A. Mechanic techniques
1. This novel is a characteristic novel, you get to know a lot about the feelings and thoughts of the characters, this is also the most important aspect of the novel.
2. An omniscient narrator tells the story. In the first part a lot is told about Bernard Marx and in another part a lot is told about John the Savage.
B. Observations
1. Where is the story set?
The story is set in London and one part of the story in a reservation in Malpais where John used to live.
De verkiezingen: wat doen de partijen voor jongeren?
2. When/ in what period is the story set?
The story is set in A.F. (After Ford) 632, this is 632 years after Ford has released the first T-ford, this is in about A.D. 2535. The world is very different in that time, it is nothing like it is now.
3. Tell the outline of the story in about 3 or 4 sentences?
The story is about a totally new world, where people are not born in a normal way, but in test tubes. Some people are made smart and others less intelligent so that anybody has his own place in the ‘society’. But there is one person who was not made like this, he has a real father and mother, he is the one who tries to tell people to act different.
4. Tell about the main characters and give their characterisation.
The main characters are Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne and John ("the Savage").
Bernard Marx is not like anyone else in Brave new world, he is too small for his caste. So that is why not everyone takes him seriously. Maybe somebody made a mistake while he was an embryo. He is also not very popular, because he is so different, people think he is very strange. But when he is the key to see the Savage suddenly he is very popular. Bernard is a very insecure person, which does not change very much in the story.
The other main character in the book is John. He used to live in a reservation in Malpais (bad land) together with his mother, which is very unusual because nobody has a mother or father in the New World, because they are all made in test tubes. He always dreamed of the civilised world, but when he finally gets there he is very disappointed. He wants to change the world, by telling people they became slaves and that is no good. They ought to be free. But the problem is nobody really knows what freedom is. At the end of the story he does not want to be in the ‘civilised’ world anymore, so he goes to a place where he thinks he can be alone, but people come after him. He gets very mad and finally hangs himself when he realises what he did to Lenina in front of almost the whole world.
Lenina Crowne is a very pretty girl, who behaves like most people in "Brave new World. For example, she uses some standard sentences like "I'm glad I'm not an Epsilon". In Chapter thirteen she thinks she could easily go and take John. Some people find it strange that she likes Bernard.
5. Can you detect any influence of the period in which the book was written
Yes there are certainly influences of the period in which the book was written. The story was written in 1973 and in that time people were experimenting with embryos and that sort of stuff. People were very afraid of what could happen with this new knowledge. So Huxley wrote a story about the future in a very bad way, almost the worst what could happen to this world.
6. Is the end of the story open or closed.
It is a closed end. After the Savage died the world will go on like it always has been; there will probably be no change at all. At first people will be very surprised that somebody committed suicide, but eventually they will forget all about the savage
7. Explain the title.
"Brave New World" is how John calls the new modern world in which nobody is unhappy.
The naming is from a book he read in the reservation, which he got from his mother.
C. Techniques
1. What is the perspective?
The perspective is in the first part of the story with Bernard and in the second part with John ‘the Savage’. It is written in the ‘he-form’.
2. What is the function of the surroundings /atmosphere?
It is very clear that the reservation in Malpais has a function. When Bernard and Lenina come there they feel very uncomfortable, because of the way the people live there. They think it is disgusting to live like a family together. Lenina can not watch the sight of it.
Malpais means also bad land, for the people from the ‘civilised’ world it really is the bad land.
The world in which Lenina and Bernard live must be the happy place, but in fact it is not that happy. Also the description of the rooms and places give you the impression that it is not a very happy place.
3. What is the function of time?
The story is in a chronological way told. There are no flashbacks or previews. That is what makes the story attractive, because you want to know what will happen next and you have no idea how the story will end. So the function of time is to attract people to read the story until the end very quickly.
D. Theme
1. What is the central theme of the story?
The central theme is the contrast between the Individual and the Society. In the book you find people that ‘are’ Society and others that are Individuals and do not want to be part of that Society. The people who are to individual are mostly send to an island by the Controller, because he does not want that kind of people in his Society.
Aldous Huxley wants to make clear that individuals can’t be Society, but only a part of Society. He fears that in the future there will be no more individuals.
2. Mention other important motives.
Other important motives are:
- freedom/slavery
- family life
- love and marriage
- human life/death
- religion
E. Appreciation
1. Did you like the book
I did not like the book quite well.
2. If so, why. If not, why not?
Because I do not think it is very realistic that this will happen in the future, it is just sometimes to exaggerated. Also I was not really impressed by the style of writing of the author. Everything was very sad and I also did not like the theme of the book.
So that is why I did not like this book
F. Summary
In A.F. 632 there is a World Society. People are made in bottles and conditioned to do predestined work. People have no family, marriage does not exist. People are taught to serve the production. People also are made in different grades of intelligence.
Bernard is quite intelligent, but because of an error in the Predestination Centre he stayed small and weak. Because of that he's an outcast, and is also often alone. Bernard has an own vision of life. He will be displaced to Iceland. But before he's officially replaced he meets a pretty girl called Lenina. He takes her to a Savage Reservation. There, they meet John and his mother.
They take them back to the "brave new world". John falls in love with Lenina. She wants to make love to him very soon; it is normal in her society. But John isn't used to that; he hits her and calls her a strumpet.
John's mother dies of too much soma . John isolates himself from the society, and starts a living on his own, he wants to depend on nothing and no-one. The press discover where he is and they chase him. John commits suicide.
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