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===[[Overpopulation Debate]]===
{{otheruses}}
This article is an unsourced essay on overpopulation, and a POV fork of the comprehensive [[overpopulaiton article]]. [[User:Will Beback|Will Beback]] 02:24, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
[[Image:Bravenewworld.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Book cover of ''Brave New World''.]]
*'''Delete''', [[WP:NOT]] a blog, page is a personal essay and a fork of [[Overpopulation]].--[[User:Jersey Devil|Jersey Devil]] 02:31, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
'''''Brave New World''''' is a [[1932]] [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|dystopian novel]] by [[Aldous Huxley]], set in [[London]] in the [[26th century]]. The novel anticipates developments in [[reproductive technology]], [[eugenics]] and [[sleep-learning|hypnopædia]] that combine to change society. The world it describes could in fact also be a [[utopia]], albeit an [[irony|ironic]] one: Humanity is carefree, healthy, and technologically advanced. [[Warfare]] and [[poverty]] have been eliminated, and everyone is permanently happy. The irony is, however, that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things — [[family]], cultural diversity, [[art]], [[literature]], [[science]], [[religion]], and [[philosophy]]. It is also a society which delves in [[hedonism]], focused on deriving pleasure from promiscuous [[sex]] and [[drugs]].
* '''Delete''' as OR essay. There was no support fro a merge to [[Overpopulation]]. [[User:Kevin1243|Kevin]] 03:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

*'''Delete''' per above comments. [[user:Funnybunny|Funnybunny]] (<sup><i>[[user talk:Funnybunny|talk]]</i></sup>/<sub>[[User:General Eisenhower/QRVS|QRVS]]</sub>) 03:12, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
''Brave New World'' is Huxley's most famous and enduring novel. The title comes from Miranda's speech in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest (play)|The Tempest]]'', Act V, Scene I:
*'''Delete''' per above: [[WP:POVFORK]], [[WP:OR]], etc. [[User:Bcasterline|bcasterline]] [[User_talk:Bcasterline|t]] 03:35, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
:"O wonder!
:How many goodly creatures are there here!
:How beautious mankind is!
:O brave new world,
:That has such people in't!"

==History and context==
[[Aldous Huxley]] wrote ''Brave New World'' in [[1932]] while he was living in [[England]]. By this time Huxley had already established himself as a successful writer and social satirist. He was a contributor to ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' and ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' magazines, had published a collection of his poetry entitled The Burning Wheel in 1916, and published four successful satirical novels, ''[[Crome Yellow]]'' in [[1921]], ''[[Antic Hay]]'' in [[1923]], ''[[Those Barren Leaves]]'' in [[1925]], and ''[[Point Counter Point]]'' in [[1928]]. ''Brave New World'' was Huxley's fifth novel and first attempt at a utopian novel.

The novel was inspired by the [[H.G. Wells]] utopian novel ''[[Men Like Gods]]''. Inspired by Wells's optimist vision of the future, Huxley began writing a parody of the novel which became ''Brave New World''. Contrary to the most popular optimist utopian novels of the time Huxley sought to provide a more frightening vision of the future. Huxley himself referred to ''Brave New World'' as a "negative utopia".

Although the novel is set in the future the themes and issues raised were heavily influenced by contemporary issues of the early [[20th century]]. The [[Industrial Revolution]] was bringing about massive changes to the world, and to the personal lives of people living in it. [[Mass production]] had made cars, telephones, and radios relatively cheap and widely available throughout the developed world. The [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] had brought [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] governments to the forefront of the world stage and, although [[The First World War]] (1914-1918) was over its social effects were still resonating throughout the world.

Huxley was able to use the setting and characters from his futurist fantasy to express widely held opinions and concerns, particularly the fear of losing individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future.

===Structure===
{{spoiler}}
At its core, ''Brave New World'' is a "novel of ideas." The characters are often ill-defined, serving mainly to advance the themes Huxley wishes to explore. The novel is roughly split into three sections.

The first section introduces the reader to [[the World State]] and the characters that inhabit it. [[Bernard Marx]] begins the novel as the apparent main protagonist, portrayed as one of the few dissatisfied individuals in a world of conformity.

In the second section Huxley defies traditional utopian novel structure as he introduces a separate and contradictory version of the future, the Malpais Savage Reservation. This "uncivilized" nation is a vision of the present. Both of them are presented in an equally convincing fashion, allowing Huxley and the reader to contrast his futuristic utopian vision with contemporary society. This contrast is made even more evident by his introduction of the character [[John the Savage]]. Here again, Huxley defies convention by introducing the novel's real main protagonist nearly halfway through the novel. An outcast in both the Savage Reservation and the World State, John replaces Bernard Marx, becoming a heroic (albeit flawed) figure. With John's arrival in the World State, a place already somewhat familiar to the reader, Huxley is able to provide a new perspective for the reader to consider.

The third section deals almost entirely with John's reaction to, and inevitable destruction by, [[The World State]].

==Characters==
===Of [[The World State]]===
Listed in order of appearance-

*Thomas, the Director of the Central London Hatchery and father of [[John the Savage]].
*Henry Foster, administrator at the Hatchery and Lenina's current partner.
*[[Lenina Crowne]], Beta-Plus Embryo Worker, loved by John the Savage.
*[[Mustapha Mond]], World Controller for Western Europe.
*Assistant Director of Predestination.
*[[Bernard Marx]], Alpha-Plus psychologist.
*Fanny Crowne, Beta Embryo Worker, friend of Lenina.
*Benito Hoover, an Alpha-Plus friend of Lenina, disliked by Bernard.
*[[Helmholtz Watson]], Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing), friend and confidant of [[Bernard Marx]] and [[John the Savage]].
*'''At the Solidarity Service:''' Morgana Rothschild (woman whose [[unibrow]] haunts Marx), Herbert Bakunin, Fifi Bradlaugh, Jim Bokanovsky, Clara Deterding (the President of the group), Joanna Diesel, Sarojini Engels, Tom Kawaguchi.
*Miss Keate, Headmistress of the high-tech glass and concrete [[Eton College]].
*Arch-Community Songster, a semi-religious figure based in [[Canterbury]].
*Darwin Bonaparte, a [[paparazzi|paparazzo]] who brings worldwide attention to John The Savage's hermitage.

===Of the Malpais Savage Reservation in New Mexico===
*[[John the Savage]], son of Linda and Thomas, an outcast in both primitive and civilized society
*Linda, John's mother, a Beta-Minus Embryo Worker in London
*Warden of the Reservation, an Alpha administrator
*Kiakimé, loved by John
*Kothlu, who married Kiakimé
*Old Mitsima, who teaches John about Indian lore
*Palowhitwa
*Popé, Linda's lover, whom John detests and tries to kill

===Historical characters===
These are fictional and factual characters who died before the events in this book, but are of note in the novel.
*[[Henry Ford]], who has become a messianic figure to The World State. "Our Ford" used in place of "Our Lord", a credit to the assembly line.
*[[William Shakespeare]]
*Reuben Rabinovitch, (the ''fictional'' boy who first discovers sleep-learning, [[Sleep-learning|hypnopædia]])
*[[Sigmund Freud]], "Our Freud" is sometimes said in place of "Our Ford" due to the link between Freud's psychoanalysis and the conditioning of humans
*[[George Bernard Shaw]], one of the few ancient writers left uncensored.
*[[Ivan Pavlov|Ivan Petrovich Pavlov]], whose conditioning techniques are used to train infants.
*[[Thomas Malthus]], whose name is used to describe the contraceptive techniques practiced by women of The World State.
*[[Jesus]], used as a foil to the technologically advanced, hedonistic future. The reservation's population follow a syncretic mix of indigenous beliefs and [[Catholicism]], which highlights the absence of [[spirituality]] elsewhere.

==Synopsis==
{{spoiler}}
===Introduction to [[The World State]] & Lenina and Bernard (Chapters 1-6)===
The novel begins in [[London]], in the ''"year of Our Ford 632"'' (AD 2540 in the [[Gregorian Calendar]]). The entire planet is united as [[The World State]], under a peaceful world government established in the aftermath of an apocalyptic global war in the [[21st century]]; a government which has eliminated [[war]], [[poverty]], [[crime]], and [[unhappiness]] by creating a [[homogenous]] [[high-tech]] society across [[Earth]], based on the industrial principles of [[Henry Ford]]. [[Fordism]] forms the bedrock of the new society, gaining a semi-religious status and forming the backbone of philosophy. Society is rigidly divided into five [[social class|classes]], and all members of society are trained to be good consumers to keep the economy strong. All citizens are expected to be involved socially; spending time alone is discouraged, and sexual [[promiscuity]] is the social norm. [[Recreational drug use]] has become a pillar of society, and all citizens regularly swallow tablets of ''[[Soma (Brave New World)|soma]]'', a [[narcotic]]-[[tranquilizer]] that makes users mindlessly happy. A significant aspect of the society is the mechanisation of reproduction. Citizens of the World State do not reproduce naturally; people are taught to view natural reproduction as a barbarous and primitive act. Instead, all children are created from [[embryos]] grown in factories: production of embryos is planned according to the economic capacity of society. For the embryo, the [[womb]] is replaced by an [[artificial life]]-support mechanism referred to as a ''bottle''. Significantly, each individual's destiny is determined long before he or she is "decanted".

Huxley reveals the world through the eyes of the main [[protagonists]], Lenina Crowne and Bernard Marx (their names allude to [[Soviet]] leader [[Vladimir Lenin]] and founder of communism [[Karl Marx]]). Lenina, a member of the Beta-Plus [[caste]] is a laboratory worker in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. She is a personification of the new society, happy and "pneumatic", conformist in her behaviour, fulfilling her function in society, which seems to be to sleep with as many men as possible, but largely incapable of free thought. Her outlook on life comes entirely from government [[indoctrination]]. Bernard, an Alpha-Plus psychologist serves as an [[antithesis]] to her. Despite being a member of the upper [[caste]] of Alphas, Bernard is intellectually gifted but physically smaller than is typical for an Alpha. This has caused him to be unhappy with his life and to dislike society. He feels deeply insecure with himself and is something of a joke to members of his own caste and others for his odd physical appearance and rejection of societal norms.

The first half of the novel describes life in the World State, and the personalities of Lenina and Bernard. It also introduces the character of [[Helmholtz Watson]], an Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing). While Bernard's physical defects had isolated him from society, Helmholtz is isolated by his mental and physical excess. This isolation bring Bernard and Helmholtz together and they remain friends throughout the story. Bernard's unacceptable behaviour lands him in trouble with his boss, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning. But nevertheless, Bernard secures his permission to visit the Malpais Savage reservation in [[New Mexico]] to where he takes Lenina on a date.

===The Reservation and the Savage (Chapters 7-9)===
The second half of the novel begins with the visit to the Malpais Savage Reservation in [[New Mexico]], where they see an ancient society that has been fenced off and ignored by [[The World State]]. In the reservation, the two encounter Linda, a woman from [[The World State]] who, through an accident, came to live as a savage in Malpais, having given birth to a son named [[John the Savage|John]] , the novel's main [[protagonist]]. While Lenina is disgusted and horrified by the dirty, neglected and [[viviparous]] society of Malpais, Bernard is fascinated by it and by John, who grew up with the lifestyle of the [[Zuni]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe and a religion that is a blend of Zuni and [[Christianity|Christian]] beliefs. However, he is also influenced by his mother's education (she taught him to read) and by his discovery of the works of [[William Shakespeare]], unknown in [[The World State]]. Like Bernard, John is an outcast in his own society and is eager to see the world outside of Malpais. Bernard agrees to take Linda and John back to [[London]], where he manipulates society's fascination with them to boost his own social position.

===The Savage Visits [[The World State]] (Chapters 10-15)===
The [[culture shock]] which results when the "savage" is brought into the society of the "Brave New World", as he initially calls it, provides a vehicle for Huxley to contrast the values of [[The World State]] society with our own and point out the Brave New World society's major flaws. The key [[moral]] point of the book revolves around two diametrically opposing problems. The first, and most obvious, is that in order to ensure continuous and universal happiness, society has to be manipulated, freedom of choice and expression curtailed, and intellectual pursuits and emotional expression inhibited. Citizens are happy, but John the Savage considers this happiness to be artificial and "[[soul]]less".
John, who has fallen in love with Lenina, is appalled by the World State and Lenina's promiscuity and willingness to sleep with him without vows. While in London, John meets and quickly becomes friends with [[Helmholtz Watson]]. They meet often to discuss writing, especially that of [[Shakespeare]]. When his mother Linda dies, he is unable to understand society's reaction to death and reacts violently by attempting to "free" a group of Delta [[caste]] menial staff members at the hospital by throwing their daily soma ration out the window. The result is a near riot, to which Bernard and Helmholtz arrive in an attempt to rescue John. Unfortunately the police arrive at the melee and after subduing the crowd with vapourized soma and hypnotic music, they quickly take all three into State custody.

===Resolution (Chapters 16-18)===
This leads to a confrontation between the three and [[Mustapha Mond]], the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. The heated argument between Mustapha and John ultimately leads to the decision that John will not be set free because Mustapha considers him an ongoing experiment. Bernard and Helmholtz, in a twist of fate, are sent to live in the [[Falkland Islands]], one of several island [[colony|colonies]] reserved for exiled citizens of the World State who can no longer be trusted to live in global society, where Helmholtz can become a serious writer and Bernard can live out his life in peace and solitude. John attempts to isolate himself from society on the outskirts of [[London]]; however, he is unable to live without lusting for Lenina and constantly punishes himself physically and mentally. This causes him to be constantly harassed by inquisitive sightseers. At the very end of the novel, John attacks, and perhaps kills, Lenina and succumbs to an [[orgy]] of drugs and sex. In the morning John, horrified by what he has done to Lenina and disgusted by himself, commits suicide in grief, mirroring Shakespeare's [[Othello]].

==Fordism and society==
{{main|The World State}}
The World State is built around the principles of [[Henry Ford]], who has become a [[Messianic figure]] worshipped by society. The word ''lord'' has been replaced with ''ford''. The [[assembly line]] process is present in many aspects of life, and the symbol "T" has replaced the [[Christian cross]], a reflection of the [[Model T]] car developed by Henry Ford. His famous phrase "History is bunk" has become the fundamental approach to studying the past &ndash; as a result, no-one knows of past societies.

From birth, members of every class are [[indoctrination|indoctrinate]]d, by recorded voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called "hypnopaedia" in the book), to believe that their own is the best class to be in. Any residual unhappiness is resolved by an [[antidepressant]] and somewhat [[hallucinogenic drug]] called [[soma (Brave New World)|soma]].

Contrary to what modern readers would expect, the biological techniques used to control the populace in ''Brave New World'' do ''not'' include [[genetic engineering]]. Huxley wrote the book in 1932, twenty years before [[James D. Watson|Watson]] and [[Francis Crick|Crick]] discovered the structure of [[DNA]]. As the science writer [[Matt Ridley]] put it, ''Brave New World'' describes an "environmental, not a genetic, hell."

==Possible symbolism==
{{Unreferencedsect}}
It has been discussed by several literary [[critics]], and backed up by [[Aldous Huxley]], that the book, while [[satire|satirizing]] the development of society, also provides a suicidal outlook on the [[future]]. In the novel, the reservation (which is associated with the past, and all the squalor and disease in it) and the futuristic society come together in the [[protagonist]], [[John the Savage|John]]. In a metaphorical sense, this coming together could represent the present, as John is neither fully part of the past or future societies. At the end of the novel, [[John the Savage|John]] commits suicide out of remorse, but it can also be inferred that he commits [[suicide]] because there is nowhere left for him to go. All he has is the disease-ridden past or the conformist future.

In other themes, the book attacks [[assembly line]] production as demeaning, the liberalisation of sexual morals as being an affront to [[love]] and [[family]], the use of [[slogan]]s or [[thought-terminating cliché]]s, the concept of a centralised government, and the use of [[science]] to control people's thoughts and actions. Indeed, the use of modern science, technology, and pharmacy to replace violence in keeping people chained in pleasurable (and thus unperceived) servitude was the main point of the book. While Huxley attacks the emergence of [[socialism|socialist]] and [[communism|communist]] attitudes, he also opposes [[capitalism|capitalist]] consumer society. Indeed, the latter motifs are stronger than the former: in the novel, the legendary founder of the society was Henry Ford, whose writings occupy Mustapha Mond's bookshelves. The letter T (a reference to the Ford Model T) has replaced the cross as a quasi-religious symbol.

As a method of underscoring similarities to his fictional dystopia and his own contemporary culture, Huxley incorporates several sly, [[satire|satirical]] references to targets such as the [[Church of England]] (which he refers to as a "community sing"), the [[BBC]] or British tabloid ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'' (''"The Delta Mirror"''), "[[Christian Science Monitor]]" ("The Fordian Science Monitor"), [[Henry Ford]], [[George Bernard Shaw]] and [[Sigmund Freud]]. ''Brave New World'''s London propaganda centre is at [[Fleet Street]], the traditional home of the British press, and the pseudo-religious Arch-Community Songster is based at [[Canterbury, Kent|Canterbury]], where the clergical head of the modern day [[Church of England]] sits.

Huxley's characters are given names chosen from significant individuals in the World State's past. For example, Bernard Marx refers to [[Bernard Shaw]] (one of the few ancient writers left uncensored) and [[Karl Marx]]. Because the World State embodies traits typically attributed to opposite ends of the political spectrum, some of the names Huxley coined refer to diametrically opposed individuals or ideologies. For instance, we find a young girl named Polly [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]] and a woman named Morgana [[Rothschild family|Rothschild]], echoing both Communist leaders and a dynasty of bankers. In addition, the name Henry Foster draws a parallel to William Foster, an American communist who ran for President in 1924, 1928, and 1932, all around the time of the book's publishing. Among these references are the following:

*Lenina Crowne: ''Crown'' is a turn of phrase referring to the monarch and monarchial government; her first name recalls [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], a radical overthrow of a monarchy. [[Vagina|Fanny]] Crowne is a split that needs no explanation.

*Mustapha Mond: The head of the local society is named after a particularly modernistic pair, [[Kemal Atatürk|Mustapha Kemal Atatürk]] and Sir [[Alfred Mond]]. The former was a leader who modernised [[Turkey]] from Islamic ties while the latter was head of [[Imperial Chemical Industries]], a leader in modern labour relations in Britain &ndash; and also happened to be Jewish.

Two characters are named after a blend of fascists and industrialists:
*Primo Mellon combines [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]], the dictator of Spain precursory to [[Francisco Franco]], and [[Andrew W. Mellon]], an industrialist turned philanthropist.
*Benito Hoover joins fascist [[Benito Mussolini]] and [[Herbert Hoover]], early [[20th-century]] [[President of the USA]]. Hoover may also refer to [[The Hoover Company|W.H. Hoover]], the industrilaist responsible for mass-producing the [[vacuum cleaner]].

Furthermore, there are references to the emerging [[communist]] state of the [[Soviet Union]] in the 1930s:
*Bernard Marx is an obvious reference to [[Karl Marx]].
*Sarojini Engels is another reference in the book to [[Friedrich Engels]], a co-theorist of [[Marxism]] and the developer of [[Marxist]] [[economic]] policy.

Other minor characters who take their names from scientists, political leaders, and industrial leaders:
*Sarojini Engels' first name is a reference to [[Sarojini Naidu]], an Indian political leader and contemporary of Gandhi.
*Fifi Bradlaugh is a reference to [[Charles Bradlaugh]], a British political activist and atheist
*Herbert Bakunin is a reference to [[Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin]], a Russian anarchist
*Clara Deterding is a reference to [[Henri Deterding]], a former chairman of the [[Royal Dutch Shell]] oil company
*Joanna Diesel is a reference to [[Rudolf Diesel]], inventor of the [[Diesel engine]]
*Darwin Bonaparte combines scientist [[Charles Darwin]] with dictator [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]
*George Edzel is a reference to [[Edsel Ford]], only son of Henry Ford and president of the [[Ford Motor Company]] from 1919-1943
*Polly Trotsky is a reference to [[Leon Trotsky]], the Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist. The apparent successor to Lenin, he was instead exiled to Mexico after Stalin came to power.

Additionally, the word "Ford" is used as a replacement for the word ''Lord'' or ''God''; the starting date for their calendar is the date on which Henry Ford introduced the [[Model T]], their dates are prefaced by ''A.F.'', for ''After Ford'', and in dialogue, the word ''Ford'' is used in expressions such as "Oh my Ford!", in a clear substitution for ''Lord''. These details allude to the religious level in which mass industry is treated in ''Brave New World''.

==Controversy==
*In 1993, an attempt was made to remove this novel from a [[California]] school's required reading list because it "centered around negative activity"; [http://www.alibris.com/articles_features/features/banned/banned.cfm] it was also removed from classrooms in [[Miller, Missouri]] in 1980, among other challenges.[http://www.radix.net/~bobg/books/banned.1.html]
*The [http://www.ala.org American Library Association] ranks Brave New World as #52 on their list of [http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000].

==Comparison with Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''==
{{Unreferencedsect}}
''Brave New World'' and [[George Orwell]]'s novel ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' are often used in political discussions of [[government]] actions perceived to be [[authoritarian]]. However, a key difference between ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' and ''Brave New World'' is that while in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' people are kept from knowledge perceived to be "dangerous" by means of continual [[mass surveillance]], propaganda and other forms of [[coercion]], in ''Brave New World'' the characters are socially engineered not to desire dangerous knowledge in the first place. One could say that while in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' people are dehumanised by the state controlling their natural instincts such as [[sex]] or [[free thought]], the One State infantilises the masses by giving free rein to basic human instincts and ceding responsibility to [[herd mentality]]. [[Aldous Huxley|Huxley]] himself described the difference in means of punishment and reward. ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'''s world is ruled with hate and fear, while the One State uses constant rewards for model behavior to control the masses.

Both novels incorporate a class of people (in ''1984'', the "[[proletariat|proles]]" and in ''Brave New World'', the "savages" of the "Savage Reservations") who exist on the periphery of the dystopian society in a state of relative physical squalor with little interference outside of an enforced state of non-education who serve as an important device for contrast between the dystopian society in question and what the author arguably perceives as being a more ideal society.

The two novels also contrast in many ways. The nightmare world of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' is dominated by suffering. Slavery, torture, and war are the societal norms of the world, and the overriding theme is one of intense hatred. That of ''Brave New World'', in contrast, is one of euphoric love. War, crime, and even pain have been eliminated, allowing all citizens of the World State to live long, permanently happy lives in peace and plenty. The ghoulish fascination London's citizens have in John's self-abuse highlights the extent to which society has been conditioned to abhor negative feelings.

In addition, the society presented in ''Brave New World'' is, to some extent, tolerant of outsiders, in so much as it respects the idea of there being an "outside". While the dystopian world of ''1984'' is all-encompassing, the world ''Brave New World'' includes "savage reservations" and "the islands". The latter are effectively places of exile for freethinkers, but they are also to some extent a "safe haven". No such places exist in ''1984''.

Social Critic [[Neil Postman]] contrasts the worlds of ''1984'' and ''Brave New World'' in the foreword of his 1986 book ''[[Amusing Ourselves to Death]]'' thusly:

:What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in ''Brave New World Revisited,'' the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In ''1984,'' Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In ''Brave New World,'' they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

== Quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World==
{{main|List of quotes from Shakespeare in Brave New World}}

== Brave New World Revisited==
[[Image:Braverevisite.jpg|right|thumb]]'''''Brave New World Revisited''''' (Harper & Row, 1958, 1965), written by Huxley almost thirty years after ''Brave New World'', was a non-fiction work in which Huxley considered whether the world had moved towards or away from his vision of the future from the 1930s. He believed when he wrote the original novel that it was a reasonable guess as to where the world might go in the future, but in ''Brave New World Revisited'' he concluded that the world was becoming much more like ''Brave New World'' much faster than he had ever thought possible.

Huxley analysed the causes of this, such as [[overpopulation]], as well as all the means by which populations can be controlled. He was particularly interested in the effects of [[recreational drug use|drugs]] and [[subliminal message|subliminal suggestion]]. ''Brave New World Revisited'' is different in tone and impact to the original novel, due to Huxley's evolving thought and his conversion to [[Vedanta]] between the two books.

==Related media works==
===Literature===
*''The Scientific Outlook'' by philosopher [[Bertrand Locke]]. When ''Brave New World'' was released, Locke thought that Huxley's book was based on his own book ''The Scientific Outlook'' that had been released in previous year. Locke contacted his own publisher and asked whether he should do something or not. Locke's publisher advised him to do nothing and he followed this advice.

*The 1921 novel ''Men Like Gods'' by [[H.G. Wells]]. Dystopian novel that also was the source of inspiration for ''Brave New World''.

*The 1985 book ''[[Amusing Ourselves to Death|Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business]]'', by [[Neil Postman]], alludes many times to how television is goading modern Western culture to be like what we see in ''Brave New World'', where people are not so much denied human rights such as free speech and expression, but conditioned to just not care.

===Brave New World in popular culture===
{{main|Brave New World in popular culture}}

The cultural influence of ''Brave New World'' has been extensive, and most modern dystopic fiction owes at least some measure of credit to the influence of the novel. The heavy metal group Iron Maiden's song and album "Brave New World" were inspired by this novel.

==Publications==
{{isfdb title | id=2319 | title=Brave New World}}
*Brave New World
**Aldous Huxley; Perennial; Reprint edition (September 1, 1998); ISBN 0060929871
*Brave New World Revisited
**Aldous Huxley; Perennial; (March 1, 2000); ISBN 0060955511
*Huxley's Brave New World (Cliffs Notes)
**Charles and Regina Higgins; Cliffs Notes; (May 30, 2000); ISBN 0764585835
*Spark Notes Brave New World
**Sterling; (December 31, 2003); ISBN 158663366X
*Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (Barron's Book Notes)
**Anthony Astrachan, Anthony Astrakhan; Barrons Educational Series; (November 1984); ISBN 0812034058

==See also==

*[[Transhumanism#Brave New World argument|''Brave New World'' argument]]
*[[Inheritance of intelligence]]

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.yoism.org/?q=node/143 1957 video] interview with Huxley as he reflects on his life work and especially ''Brave New World''
*[http://somaweb.org/w/bioethics.html Aldous Huxley: Bioethics and Reproductive Issues].
*[http://www.slashdoc.com/tag/brave_new_world.html Slashdoc : ''Brave New World''] Literary analysis of the novel
*[http://www.huxley.net/ A Defence of Paradise-Engineering]. A critical review of Huxley's novel by [[David Pearce]].
*[http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=2766565&s=143441 Brave New World Audiobook via iTunes]

==References==
*{{cite book | title=Brave New World |author=Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 | location=New York | publisher=HarperCollins Publishers | year=1998 | edition=First Perennial Classics ed. | id=ISBN 0060929871}}
*{{cite book | title=Brave New World Revisited |author=Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 | location=New York | publisher=HarperCollins Publishers | year=2000 | edition=First Perennial Classics ed. | id=ISBN 0060955511}}
*{{cite book | title=Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.|author=Postman, Neil | location=USA | publisher=Penguin USA| year=1985 |id=ISBN 0670804541}}
*{{cite book | title=Cliff Notes on Huxley's Brave New World |author=Higgins, Charles & Higgins, Regina | location=New York | publisher=Wiley Publishing | year=2000 |id=ISBN 0764585835}}

[[Category:1932 books]]
[[Category:Banned books]]
[[Category:Brave New World|*]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Modern Library 100 best novels]]
[[Category:Utopian novels]]

[[da:Fagre nye verden]]
[[de:Schöne neue Welt]]
[[es:Un mundo feliz]]
[[fa:دنیای قشنگ نو (کتاب)]]
[[fr:Le Meilleur des mondes]]
[[it:Il mondo nuovo]]
[[he:עולם חדש מופלא]]
[[nl:Brave New World (roman)]]
[[pl:Nowy, wspaniały świat]]
[[pt:Admirável Mundo Novo]]
[[ru:О дивный новый мир]]
[[fi:Uljas uusi maailma]]
[[sv:Du sköna nya värld]]
[[th:โลกวิไลซ์]]
[[tr:Cesur Yeni Dünya]]

Revision as of 03:35, 15 May 2006

Overpopulation Debate

This article is an unsourced essay on overpopulation, and a POV fork of the comprehensive overpopulaiton article. Will Beback 02:24, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

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