Author Biography:
Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Godalming, United Kingdom into a family of established scientists. Huxley was not able to continue his scientific journey because in 1911 he became ill. His disease caused Huxley to become virtually blind and incapable of performing science experiments. However, he was not constrained by his disability. Huxley perused his interests in literature and became a well-known novelist and essayist. He often expressed his concerns of scientific progress to mankind in his novels.
Aldous Huxley studied at Balliol College, an institution at Oxford University. During his studies he became well acquainted with D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence encouraged Huxley to apply his literary talents at Oxford and make a career outside of business. At age seventeen, Huxley wrote his first novel; however, he did not publish his book. At age twenty, he began to write poems, journals, and art criticism. His career allowed him to amalgamate with respected European intellectuals. Along with the concerns of European intellectuals, Huxley’s personal apprehension for the changes occurring in Western civilization grew. Due to his experiences in journalism, he began to focus his novels on the threats of power and technology, war and nationalism, and parapsychology (the study of mental phenomena that are excluded from or inexplicable by orthodox scientific psychology such as hypnosis or telepathy) and behaviorism. Huxley quickly became famous for his complex novels based on real world issues, with science fiction twists.
In 1937, Huxley moved to the United States and became a screenplay writer in Hollywood. Although he focused his career on screenplay, Huxley continued to write novels and essays in the United States. American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Award of Merit for the Novel in 1950. Also in the 1950s, Huxley began to experience with psychedelic drugs, especially LSD and mescaline. His work at that time evolved to visionary thinking and he became especially popular among hippies. Aldous Huxley inspired many people of his time, and he died a natural death in Los Angeles on November 22, 1963 at age 69.
Setting Description:
Brave New World is set in a futuristic utopian society with a dark and satiric atmosphere. The book takes place in year A.F. 632, designating year “zero” as the date that the Ford Model-T was introduced. The Model-T was designed and produced in 1908; therefore, the World State is governed in 2540. The World State is placed in the future of London, England and New Mexico, United Sates where the citizens are restricted to the specific dictatorship of the government.
This science fiction novel holds the citizens of the society under the control of a “democracy.” However, the government is more like a wall, keeping the citizens enslaved, where the people “would love their servitude.” Huxley incorporated his concern for Western Civilization in the novel through addressing threats of overpopulation, excessive bureaucracy, and hypnosis techniques for personal freedom. He severely feared the loss of individual identity in the futuristic world. The book themes concentrate on his interests in parapsychology and mysticism through the excessive use of soma and the incompatibility of happiness and truth.
The dictatorial future of the book, similar to Adolf Hitler’s government, used genetics and cloning to control individuals within the society. The children were genetically programmed through test tubes and placed into five different categories. The categories included: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. The rankings designate the child’s profession and decide whether he or she is allowed to develop naturally or be manipulated through chemical interference.
The governmental leaders have limited the population to two billion people, keeping an abundant supply of resources and “peace.” The restrictions on the people are designed to create happiness for everyone and abolish all pain. However, Huxley alludes to the fact that this utopian society creates emptiness and false happiness, rather than a genuine human fulfillment.
Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Godalming, United Kingdom into a family of established scientists. Huxley was not able to continue his scientific journey because in 1911 he became ill. His disease caused Huxley to become virtually blind and incapable of performing science experiments. However, he was not constrained by his disability. Huxley perused his interests in literature and became a well-known novelist and essayist. He often expressed his concerns of scientific progress to mankind in his novels.
Aldous Huxley studied at Balliol College, an institution at Oxford University. During his studies he became well acquainted with D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence encouraged Huxley to apply his literary talents at Oxford and make a career outside of business. At age seventeen, Huxley wrote his first novel; however, he did not publish his book. At age twenty, he began to write poems, journals, and art criticism. His career allowed him to amalgamate with respected European intellectuals. Along with the concerns of European intellectuals, Huxley’s personal apprehension for the changes occurring in Western civilization grew. Due to his experiences in journalism, he began to focus his novels on the threats of power and technology, war and nationalism, and parapsychology (the study of mental phenomena that are excluded from or inexplicable by orthodox scientific psychology such as hypnosis or telepathy) and behaviorism. Huxley quickly became famous for his complex novels based on real world issues, with science fiction twists.
In 1937, Huxley moved to the United States and became a screenplay writer in Hollywood. Although he focused his career on screenplay, Huxley continued to write novels and essays in the United States. American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Award of Merit for the Novel in 1950. Also in the 1950s, Huxley began to experience with psychedelic drugs, especially LSD and mescaline. His work at that time evolved to visionary thinking and he became especially popular among hippies. Aldous Huxley inspired many people of his time, and he died a natural death in Los Angeles on November 22, 1963 at age 69.
Setting Description:
Brave New World is set in a futuristic utopian society with a dark and satiric atmosphere. The book takes place in year A.F. 632, designating year “zero” as the date that the Ford Model-T was introduced. The Model-T was designed and produced in 1908; therefore, the World State is governed in 2540. The World State is placed in the future of London, England and New Mexico, United Sates where the citizens are restricted to the specific dictatorship of the government.
This science fiction novel holds the citizens of the society under the control of a “democracy.” However, the government is more like a wall, keeping the citizens enslaved, where the people “would love their servitude.” Huxley incorporated his concern for Western Civilization in the novel through addressing threats of overpopulation, excessive bureaucracy, and hypnosis techniques for personal freedom. He severely feared the loss of individual identity in the futuristic world. The book themes concentrate on his interests in parapsychology and mysticism through the excessive use of soma and the incompatibility of happiness and truth.
The dictatorial future of the book, similar to Adolf Hitler’s government, used genetics and cloning to control individuals within the society. The children were genetically programmed through test tubes and placed into five different categories. The categories included: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. The rankings designate the child’s profession and decide whether he or she is allowed to develop naturally or be manipulated through chemical interference.
The governmental leaders have limited the population to two billion people, keeping an abundant supply of resources and “peace.” The restrictions on the people are designed to create happiness for everyone and abolish all pain. However, Huxley alludes to the fact that this utopian society creates emptiness and false happiness, rather than a genuine human fulfillment.