BRAVE NEW WORLDBy Aldous Huxley

Introduction Lecture

GENRE: DYSTOPIAUtopia: an ideal society possessing a perfect social and political system

Dystopia: a society where the condition

of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror Often futuristic Often under the guise of

being a utopia Often totalitarian

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POPULAR DYSTOPIASEarliest Literary

Dystopia:Plato’s Republic Government had a

deep suspicion of literature

Viewed educated men as potentially subversive

Genre became extremely popular in the 20th century…

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POPULAR DYSTOPIAS20th century popularityAttempts to put utopian ideals into place resulted in real-life dystopias:

Soviet Communism German Nazism Western Consumerism Modernism Technological mass

production 3

SOVIET COMMUNISM Political system of social

engineering working for a classless society of equals

Individual liberties were taken away from citizens because the government thought people could not be trusted to make decisions for themselves

Atheist worldview: Religious worship was suppressed 3

GERMAN NAZISM Movement led by Adolph Hitler

to lead Germany out of its post-WWI depression

A pure race (Aryans) were thought to be superior

“Final solution” included eliminating whole races of people (e.g., Jews) and religion

The Aryan military class executed Jews, disabled people, the elderly, Catholic priests, an all dissenters

Doctors carried out experiments on non-Aryan patients (including pregnant women), treating them as sub-species animals

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WESTERN CONSUMERISM A social and economic order

that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts.

People purchasing goods and consuming materials in excess of their basic needs

Characterized by propaganda and advertising everywhere

“Who owns you?” 3

MODERNISM A group of movements in the

20th century that sought to break with the past

To eliminate traditions To live without dependence

on the family, the Church, and the community

Only novel and innovative ideas were considered worthy

Technological advancement was worshiped without questioning the possible ill consequences 3

MASS PRODUCTION Product of the Industrial

Revolution Production of large

amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines

Contributed to consumerism

Henry Ford’s Model T was the first Mass produced car.

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THE DYSTOPIAN WRITERS Reacted against one or

more of the many 20th century movements to alter human society

Believed “the more man controls nature, the less he controls himself”

Warned against the “evil ends” that our technological advances would be used.

Created futuristic worlds that showed the potential dangers of the new 20th century movements.

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METROPOLIS, THE MOVIE German silent film, 1927 Credited as the first

dystopian movie. Depicting a mechanized,

rigid society with a mindless, self-indulgent upper class benefiting from the brutal exploitation of the working-class masses.

(Ironically, the screenwriter of this hymn to equality and love, Thea von Harbou, went on to work with the Nazis.)

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THE TIME MACHINE H.G. Wells thought society

was splitting into two castes that would eventually evolve into separate species because of their different conditions of existence.

The owners of capital were doomed to be physically weak

The workers were made increasingly amoral and angry by the harshness of their work.

Created the Eloi (owners) and the Morlocks (workers)

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1984 (GEORGE ORWELL) Orwell portrays the

potential effects of Soviet Communism

Totalitarian state, where everyone is watched by Big Brother

TV cameras capture everyone’s movements

No one has any freedoms

Children spy on their parents and turn them in for any kind of political dissent

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1984 (GEORGE ORWELL) Parents lose moral authority

over their children Children raised by the state

(“It takes a village”) Doublethink: to hold

simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them. War Is Peace, Ignorance Is

Strength, Freedom Is Slavery Newspeak: the attempt to

make certain thoughts inexpressible through the reform of language. Example: Ethnic Cleansing

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BRAVE NEW WORLD Portrays a society that has

been socially engineered for a mindless happiness.

No need for a totalitarian state because everyone is so “amused” and entertained by sex and drugs.

Technology drives the culture and takes away one’s humanity

A critique of consumerism, technology worship, mass media hypnotism

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BRAVE NEW WORLD Human beings are

treated like different model cars trundling off the Ford assembly line.

Babies are bred in bottles for designated roles in society comparable

The family is seen as unnecessary and revolting. 3

FAHRENHEIT 451 Bradbury was influenced

by Brave New World and 1984

Provided a critique of the “information society”

Predicted many current trends: the “dumbing down” of

popular entertainment and education,

our growing addiction to TV, video games, and the Internet,

the rise of random violence among youth

taking pills for everything, the cult of consumerism.

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