Monthly Book Review

I read a book written by Aldous Huxley titled Brave New World, which is a fantasy of the future that makes the reader open their mind and guides them through a journey of a world that you would never imagine. It is a world where no one is born from their mother, where every human is made in a laboratory, with their sex, intelligence, and physical strength all determined by the scientists that create them. I think the most interesting character in the novel would have to be Bernard Marx. I think he was one of the most dynamic characters throughout the book. Aldous Huxley’s youth and parental surroundings had a great effect on him writing this book and it may have had a lot to do with his personal life. Huxley’s purpose in writing this book was to send a message that life can never be perfect and even if people try to make it perfect and stable, there will still be conflicts and problems. I think Huxley does a great job in doing this.

Bernard Marx is an interesting and suspicious character. In the beginning of the novel he seems somewhat lost and confused about himself and he even wished he was a different type of caste. He struggles a lot between his emotions, love, and his personal features. After he finds out that the Director is going to exile him to Iceland, he finds revenge to embarrass the Director in front of the whole hatchery. After he succeeds, he realizes that nothing has really changed and he gets more discontented about himself due to jealousy towards his love, Lennina. Bernard struggles throughout the book with keeping his emotions within him. The Director gets mad at Bernard for expressing his feelings toward the real world. John and Helmholtz Watson are the only ones who seem to agree with his feelings. After he finds out that the Director is going to exile him to Iceland, he uses newly acquired knowledge that the Director has had sex, has a son, locates the son and the mother while on a visit to the Reservation, and plans revenge to embarrass the Director in front of the whole hatchery. He at first succeeds, gaining friends and being the toast of the parties he attends, but he does not succeed in the long run, therefore his perception and popularity goes down even more. Meanwhile, John, the Director’s accidental son starts to fall in love with Lennina and Lennina starts to feel the same towards John. Bernard thinks she is in love with him but she only uses him to take a break from her relationship with Henry Foster. Lennina thinks that Bernard is strange, short, and fat but in the novel she seems just as awkward as Bernard. She is happy to use him for her own social gain, but she doesn’t have the emotional investment in him that she does in John. Even though Bernard is the only person from the “New World” to express his feelings, he seems to never gain respect and continues to be frowned upon.

Aldous Huxley was born and raised in England and was the third son to Leonard Huxley and Julia Arnold. At an early age, Huxley began his learning in his father's botanical laboratory and was home schooled by his mother at a school named Hillside. After college, Huxley worked at Brunner and Mond chemical plant in Billingham and that is were he started writing the book, Brave New World. Huxleys ideas mainly came from his family’s and personal experience. Aldous Huxley’s Grandfather, Thomas Huxley was a biologist and a true believer in Darwinism. In the book, it totally goes against the Darwin ways in that people are chosen how they live instead of making they're own way of living and surviving (survival of the fittest). Aldous Huxley writes about how people are literally made from labs and are selected to be average, stupid, or smart. Huxley’s family life inspired many of writings because they were all either scientists or teachers so he was surrounded by new ideas and knowledge. Huxley had several books written about the future and Brave New World is still one of his most famous books. As a young adult, Aldous was involved in some major academic circles and for the most thrived in all of them. During World War I Huxley did not do too much writing but instead worked as a farm laborer. In 1937, Huxley moved to Hollywood California and he met a lot of new people who helped him create new ideas for his books. After World War II, Huxley tried to get a United States citizenship but he kept getting denied because he said that he would not take up in arms to defend the United States of America. Nonetheless he stayed in America and went through many tragic marriages. On November 22nd, 1963, at age 69, Aldous Huxley died due to cancer.

I think that Huxley wrote this book for many purposes. First, I think he wrote it to give his readers a possible feeling for the future and let them think how it could be bad or how it could be good. Personally, I would not like the future to be like this because I would not want to be a living organism that can’t think, feel, or achieve things on my own. It would also be very boring living under a strict, stable environment that does not allow you to express your feelings towards situations that you know are wrong and should not be done. I also wouldn’t want to take a drug such as soma to relieve me from my struggles. I would rather feel angry and learn from my mistakes than staying the same person by taking a drug that is supposedly used to better your life. To me, that’s a copout. In the book, the use of soma reflects the New Worlds source of religion, a tool to keep the society controlled and stable. Another reason why I think Huxley wrote this book was to express his feelings on the opposing side of his family’s scientific life. As I said earlier, most of his family was into Darwinism and the study of the human body. During the time this book was published was about the time when people believed in the Darwinist theories. I think that Huxley wanted to go out of the box and see what it would be like if there was a society that was the opposite of the theories that everyone believed. Rather than survival of the fittest, an Alpha caste of very bright, intellectuals could be created to be the leaders. Rather than having society evolved and adapt to their surrounding environment, create five permanent levels of society that structurally continues forever. If anyone starts thinking or feeling unhappy or frustrated in their position, soma is there as a “fix all” drug to bring them back to the fold. Huxley published Brave New World in 1932, and since students, like myself are still reading and writing essays on his book, he definitely has achieved his purpose in how science can affect the future of society.

The book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is written in creative, scientific, and emotional ways to give the reader a taste of what the future might be like. The way he describes and shapes one of his main characters, Bernard Marx is so incredible that it makes the reader feel as if they were in the book. His personal backgrounds from his parents to his youth guided him to his success in this book. I believe that Huxley has done a fantastic job of getting his views across. I am excited to reading more of his novels.