By Aldous HuxleyOriginally published in 1932
Republished Many Times
(Horizon Ridge Publishing, June 16, 2024)
249 pages
ISBN 13: 978-1068859625
Note: This review contains spoilers, or—more exactly—trigger warnings.
Brave New World describes one version of “utopia.” The story starts in a factory where babies are produced. Yep, you read that correctly. In Aldous Huxley’s controversial novel, babies are made, not born. In fact, it is blasphemous, scandalous, horrific to think of women actually giving birth. Instead, some women donate an ovary. The totalitarian state of BNW has discovered ways to make individual ova “bud” so that hundreds, even thousands of fetuses can be produced from a single egg. In the production lines, embryos are treated, conditioned, fed, and sometimes poisoned in a eugenics program that produces the different castes of people: alphas, to lead of course; betas, gammas, and epsilons are all intended to become varying levels of working class individuals. Production line workers dispense toxins to some, to make them resistant to toxic environments; or they withhold oxygen to make the individuals less intelligent, therefore happier in a lower-caste job/role.
And this is just the beginning. Individuals are conditioned from birth to be resistant to emotions, to be calloused about death, to be promiscuous (the book even depicts young grade-school level children being encouraged to engage in “erotic play” and are taught that “everyone belongs to everyone else”); to despise anything that doesn’t meet the classic definition of beauty; to consume, consume, consume; to indulge in mini “vacations” through the use of a government sponsored drug called “soma,” which makes them happy no matter what; and the list goes on. As the storyline develops, adult characters demonstrate their love of societal structure or, in the case of one, then two, then three characters, their disillusionment and even hatred of it.
Huxley’s story is a startling glimpse of what such a world could be like. Some sources have gone so far as to say BNW is Huxley’s depiction of an “anti-utopia.” Where 1984 (George Orwell, reviewed here) depicted a world living under crushing authoritarianism, BNW is quite the opposite. Its citizens can do what they like, for the most part, as long as they “color between the lines.” Take your soma, have sex with as many people as you can, don’t get too attached to anyone or anything, don’t have any deep thoughts or ideas, behave as you are expected to, and everything will be glorious. You can be content. Even happy. Just not passionate.
This is an absolutely horrific story. I almost couldn’t finish it, but I’m glad I did. There is a scene, near the end, where one of the characters (John) has a private conversation with a world leader, Mustapha Mond. Big revelations are given here, insights that make the reasons behind the world order at least more understandable, if not relatable or forgivable. Even so, the ending was more depressing than I can say. My initial reaction was one of horror and disgust. But having given it more thought, I can almost see what Huxley was trying to do—show us just how truly horrific a “perfect” world could be. In addition, given the era in which the book was written, there is a plethora of racism, misogyny, classism, body image issues, and so much more that made finishing it a real challenge.
Why did I read it then?
Because BNW is a banned book, and I wanted to know why. It’s been controversial since it was first published. Ireland was the first to ban it in 1932, but other nations followed. Reasons for banning or objecting included insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and sexually explicit scenes. I found it hard to endure, but it does point out frightening possibilities for a horrific future that I hope never becomes a reality. BNW illustrates a theory that seems to come ‘round in the minds of leadership from time to time—that idea that with a little tweaking, they can make people better. More compliant. More easily appeased. Ultimately more easily governed.
Brave New World is a startling, horrific, depressing read. Yet if you can bring yourself to stomach it, it just might open your eyes to chilling alternatives to our current world. Let’s hope they never become a reality.