Brave New World Aldous Huxley

EARTH COLONY 1: Jocelyn Bish, Blaine Curley, Shebly Volosky, Mikki Burch, Heather Watson, Brandi Clark, Cassie Seaburn, Stephanie Burkett, Nicki Cochran, Brooke Benton

Author Biography

Aldous’s Grandpa was Thomas Henry Huxley who, an agnostic and controversialist who is known for his advocacy in helping Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Aldous Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, UK in 1894

He studied in his fathers well equipped labrotory, then on to a school named Hillside. He attended Eton College. He studied English literature at Balliol College.

Huxley’s mother passed away when he was 14.

He suffered an illness which left him blind for 3 years.

Living in the times of the Author

-Huxley had a brother who committed suicide after a period of clinical depression. This event may have brought reason to why Aldous wrote about what he did in Brave New World.

-He also came form a family of very distinguished people who were all rich and part of the ruling class of England.

-Huxley also went through a period of heavy LSD drug use. This may have also contributed to his writing.

Vocabulary of Brave New World Chapter 1 soliloquizing - To utter or put into the form of a soliloquy Chapter 3 Truculently- Disposed to fight; pugnacious Chapter 3 Insurmountable - Impossible to surmount; insuperable Chapter 3 Viviparous- producing offspring that as embryos develop within and

derive nourishment from the body of the female parent• 1. Zoology- bringing forth living animals rather than eggs• 2.Botany- producing seeds that germinate on the plant

Chapter5 hypnopaedia-• 1. to learn of lessons learned while sleeping

Chapter 6 Soma:• 1. the parts of an organism other than the reproductive cells.• 2. the intoxicating drink prepared from a plant and used in Vedic ritual,

believed to be the drink of the gods Chapter 7 indefatigable-

• 1. incapable of being tired out Chapter 13 sententiously- 1.Self-righteousness: a feeling of (usually) smug moral superiority derived

from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person.

Themes of the Novel The theme of Brave New World in

not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals.

How this theme is shown throughout the book

This theme is shown through the characters. Bernard is the Character that resists the

scientific advancements that society shows. John is the “savage” whom lives on the outskirts

of the scientific society and sees the affects it has.

Lenina is the character that embraces the scientific advancements in society, like the somma. You can really see how it affects her and the others in the book versus John and Bernard.

The contrast is like night and day.

Theme continued. . . You can really see how they down play

“love” because of all the technological advancements made.

There are no longer mothers and fathers. They are considered pornographic terms.

John is the character that actually wants “love” and is actually turned off by the lustfulness that Lenina exerts upon him.

John was raised to know a life with love and marriage.

Application to today’s society.

We can learn not to get caught up in technology of society.

Remember that we are human and we have to have things like love, children, and marriage to be humane

Don’t be afraid to be yourself, because its okay to be different. (Like John and the other Indians)

You don’t need “things” to make you happy. (Just like the characters in the book thought they needed soma to make themselves more appealing in society. We Tend to think that money and expensive items are highly important in our society.)