Introduction to Brave New World and 1984

Genre and a Few Questions: What is science fiction? Have you read or watched any science fiction stories? What was the story or stories and what was it or they about? What function(s) do you think science fiction serves in our society?

Genre and a Few Questions: Some Answers: Science fiction is a form of fiction that incorporates some element of the future or future technology. I’ve Seen “V for Vendetta.” Some think that one of the purposes science fiction provides is an opportunity to look into a possible future and warn our society away from going down a destructive path.

Genre and a Few Questions: With our authors, Huxley and Orwell, they use science fiction for this purpose, to warn us and to try and prevent our society from going down a negative path. This type of specific story that often overlaps with science fiction is called Dystopia. Dystopia is a story in which we see or read about a future that has gone horribly wrong based on trends that we see in society today.

Some Basic Concepts in Huxley: Shakespeare: In Brave New World, Huxley frequently makes allusions to the works of Shakespeare, particularly The Tempest. Consider the following passage from The Tempest: “Miranda: O, wonder! How many goodly creatures there are here! How Beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world that has such people in't. “ Notice that this where the idea of the title Brave New World came from. These lines from The Tempest also appear throughout the book help describe John’s view of the society he has entered.

Some Basic Concepts in Huxley: Eugenics: The modern concept of Eugenics was started by Francis Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin. It is the idea of genetically breeding better humans. It became popular and even part of American government policy but much of it was flawed in the definition of "desirable traits" and the misunderstanding that not all social problems are entirely genetic. Government applied Eugenics resulted in forced sterilization and eventually Nazi extermination camps. Genetics is still with us as a valid science, but many issues such as cloning and genetic manipulation remain controversial. This idea is very much a part of the society Huxley creates in the novel.

Some Basic Concepts in Huxley: Totalitarianism: This is a form of government in which a leader or a single party has total control over the populace, including people’s lives, their values, their social institutions, their educations, and many other aspects of their lives. Propaganda, social structure, laws, and secret police often enforce the control this form of government has. Understanding this form of government is crucial to understanding the picture Huxley paints of society.

Some Basic Concepts in Huxley: Utilitarianism: This is a philosophical concept that argues that a moral action is one that maximizes utility, defined as pleasure, economic well-being, and lack of suffering. This is a form of consequentialism, defined as a system of moral thought that indicates the consequences of an action are what makes it moral. This appears to be the philosophical framework of the society in the novel: The ends justify the means (from Machivelli). This is important to be able to see what is motivating the government in this novel.

Some Basic Concepts in Huxley: Allusions: An allusion is a reference to some other work or historical figure. In Brave New World, Huxley makes many allusions, particularly in the names he gives characters or objects in the novel. For example, the novel references a “Malthusian Belt,” which is a belt that contains contraceptives. This is an allusion to Thomas Malthus who the term Malthusian Catastrophe is named after. A Malthusian Catastrophe essentially is a situation in which the population of the earth has grown so big that the earth’s resources can no longer sustain them, creating a catastrophe. In the novel, the contraceptives in the “Malthusian Belt” prevent extra children whom the government cannot control from being born, thus preventing a Malthusian Catastrophe.

Some Basic Concepts in Orwell: Like Huxley, Orwell also deals with totalitarianism, though the totalitarian society he describes is different in many ways from Huxley’s

Some Basic Concepts in Orwell: The End of World War II and Communism: Orwell in the novel is critiquing a Stalinist type of Communist system that is a totalitarian regime. Understanding that the spread of this type of government when Orwell was writing immediately after World War II was a big concern is central to understanding this novel. Also central is the understanding of Epistemology, or how we know the things we agree are facts are, in fact, facts.

Huxley and Orwell’s Purposes in Writing thes Novels: The authors’ purposes in writing these novels are several. Some of them include, but are not limited to, the following: To sound alarm bells with readers about what would happen if we as a society embrace totalitarianism or forced Eugenics and the kind of thinking that results from a society that has embraced these ideas. To encourage the awakening of critical thought and thinking for one’s self instead of conforming to what everyone else is thinking. To encourage action in the present to prevent this dystopia from occurring in the future.

A Passage Please review the first chapter of the Brave New World. Who are the characters that are introduced so far? What are they like? What is the world that the characters live in like? How does what the first chapter tells readers fit with the genres of science fiction and dystopia? How does what you’ve read fit with the idea of Eugenics and Totalitarianism?