Riassunto esame letteratura inglese, Prof. Casella, libro consigliato Brave New World, Huxley

When he woke up he repeated word by word the transmission, parents thought he

had become crazy. This introduces sleep-teaching or hypnopaedia. “The case of...”

- Director makes a sign of the T on the body, no more the sign of the cross. “These

early experimenters...” - explains why these first experiments were a failure, they

hadn’t yet fully developed all the possibilities that hypnopaedia had to offer.

P. 20 — In this kind of described genesis all the various steps are being explored,

the creation, incubation, fertilization; conditioning through the Pavlovian method;

and now other classes. “Elementary Sex...” - Sex is something completely detached

from emotions, feelings, passions, it has transformed into a mechanical

performance. “Elementary Class Consciousness...” - is much more important

because it’s the basis of stability. This class is a practical simplification of a t

hypnopaedic lesson, children are thought to love their own class and condition and

Pagina 5 di 14

to despise all other classes. They have to be happy to be Betas. “They’ll have

that...” - Makes the children repeat this so many times a week for 30 months.

P. 21 — “Roses and electric shocks...” - In brief, hypnopaedia, the greatest

moralizing and socializing force of all time. Moralizing and grotesque ending from

the Director, there is no ethics or morality in this society.

P. 22 — “Outside, in the garden...” - Starts with a pleasant picture of a spring day

(ironic scene). Children are playing a game of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy, games

and sports shouldn’t be complicated, it’s an unnatural game. Describes how games

were during the Ford’s days, like football. These games are strange to them,

because they don’t increase consumption like nowadays.

P. 23 — “It’s madness...” - New games need to have a lot of apparatus. Kind of

frenzy to invent and create even more forms of entertainment, games. “Two

children...” - describes a strange episode, two children are playing a rudimental

sexual game. Little children were compelled to this kind of erotic place, in order to

diminish or neutralize all aspects connected with sex and eroticism. One little boy is

reluctant to participate in this game, so the nurse takes him to see the Assistant

Superintendent of Psychology; upsetting scene.

P. 24 — “Polly Trotsky..” - Trotsky, Marx and Lenin were all revolutionaries linked to

socialism. Before Ford erotic play was considered abnormal, immoral and so it was

suppressed. This was suppressed even in adolescents! Students are shocked by

this, Director explains that this was allowed after 20 years of age.

P. 25 — “what happened?...” - The results were terrible, explains why the results of

morality were terrible. “Controller...” - All of a sudden a new character appears,

Mustapha Mond, one of the most important controllers (there are 10 in total). “In the

four...” - Shows the mechanical course of the working day, a new shift begins.

“Bernard Marx...” - Another protagonist is being introduced, works in the

Psychology Bureau, and again Lenina Crowne. “His fordship...” - Notice this new

title, not anymore his highness or his lordship.

P. 26 — “You all remember...” - The lesson is being held by the Controller himself.

Talks about an inspiring saying “history is bunk”, bunk means “fesseria”. “Brushed

away a little dust...” - Culture, literature, art and philosophy, everything is swept

away. “Going to the Feelies...” - Feelies which is translated as a sort of cinema, a

multi-sensorial experience. Nobody cares about the love scene but about the tactile

effects of the bearskin. “There were those...” - People thought the Controller had

ancient books about poetry and the Bible in a safe locked away. Ford knew what, a

way of saying “and God knows what else”, but there is no more god, there is only

Ford.

P. 27 — “Try to realize...” - Goes back to history lesson, talks about living with your

mother, what is the meaning of home, etc. “Lenina...” - In the meanwhile we have a

dialogue between Lenina and Fanny about their sexual habits and promiscuity.

They cannot have family names, because there is no family.

P. 28 — “Home, home...” - Home is a bad place, like a prison. In the meantime

Lenina gets out of the bath. “And home...” - Gives a very negative idea of family

and home; a grotesque caricature of human feelings and mother’s love for her

baby. Pagina 6 di 14

P. 29 — “SYRUP...” - Chemicals to prevent pregnancies. “Our Ford...” - Ford

compared to Freud in psychological matters, had explained the dangers of family

life; connecting to Freud thesis of Edipo, ecc. “And yet...” - In these places such

customs are still existing, like in the Savage Reservation in New Mexico.

P. 30 — “I shall spend...” - It is not enough to just play bridge, it must be musical for

consumerism reasons. “Mothers and fathers...” - Traditional human soul is attracted

by family, monogamy and romance but nowadays every one belongs to every one

else. The two girls go on talking about their sexual habits and partners.

P. 31. — “My baby...” - The Controller goes on with the lesson, madness is

infectious for everything related to having a mother, monogamy and romance. How

could they be stable?

P. 32 — “Stability...” - Stresses the importance of stability. The machine must never

be stopped, stopping the machine means death and the end of society. “My baby...”

- Mother, old age, poverty, pain, all these were the inconveniences of the society

before Ford. Stability repeated 3 times!

Culture is revealed through the books (at the time, books were burned, physical

elimination). In Brave New World, at the beginning of the novel, the theme of books

does not seem to be the main theme but at the end it is the crucial topic of the

book itself. Comparison between BNW e Fahrenheit 451 based on the importance

of books.

P. 33 — The society of the World State is founded on stability, whatever menaces

stability must be eliminated; continuous interchange of voices between Lenina and

her friend Fanny and on the other hand between the Controller and the students.

Everybody belongs to everybody else. The teaching imparted by Mustafa to the

class students and the Director, shows the first steps of human existence in the

World State.

P. 34 — “Do you know Bernard Marx?...” - Bernard is one of the leading figures in

alpha plus class, the top class in the World State; he’s a dangerous person

because of his behavior, he’s a kind of individualist, a lonely person, he does not

join his peers. He’s quite suspicious, he will be menaced to be exiled, he’s able to

avoid this at the beginning but he will be punished with exile because retained an

heretic.

Heretic groups: sects who do not comply with the maindoctrine of the dominant

religion. There are heretics in every religion and therefore even in the New World

society. In this non-religion or lay religion (laico) Bernard and his friends are

heretics; they do not comply or obey to the regulations, the rules, the

commandments of the World State.

“They say...” - If one doesn’t participate in games or rituals he/she is a dangerous

person (does not comply the stability). He might undermine the stability (Obstacle

Golf) which has been proclaimed several times by Mustapha Mond. “He asked me

to go to one...” - Bernard has invited Lenina to make a tour in the savage

Turning point

reservation —> of the story itself; the reservation is in New Mexico

where there are those excluded from the New World society and live a traditional

life; have faith in God and still worship God. They are defined “savages” by high

civilized society. Pagina 7 di 14

Chapter 4

Lenina talks about herself with her friend Fanny about sexual promiscuity and all

their partners. There are a series of dialogues founded on their specific individual

point of view between Bernard and his friend Helmholtz Watson who works in the

Department of Persuasion (hypnopaedia) about hypnopaedia technique: listening

during your sleep to a serious amount of messages to fix them in your head.

Chapter 5

Divided into 2 parts:

1) Moment of entertainment between Lenina and her friend Henry, they go to

Westminster Abbey Cabaret (irony of the transformation of this place, what was

the most important Abbey is now an enormous disco). There is a concert for

the young people of the first two classes (Alphas & Betas). The Sexophonists

exhibit for Alphas and Betas and play a remarkable song: it’s a kind of

celebration of the prenatal state, the state before being “decanted”; in our

language before being born. People dance together, listen to the music and

take soma (the drug) in order to cancel any trouble and let people live free and

happy.

2) The second part is even more ironical and grotesque. Bernard, being a

member of the top Class, is expected to attend the solidarity service. What

does service mean? In a religious sense the meaning of service is Holy Mass

(ritual of religious celebration). He has to participate to this ritual at the Fordson

Community Singery (cantoria della comunità fordiana). In this new society the

Big Ben is called Big Henry (baptized after Henry Ford, Christian name).

He goes to the service, but fortunately he’s not too late because other people

are still missing. He meets Morgana Rothschild (one of the most famous and

rich families). Some of the people: Fifi Bradlaugh, Joanna Diesel (name: engine,

cars), Jim Bokanovsky (inventor of the embryo); Herbert Bakunin. In total they

are 12 people, 6 man and 6 women (like Christ’s apostles), around a table (the

round table of King Arthur) ready to be united and become 1 larger being. 12:

number linked to the humanity, it’s the most important number in mythology,

astronomy, astrology, zodiac, years, months, knight of King Arthur.

P. 60 — “President stood up, made the sign of the T...” - Parody of the sign of

the cross. Beating of drums —> synthetic music.

solidarity

First hymn —> 12 becoming one. The parody of the sacraments:

the dedicated soma tablets —> sharing of the holy bread; Cup of strawberry

drink “I drink to the greater being”. Vague connections with John Lennon song

“imagine”.

Second solidarity hymn —> parody of the doctrine, of the sad sacrifice in

Christian traditions. Soma starts to work, sense of fusion into a greater social

entity; in fact soma leads to a mental state of trance. Then various people

begin to talk believing they are percei