Literature Analysis #5

Jose Sagrero

Period 3

Literature Analysis #5

 

Brave New World

 

1. The book starts off with the director of the World State, giving a tour about how they have programmed embryos to do what they like. There are five classes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. They introduce a main character, Lenina Crowne, who is an employee of the factory. They then go to a room where hypnopaedia is introduced, this is a method used to condition the mind of the World State people to the Controllers' liking. They then turn to Mustapha Mond, one of the ten World Controllers, he talks about how they teach young kids sexual activities at a young age so they won't feel any emotional desires for human relationship. They then turn to Lenina and her friend, Fanny, they talk about Lenina's sexual life with a top Alpha, Henry Foster, but Lenina then admits she likes an awkward Alpha named Bernard Marx. Bernard is introduced overhearing Henry talking about what he did with Lenina. Then it goes to Lenina Agreeing to go to New Mexico with Bernard. Helmholtz Watson is then introduced, speaking to Bernard about their dislike for the World State. Before they can go to the reservation, Bernard goes to the director for a permission slip. The Director then tells a story about a trip that he took with a woman about twenty years before and states that she was lost in a storm and  never found. At the reservation, Lenina and Bernard are shocked when they see how the reservation is, not being used to everything that they see. They see a bizarre ritual and afterwords meet a savage named John. John tells Bernard that his mother, Linda, was saved by some villagers and immediately Bernard connects the dots and figures the woman to be the woman talked about by the Director. Bernard finds out that Linda is always willing to sleep with all the men of the village and learns that John always wanted to go to the "Other Place", the World State. Bernard agrees to take John, but needed to get permission from Mustapha Mond first. Meanwhile, John sneaks into Lenina's room, who is knocked out by taking too much soma, is sleeping as he admires her. To avoid getting sent to Iceland, Bernard brings John and Linda with him to London. When the director is ready to exile Bernard, Bernard makes his revelation. Immediately, the Director resigned and Bernard became very popular and finally embraced the World State lifestyle. John on the other hand is not fond of what the World State was all about, then one day refused accompany Bernard to a dinner. This is when Bernard loses his popularity and ends of having Helmholtz meet John, they immediately make a connection, mainly through Romeo & Juliet. Lenina, becoming increasingly obsessed with John, plots to seduce him. While they got to a room, John rejects her advances and starts cursing at her for being so loose. He then gets a call that Linda is in really bad shape, so he goes to see her. When he gets there he finds that she is still in a soma holiday as she mistakes him for a man that she had many sexual encounters with. She dies, then many pairs of Delta twins are sent to the room to witness this death for their conditioning. John outrages by this leaves then finds a person distributing soma. He decides to dump all the soma and claim that the people should be free, but instead they were about to attack him and Helmholtz, who joined in with John as well. Reinforcements are sent in to calm the crowd then the two men and Bernard are asked to go see Mustapha Mond. This is where Mr. Mond reveals what they do to people who decide to not agree with the world state and he himself talks about he was almost sent to an island himself. He then convinces Bernard and Helmholtz to go to and island themselves, but refuses to let John go with them. Instead of obeying Mustapha, John decides to exile himself. While in exile, John is discovered by some low-caste people and is subject to the mass media, He finally breaks and goes crazy, much to the enjoyment of the people. His final breaking point is when he takes soma and proceeds to have sex with women, one of them possibly Lenina. He realizes what he has done than decides to just hang himself to end his suffering.

 

2. The theme of this novel is that even though people try to create a perfect society, there will always be questioners and outliers who completely disagree with what the "Controllers" have to say.

 

3. The tone of the book is really dark with all the casual sexual relations and description of how people die. On the other hand he tries to be humorous with using Henry Ford as a god and involving such things like "orgy-porgy".

 

4. Allusion- The book has allusions to many of Shakespeare's works.
    Dogmatic- Almost everyone in the World State believes in what the Controllers want
    Euphemism- The Director tries to tell Bernard to not go to the savage reservation, but very not trying to really enforce it.
    Foil- Helmholtz is used as a foil to Bernard due to their different natures.
    Hyperbole- When Bernard asks John if he had eaten something to make him ill because he looked terrible.
    Irony- When Bernard brings John to London, he becomes immersed with the lifestyle he once denounced.
    Metaphor- Huxley uses the classes to distinguish who should be treated best because in their eyes stability in social classes is key for being civilized.
    Paradox- When Mustapha Mond states to John that the need for lower social classes is essential for balance in the World State.
    Rhetoric- Mustapha Mond uses Rhetoric to persuade John into believing what he is doing is good for what they are trying to establish in a society
    Satire- Everyone ridicules people who look old because that's how they are programmed, This was shown with how the people treated Linda.

 

Characterization

 

1. Direct characterization- Bernard is described as short and mentally superior, but at the same time we do not get a complete feel of his character. Helmholtz Watson is described as a physically superior Alpha and many women throw themselves at him. 

    Indirect characterization- Bernard is shown as lonely, which implies that he does not enjoy being part of activities in the World State. Throughout the novel we see how John is a man of morals by not accepting the world state and not having sex with Lenina before marriage.

 

2. Huxley's diction does not change through each character because they all basically speak the same exact language, unless if one accounts for John's native language of Zuni.

 

3. John the Savage is a dynamic character because he is introduced as humble man who never knew the world outside his reservation. As he then sees the civilized world he becomes more angered with how they are controlled until he decides to completely end it all.

 

4. I really did feel like I met John because he was very intellectual and always questioned the World State and never let it control him, until the end when he realized he succumbed to their rituals. This really showed how even the most independent person can fall at the hands of a stronger being. This should serve as a reminder that we can be beat sometimes, even if we have strong wills.