Brave New World: A Weighty Dystopian Novel

Note: This review will honestly analyze some of the questionable content in Brave New World. Not for younger readers.

Recently, I read the 1932 classic Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. 

Brave New World is the most memorable and impactful dystopian book I have read, thus far! It is also the heaviest dystopian novel I have ever read: philosophically, emotionally, and psychologically. 

It made me ask a lot of weighty questions...which is one of the traits of a truly good book.

It also characterizes the most dangerous ones. 

Synopsis of Brave New World:

Community. Identity. Stability.

This is the primary mind-set of the future depicted in Brave New World.

Truth, goodness and God were principles and ideologies that led to societal disaster. They led to individualism. They led to "political inefficiency." 

They led to, well, unhappiness.

But now, the problems of the world have been resolved. 

Everyone (no matter their caste, intelligence level, or height) is happy. They are happy because they have been conditioned to become so. They are happy because life has become all about immediate gratification: sexual indulgence, pleasant drug holidays with none of the side effects, a work-party-sleep cycle 24/7. 

There isn't much point in ruminating about the purpose of life (even among the higher castes), because it's obvious what that purpose is: Get all the pleasure you can, sleep with whom you wish, and drug yourself whenever life decides to unsettle you in the slightest. 

Pain doesn't exist anymore. There is no such thing as heroism. Morals are old-fashioned. Love is non-existent. Danger is extinct. 

There are no mothers and no fathers. You are decanted from a bottle;you live, you lust, you gratify, you die. 

Oh yes, the people of this brave, new world are happy. But they aren’t hopeful. 

They don't need hope. 

They have everything they want. 

 Bernard Marx is a smart Alpha…he’s not sure if he likes the status quo. 

Lenina Crowne is a beauty…she sees no reason to dislike anything about her life or her world. 

And then there is John, commonly known as The Savage. He hasn’t been brought up in the “modern” world. When he enters the world of technology, will he challenge it and those influenced by it? Or, will it forever change him?

What will these young people decide about their world? Will they devour it? Or will they reject it entirely?

Perhaps you're thinking: It sounds like this book deals with some heavy topics! 

Yup. Exactly. 

And it makes this book a very hard one to review. 

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Review:

As far as general content goes, Brave New World is very good. 

It is carefully-executed, well-written, unique-yet-distinctly-dystopian, and the premise is intriguing.

It provokes one to see good as good, and evil as evil....but it also challenges the reader to simply see that there are more nuances at play here than just "good and evil."

There is, for instance, the "conditioning" of the characters, which helps the reader understand each character's perspective of the world. This makes it possible for a discerning reader to sympathize without condoning the character's actions. 

Huxley writes his sympathetic-yet-obviously-tainted characters very well. 

He is a master with words.

Brave New World shines a dim light that communicates some truth. 

Aldous Huxley (a man whose grandfather coined the name "agnostic," and was also known as "Darwin's bulldog") highlights a conclusion for his reader that is antithetical to the evolutionary, purposeless worldview he was surely taught. 

He suggests a Superior Being and a Superior Purpose. 

His story line ultimately points the reader to an objective truth that the book’s characters lack . 

Huxley's support for moral and ethical values should be refreshing to any Christian reader of secular literature. Huxley's perspective on the ills of society and on the purpose of life is, in my opinion, very much needed in our present culture. 

However, Huxley shines his light on truth by first letting us catch a glimpse into the darkness. This is the nitty gritty side of truth, a side where a certain amount of illumination is good, but too much can be dangerous (we will look more at this later). 

Brave New World is beautiful.

 It is beautifully written. Huxley's style is fabulous. The dialogue is tight and realistic, the setting descriptions are not overdone, and the character development is amazing. Huxley has created not just a story, but an entire world (a brave, new world, actually) that we are able to grasp and analyze all in under three-hundred pages. 

Huxley’s content is also beautiful because it shines a light on truth and explores the meaning of  goodness. Ironically, his disturbing method for doing this is to vividly describe a world that has left truth, goodness, and beauty behind.  

Questions:

The best books cause the reader to ask moral and ethical questions. Sometimes, it is even possible to judge a book by the questions that it makes you ask, and the answers to which it points you. 

Brave New World is no exception and poses some heavy questions to the reader. Here are just a few questions that this book forced me to grapple with: 

• What makes a man a man? Is it just physical maturity...or something more than that?

• Why are people different, and why does it matter? Does it matter?

• Is it worth it to reject truth and morality for the sake of immediate gratification?

• Is the stability of a society worth the loss of personal identity and purpose?

• Is there objective truth and a superior being at work in the universe?

Ultimately, I would say that the questions Brave New World made me think through actually stimulated my faith and helped me to plant my feet on solid ground. 

Other Positive Elements:

One of my favorite things about Brave New World is that the characters and the dialogue are readable and interesting. Very few characters, if any, are completely flat or undeveloped, and each participant in the story-line has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses.

Another thing that I love about Brave New World is the philosophical side of it. Chapter seventeen (probably my favorite chapter) is an intense philosophical dialogue about everything from truth to society to God to heroism to Shakespeare...and back again! It is a chapter that really caused me to think and to question my own heart. 

What do I believe? I had to ask myself. 

Lastly, I appreciated all the references to other literary works! Shakespeare is quoted dozens of times, and when you read the context of the works quoted, it sheds more light on the content of Brave New World!

Huxley also quotes from and names other well-known philosophy books that have a bearing on the story.

Negative Elements:

As much as I appreciated the positive things about Brave New World, there is a good handful of negative things that have to be mentioned as well. 

The biggest dilemma that strikes me in Brave New World is the problem of sharing truth about sexuality, immorality, and purpose without becoming overly graphic and suggestive. 

Brave New World tends toward the overly-suggestive. 

• Sexual Content - In my opinion, sexual content is probably the biggest issue with this book. Brave New World shows how empty sexual gratification is (when it is removed from it’s healthy Scriptural boundaries), and it illustrates it...a very fine line to walk. Although none of the scenes in Brave New World are very explicit, they are definitely, not-so-subtly suggestive: Children are taught to play lecherous games from the age of five; men chew sex-hormone-stimulating gum; a woman is lectured for going so long with only one man; there are several suggestions that a couple is sleeping together; a woman steps out of her clothes to try and get a man to sleep with her...I could go on!

Yes, Aldous Huxley makes his point about the emptiness of immoral sexual activity, but does this point come at a price? Depending on the reader’s level of sensitivity, it could come at the price of the reader's innocence.

• Profanity - There are several "minor" curse words in Brave New World. "d---" is used around once or twice per chapter. A couple other curse words are thrown around a few times. God's name is mis-used probably a dozen times over the course of the book. Mostly though, the characters constantly invoke the name of their god, Ford... saying things like "Ford," "Oh, Ford," and even, "Fordey."

• Drug/Alcohol Use - There is a new drug called soma that takes one on "holidays" without (supposedly) any side effects (though soma taken in large doses does end up killing off one of the characters). Everybody in the brave, new world takes soma. Alcohol is constantly used by one of the characters when placed in a situation when there is no soma to be had, and this character becomes a functional alcoholic. 

• Other Religious Beliefs - As stated above, the citizens of the brave new world have a "god" named Ford whom they praise, hold strange ceremonies for, and honor with the "sign of the T."

• Violence - There is more psychological heaviness than violence in this book. There is still some violence,there, although it is not descriptive: Several characters are whipped or whip themselves. Characters kick and slap each other. At the end of the book, a character hangs himself. 

Conclusion:

This famous, dystopian classic is definitely a mixed bag. 

On the positive side, it’s conclusion seems to uphold truth, support goodness, and present beauty as these things are revealed in Scripture. On the negative side, it contains quite a bit of suggestive and immoral content to prove its point. 

Where is the line between showing darkness and indulging in the darkness, and does this book cross it? 

I would recommend Brave New World for a mature reader who is willing to take on the baggage of this book. A reader solidly entrenched in Scripture. A reader willing to filter, analyze, and discern. 

I would not recommend this dystopian novel to a reader who wants a book to devour without thinking or analyzing. Brave New World is not a “quick to devour” sort of book! 

I also would not recommend it to a younger or less mature reader. Honestly, I consider Brave New World to be for those older than I am (I’m 17), and I think if I had known what was specifically portrayed in this book, I might have put it on the to-be-read waitlist. Sometimes “wait” is the best response that you can give to a book recommendation! 

Brave New World has a lot to offer, but it also comes with a lot of philosophical and psychological baggage. Because of it’s philosophical approach, it showcases a wide variety of extreme perspectives. If you decide to pick up this book, just remember that a Christian reader's perspective should first be solidly entrenched in a Christian Worldview. Overall, I would say that Brave New World leans towards a moral perspective, but there are still many ways in which Christian readers need to analyze and to guard their hearts against twisted truth. 

If you choose to read it, be sure that you are ready and willing to think critically, analytically and Biblically. 

-- Karis Anne