By Aldous Huxley
Review by Aman Singh
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live in a perfectly happy world. A world where there are no crimes, no religion, no values. A world in the future, and a world called “Brave New World” where humans are made in factories and are already conditioned to do their jobs.
The story revolves around an outcast named John who is stuck in a utopian world and is looking for somebody who has feelings, emotions, love, and true happiness. He has good relationship with her mom Linda because from her he heard about the World State and she taught him English. It is her who makes him dream about going to the World State but you have to read the book to find out why he ends up killing her with his own hands.
Mustapha Mond is the most powerful character in the world of this novel. He is among one of those few, who can break the rules, ironically because he made them, along with other nine World Controllers. You can break the rules too, but only if you want to be exiled.
Lenina is one of the drugged, dull, programmed robotic objects, like every other person in this future world. She is attracted to Bernard. She is passionate about John and loves Soma, the perfect drug with no side effects.John is the only major characters who have grown out of the World State. As you read the novel, you will find out that he is a son of Director and Linda. He always wanted to go see the World State but when he gets there, he finds himself unable to fit in to the World State Society. One of the big question that remains is that “If John is unable to fit in, will he try to change the World State back to normal or not?”
Bernard is a selfish and cruel character who has a frustrated desire to fit into his own society. He is one of the main reasons John gets to see the World State. He is very much alike Helmholtz Watson because they both have problems with World State.
One of the biggest themes that Huxley tries to set throughout the novel is the use of technology to control the world and validity of happiness and truth. One of the main reasons I like Brave New World is because it is fascinating knowing that this book was written in 1931 in England and is very much related to today’s world in 2011.
Many people have challenged this book because of its strong themes of sexuality, drugs and suicide. It might offend some religions. This book is mainly written for teens or adults. Interesting point to think about is that we might be heading towards this utopian society as we continue to rely too much on technology.
