2. AUTHOR OVERVIEW
● Huxley, aside from being an author was a pacifist,
humanist, and satirist.
● Huxley was known to be an avid supporter and user
of psychedelic drugs.
● He was a proponent of the ideology that the elite had
a moral duty to the lower class and all mankind.
These social and political ideas ideas are
extremely evident in his body of work.
3. EARLY WORK
● Wrote his first, although unpublished,
novel at the age of 17.
● By his early 20's he began seriously
writing, his focus was social satire.
● His first publication came in 1921 with
Chrome Yellow.
● By the 1930's his focus shifted to
dehumanization and pacifism.
4. BRAVE NEW WORLD
● Published in 1932.
● Widely regarded as Huxley's master work.
● His first dystopian novel.
Set in a distant future in which reproduction is
industrialized and stability through chemical
pacification is the primary mode of life.
Technology has evolved to fulfill every need and
control every aspect of life.
5. ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
● Psychedelic drugs are used for pacification.
● Communal living eliminates the concept of
individuality.
● Hypnotic learning is used for mass brain washing
and indoctrination.
● Humans are no longer born, but engineered and
grown. Contraception is mandatory and reproductive
sex is forbidden.
● Human conditioning is used to replace violent
tendencies with recreational sex.
6. GOALS OF SOCIETY
● The insulation of the populace from negative
influence.
● Population control insures efficiency and economic
stability.
● Dissuasion from violence ensures peace.
● A strict caste system from birth breeds complacency
in the station of the individual.
● General dissatisfaction is assuaged by recreational
sex and drug use.
7. ISLAND
● Published in 1962.
● The Utopian counterpart to Brave New World.
● Huxley's final work.
Set on the fictional island of Pala; technology is
limited. Life centers around enlightenment and
spiritual self knowledge. Peace is fostered
through community growth and understanding.
8. ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
● Psychedelic drugs are manufactured and consumed
for the purposes of spiritual enlightenment.
● Communal living is instituted for the purpose of
fostering a sense of family.
● Trance states are used for education.
● Technological impact on reproduction is limited to
artificial insemination.
● Dangerous, yet spiritually fulfilling, activities and
expressive sex are used as outlets for violent
frustration.
9. GOALS OF SOCIETY
● Spiritual pursuits encouraged to increase individual
fulfillment.
● Traditional reproduction creates a sense of
connectivity.
● Encouragement of free expression curbs violent
outbursts.
● A democratic society instills a sense of duty.
● Expressive sex and recreational drug use is intended
to promote spiritual fulfillment.
10. SIMILAR MEANS
● Both of these works employed sex and drugs as a
means of pacification.
● Both societies prided themselves on a sense of self
government.
● Both employed hypnotic education methods.
● Both utilized the concept of group living.
● Peace and stability were the primary goals of both
societies.
11. OPPOSING ENDS
● In Brave New World drugs of choice are artificial,
while those in Island are of natural origin.
● While sex is purely physical in Brave New World, it
is a more personal and emotional pursuit in Island.
● Hypnotic learning is limited to brain washing in
Brave New World while it is used for academic
purposes in Island.
● Individuality is sacrificed for stability in Brave New
World while spiritual pursuits encourages peace in
Island.
12. ALTERNATE FUTURISTS
● In this realm of fiction, a more conventional image
of dystopian literature can be found in the works of
Huxley's contemporaries, namely George Orwell.
However, Huxley's image is sharply
contrasted to these works.
13. HUXLEY VS. CONVENTION
● In traditional dystopian fare the populace is
oppressed by an immensely powerful state, or ruling
body.
● In Brave New World the state is relatively weak,
relying on technology to placate the masses.
● Typically this genre is dominated by villains with
strong moral convictions.
● Huxley's world is dominated by morally dubious
bureaucrats.
14. HUXLEY VS. CONVENTION
● Traditionally, information is suppressed.
● In Brave New World, information is diluted in
irrelevance.
● In these works, pain is used to subjugate.
● In Brave New World, pleasure is the controlling
mechanism.
● In conventional dystopian literature, man lies
powerless in a cage.
● In Huxley's vision, man has grown to love his cage.
15. WORKS CITED
● Somaweb “Aldous Huxley; The Author and His
Times”, somaweb.org, 1995. web.
Somaweb.org/w/huxbio.html
● Huxley, Aldous. “Brave New World”. New York:
Harper Collins. 1998. Print.
● Postman, Neil. “Amusing Ourselves to Death”.
USA: Penguin. 1985. Print.
● Coulehan, Jack. NYU School of Medicine. “Huxley,
Aldous Island”. litmed.med.nyu.edu. 1998.
litmed.med.nyu.edu/annotation?
action=view&annid=1328. Web.
