought out with pretty much everything figured out, from the birth to death, to recreation, to sex. The purpose of the setting is to show the difference between the Utopian society and the savage reservation, and the way each control its residents. Everything makes sense in this setting. Style The style was very precise. Each word had a meaning and was not just put there to sound good.
There were few difficult words and the reading was easy. Huxley used some creative allusions in the book. For example: A.D. which meant “Anno Domini” – the year of our Lord is now A.F.
– the year of our Ford. Ford is their God and they use it the same way he use God. For example: they say “Oh Ford” for our “Oh God.” One thing that I didnt like was what he did to the religion of the Indians on the reservation. He put a bunch of religions and stuck them together, as if he took his little knowledge of various religions and put them together to make a complete religion.
What he might have done is taking one religion, for example Christianity, and made the savages Christians. Or he could have read up on the Indian religion and made the Indians believe that, of course it wouldnt make sense since theyre in Europe but it would have been better. That is the only complaint I have. Everything else was to my liking. Theme The theme was purpose. What is the purpose of life.
Is it, “Lifes short, play hard,” as the civilized people believed, or is it more than that. Do we have a deeper purpose than just living. The civilized people had no value for life. The D. H. C.
said, “what is an individual? .. We can make a new one with the greatest of ease – as many as we like.” A nurse said about the death conditioning, “They learn to take death as a matter of course.” They dont know what theyre missing without a family. Linda said about John, “but he was a comfort to me.” Without these, they live for themselves, without purpose, with only the moral that they were conditioned with such as “mother” is a bad word. John knew there was something more.
Life is not just for your pleasure and happiness. Its more for joy. Knowing that youve done all that you can do. Its sweat and hard work and discipline. He knew what life was about by growing up unprejudiced, without being conditioned. He knew.
Conclusion As a story, this was very simple. This happened and it led to that. What makes this book a classic to me is its message. “The purpose of life was not the maintenance of well being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge.”.
