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

Brave New World (1932) - Aldous Huxley

Title

A very important aspect of this book is in the title itself. In fact, it derives from Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” Miranda, the main character, daughter of Prospero, the magician who lives on the island, sees a ship of human beings being carried towards the island.

Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–20, Miranda when seeing human beings on her island: “O wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, / That has such people in’t.” Miranda was finally rescued from her loneliness. The words “Brave New World” are also said by one of the main characters in Huxley’s book, John the Savage, when he is brought from the reservation to London, now called World State City of London.

Plot

The action takes place in London, now called World State city of London, AF 632 (Anno Ford), which corresponds to AD 2540. The society of World State is rigidly predetermined; men and women are conceived and engineered through artificial hatching; childhood indoctrination programs into pre-determined classes (castes) based on intelligence and labour, but the intelligence doesn't belong to individuals, it was predetermined before their birth. There are 5 classes in total, corresponding to the first 5 letters of the Greek alphabet (alfa, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon).

Lenina Crown: works in the hatchery, she's very popular and she's sexually very desirable.

Bernard Marx: alfa male, psychologist, short and rather ugly (during his hatching there was a mistake, instead of blood they accidentally put alcohol in his cocoon) so he suffers from an inferiority complex and sometimes criticizes the society he lives in, at his own risk. Criticism is not accepted. Expert in sleep-learning = awareness (and despise) of the methods employed to keep citizens peaceful/tranquil through constant consumption of “soma,” a soothing drug. Bernard is impulsive, rash, expresses his criticism so his boss thinks of exiling him to Iceland.

Helmholtz Watson: talented writer, also critical about social order but more courageous. Bernard invites Lenina for a holiday in the savage reservation, called Malpais/New Mexico. Here the people are not subjected to the laws of the World State. The “Savages” belong to the “past”: they are born naturally, live in families, suffer from diseases and aging, have a language, culture and religion of their own (a mix between pagan belief and Christian rituals), kind of like Native Americans living in “pueblos.”

During their holiday, they witness religious rituals, and meet an old, ugly and sick woman, Linda. She once lived in the World State but something bad happened, and she was forced to remain in the reservation because of a natural pregnancy. She has a son, John, and so she was prevented from returning to London (she became a sort of prostitute for all the men of the reservation, in World State there was a lot of sexual promiscuity). Linda tells her story: while visiting the Savage Reservation several years before, she lost her group and was left alone. She accidentally became pregnant by a man of the group (still unknown), thus could not return back home because of that fault/shame. Her son, John, was refused by the villagers; she taught him to read (from 2 books: Shakespeare and Science). John is deeply influenced by Shakespeare (“Othello,” “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet”). In the World State people do not read, books are considered useless, so John represents a special exception to this.

After a few days at the reservation, Lenina wants to return to World State because she is disgusted by the habits of the savages. Also, Linda wishes to return to London, she has been exiled for almost 20 years, her son is eager to see the "brave new world." Bernard thinks to take advantage of his “discovery” (young man born naturally in a particular context), sees it as a weapon to avoid being exiled: so is allowed to take Linda and John with him.

Back in London, John addresses the Director as “father": violent reaction of the bystanders/onlookers, and discovery of the truth: the Director is the man who had impregnated Linda in the Savage Reservations several years before. The Director, humiliated, resigns (and cannot exile Bernard). Bernard becomes the "custodian" of John; "the Savage," now becomes a “star” and is visited/invited by influential people of the leading class. Bernard becomes famous too, but he is envious of the sympathy between John and Helmholtz, the writer.

Linda is refused because she is old and ugly and takes refuge in soma. John is not interested in the continuous social meetings organized by Bernard, disgusted by the general superficiality. He likes Lenina, but his sentimental/emotional approach is romantically shaped on Shakespeare’s imagery and language, unlike Lenina who has a mechanical unsentimental behavior (complete misunderstanding between the two). He thinks he’s Romeo and Lenina Juliet, but she’s completely ignorant of the idea of feelings and love, she reacts from a purely physical point of view.

Important episode: John is informed that his mother Linda is dying: he rushes to the hospital, scandalizing everybody with his behavior (“politically un-correct”), especially a group of children who are being taught "death-conditioning" without any “traditional” respect for the painful situation, very typical to teach not to care about death (while Linda dies the children are laughing). John attacks them, then tries to stop a distribution of soma to inferior class people, vainly trying to awaken their conscience.

John, Bernard, and Helmholtz are brought before the highest authority, the "Resident World Controller for Western Europe," Mustapha Mond. Bernard and Helmholtz will be exiled to a remote island for their antisocial behavior. Bernard behaves cowardly, while Helmholtz is glad at the chance (the islands are the destination of people exiled for their anti-social behavior against the laws of World State). Mond illustrates to John the “story” of the World State society and its motivations (state control, social classes division etc.). John rejects such theory (and practice): discussion between the two about "the right to be unhappy," about Literature, culture, use of the books, etc.

John asks to be exiled, but the Controller refuses: he wants to go on with the “experiment”... John takes refuge in a ruined lighthouse on a hill (near Puttenham): he wants to live alone and “purify” himself from the taint of civilization. He inflicts himself self-flagellation, an act which attracts reporters and crowds of curious people. Also, Lenina witnesses the “show,” and John strikes her with his whip. The crowd, half-amazed half-amused, celebrates a “soma-party.” John, disgusted, abandoned, and sorrowful, is found the next morning hanged in the tower. The story ends with a tragic finale.

In Brave New World, Fordism represents the creation of human beings, sort of as a secular divinity. Fetuses are elaborated, transformed and predetermined from the very beginning. So Ford doesn't create automobiles but pseudo humans. The whole novel represents criticism to consumerism society. The new calendar begins with 1908, the first automobile was created this year in the assembly line. Change of religious tradition: the sign of the cross is not a t on the breast, performed but the highest classes of society; Oh my God, replaced with Oh my Ford.

Motto

“Community, Identity, Stability”. Hypnopaedia: education during sleep. The purpose of this is to be satisfied and happy based on class and different living conditions, there’s an awareness of the different classes (so alfa class is the most important one, people know this). Epsilons are being taught to be content with their condition and try to make alfa’s conditions even better. Breeding is done artificially but conditioning is more important than breeding. All members of the society are conditioned from the very beginning.

P. 2 — The World State’s motto, “Community, Identity, Stability” - It’s very similar to the motto of the French Revolution. At the beginning of the book, we are following the Director of the Hatcheries, who is explaining the Bokanovsky's Process to a group of students (the students use a notebook to take notes, not a tablet, could be an error from the writer who didn't foresee this change). He explains from the beginning how human beings are created, recreated, cloned, etc.

P. 3 — “in this year of stability…” - gives indication of time A.F. 632.

P. 4 — “the operation undergone voluntarily…” - women offer their parts, for the good of society, but also because they receive a good salary for this. “where the Alphas and Betas…” - Different process for different parts of society. “One egg, one embryo, …” - Explains Bokanovsky's Process, what it really is and how it changes from the original way of reproducing. Progress is the great triumph of the New World.

P. 5 —“Eight minutes of hard X-rays…” - They have invented a process, a sort of alteration, through x-rays and alcohol in order to the original embryo. “But one of the students…” - Asks what's the advantage? The director answers with Stability, so important. "Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!” - Like this, it’s not necessary to find recruits, just multiply the egg and you will have the perfect worker, perfect person to the work, all identical. “For the first time in history…” - Director repeats motto.

P. 6 — “Solved by standard Gammas, unvarying Deltas, uniform Epsilons…” - no more classic assembly line to produce goods, but to produce sub-human beings. “But, alas, …” - The great dream is to create an unlimited number of identical humans. “Ninety-six seemed to be the limit;…” - Using 25 years to produce twins is uneconomical, useless, it must be quicker. “Fertilize and bo-kanovskify–in other words, multiply…” - reduction of the times to grow and produce subhumans. “Sixteen thousand and twelve in this Centre,…”- Mr. Foster is one of the assistants of the Director. Explains how much in this particular centre. “In some of the tropical centers…” - Countries competing to have the best process, quickest one.

P. 7 — “In the Bottling Room…” - It’s where the embryos are bottled and put in a continuous line of production. Describes the process. Every bottle is labeled with the DNA of the creature.

P. 8 — "And the bottles come in here to be predestined in detail.” "After which they are sent down to the Embryo Store.” - Bottles are labeled in detail and then sent to the Embryo store. "Embryos are like photograph film,” - tipo pellicola di film. “The bulging flanks of row…” - workers predestined to work in this assembly line, then gives them a few figures. Naturally speaking each mammal has