Dystopia Utopia

Prompts: Brave New World (1931; 1932)
pagination from Harper Collins edition, 2004

"“After all, every one belongs to every one else'" (48).

Points for Reflection

A. Huxley's Brave New World, chps 1-6

1. why might Aldous Huxley describe the men as “having” women instead of “taking” them?  Why is this choice important, given relations between the sexes in this novel?
2. why might Huxley gradually accelerate the speed with which he cuts back and forth among the various character perspectives to which we are witness between pages 40-61?
3. is the director of the Central London Hatchery wholly dedicated to the ideals we first see him promoting in chapters 1-2?
4. with what attitude does Mustapha Mond reject those traditional values and systems that characterize  our western civilization today?  Is he disdainful, sarcastic, angry, humorous, or something else?
5. what evidence does Huxley scatter throughout the text to signal Mustapha Mond’s familiarity with now outlawed literature?
6. do the forms of entertainment pursued in this brave new world resemble those of the twenty-first century in any ways?
7. to what ends does English society in the year A.F. 632 employ science?
8. in what various ways does the drug soma impact our main characters?
9. does the caste system reinforced in this new society create any pariahs or untouchables?  Does this system require the sacrifice of a few to insure the comfort and happiness of the majority?
10. does this society encourage selflessness or selfishness?

A. Huxley's Brave New World, chps 7-12

1. this new society in which the characters live perpetuates its ideals by frequently citing catch phrases first imbibed as children.  What linguistic strategies do the phrasemongers (like Helmholtz) use to make these sayings so memorable?
2. what about Bernard attracts Lenina, and does she at any point share his dissatisfaction with contemporary society?
3. does Bernard take pride in the intellectual, physical, and social differences that distinguish him from his peers?
4. why are Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson friends?
5. why does John call his mom “Linda” instead of “mother”?  
6. how does Linda define madness/insanity (113-15)?
7. do those living in the year A.F. 632 allow scientific enquiry to runs its course without constraint?
8. why is sexual activity so heavily encouraged in this society?

A. Huxley's Brave New World, chps 13-18

1. is Bernard’s discomfort with the modern world a product of idealism?
2. what is the modern world's attitude towards the type of physical penitence practiced by John ("the savage" ) and his people?
3. do the types of audiovisual and literary entertainments indulged in by this new society resemble those of contemporary American in any significant ways?
4. does John’s familiarity with Shakespeare grant him useful knowledge and perspectives with which to encounter the industrialized “brave new world”?
5. what does John really want from Lenina?
6. is Mustapha Mond (the Controller) governed by idealism, pragmatism, or something else whenever he promotes happiness as the most important value underpinning modern society?
7. why are the old, traditional forms of literary and artistic production incompatible with the lifestyle promoted by this new society?
8. are the people of this new society as happy as Mustapha Mond maintains?
9. is there such a thing as virtue in this new society?
10. why is belief in God incompatible with the new society?
11. why does John remove himself to the abandoned lighthouse? What is he trying to achieve, and does he succeed?

Scarecrows (2002)
Hugo Xavier Bastidas

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu