Brave New World: Summary

Brave New World: Summary

A happy world (Brave New World) is one of the 100 most influential books of the XNUMXth century.. It was written by the British author Aldous Huxley in 1932. And it is not only a science fiction book, but a dystopia that puts the human being, the system and society in check.

Surely It is considered the first most outstanding literary work of the last century that narrates an uncertain future and demoralizing in the way that dystopias do. Later, other prominent works would follow. Do you know the greatest work of Aldous Huxley? Here we tell you more about the book, as well as including a summary of the novel.

Author and context of the work

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was a British author and philosopher. He was born into a family of scientists and poets whose influence took shape in the cultivation of letters and in the construction of his thought. He wrote from his youth, publishing a novel, essay, short story, poetry or even a film script.

The first decades of the XNUMXth century brought about a technical revolution that had already started in the XNUMXth century. consequently society began to undergo changes that accelerated the way of life of societies. Today this is more than evident, it is palpable in every area of ​​our lives. We are runaway

A happy world It is one of those works that reflects the preamble of our communities. That's why it's so terrifyingly accurate. Aldous Huxley anticipated what technology would mean for human development. In this work he spoke about the control of people and their emotions or the selection of men from the moment of their conception.

There is talk of utopia or dystopia. Because, on the one hand, everyone seems happy, everyone knows what to do and does not question their place in the world. The inherent feeling of emptiness of the human being, when he possesses free will, would vanish. However, the price paid may also be too high. Apparently there is freedom and people have good health.

Es an orderly and pleasant life obtained by discarding critical thinking, as well as emotions, which is what constitutes us as humans: culture, love, family or the mistakes we can make are just some of the characteristics that are denied to the inhabitants of this happy world. This novel is absolutely a critique of the society of the author's time.

technology parts

Brave New World: Summary

Preamble and caste system

The action is supposed several centuries after our time. It is taken as a reference to Henry Ford, who was the promoter of the assembly line that has given so much service to capitalism. and the consumer society. He is not chosen at random, since Huxley with this story wants to record how he has had an impact and could continue to do so in this system in which we live. The year is, then, 632 after Ford, which would be equivalent to the year 2540 of our calendar. Society is free to live its sexuality, since the reproductive system is one of the things that the novel revolutionizes. Children come into the world with a predetermined destiny, induced through dreams, to occupy a place in society.. They are engendered technologically and are divided into a caste system:

  • Alpha Group: those destined to lead others, is the elite. They are endowed with superior intelligence.
  • beta group: They have a lower range of responsibility and also a lower intelligence than the previous ones. They execute the directives of the Alpha.
  • Gamma Group: have specific competencies for specific tasks.
  • Delta Group: they are the subordinates of the Gamma.
  • Epsilon Group: engaged in the most mechanical and unpleasant tasks.

Crowd and audience.

Argument

The main characters are Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne (exactly, the names are not accidental). The two work at the London Hatchery and Conditioning Center, doing upper caste work. While Lenina lives happily and leads an unbridled sex life, Bernard must deal with different insecurities. Despite his extraordinary intelligence (he is an Alpha-plus), he has physical irregularities that lead him to be ridiculed and rejected by women. He questions certain aspects of life and with it he goes to visit a reserve populated by savages.

Bernard goes with Lenina and the two meet John, known as "the Savage". Those considered savages live in this place, because they are outside the ideal system, the World State.. As for John, he was born from a sexual relationship between two humans who come from the World State; that is to say, in his case, the contraception system implanted there has failed.

But John has been taught by his mother (a former genetic engineer at the Incubation Center) who took care of him and gave him the tools to learn to read and write. AND Bernard and Lenina decide to take it to the World State, an action that opens a gap of opinions, disagreements and conclusions that will begin what was intended to eradicate with the order of the World State: freedom of thought and self-awareness.

Outcome

In this dehumanized and controlled world, it is shown that the indisputable implantation of a supposed happiness is nothing but a fallacy and an untenable artifice. At the end of the novel, faced with the sexual morality that it raises, Bernard tries to flee from this world and become a hermit to stop thinking about Lenina, since he considers her desire towards her obscene. However, he will not be able to get away from the curious and a bacchanalia ensues. Remorseful, Bernard takes his own life.


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