This is a dystopian novel that occurs in 2540 A.D. (Gregorian calendar). It is about a futuristic society in a World State that is technologically advanced. Its inhabitants are not born, but rather manufactured in bottles on an assembly line. They are engineered and conditioned at the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Center. They strictly fit into the following distinct functional classes:

• Alphas: These are the leaders of society and sit at the top of the hierarchy. They are intelligent and strong.
• Betas: A step below the Alphas, Betas have sufficient intelligence and strength to hold administrative, managerial, and scientific positions in the hierarchy.
• Gammas: These are like civil servants who maintain the functionality of societal organizations.
• Deltas: They are the inhabitants who work in production and maintenance.
• Epsilons: At the bottom of the hierarchy, Epsilons are engineered to have very limited intelligence and are meant to labor that lacks prestige.

This future society is controlled through suppressing individuality, encouraging conformity, limiting emotions, and restricting psychological freedom. The people who live in this society are also encouraged to maximize consumerism and to reduce activities that don’t require spending much money, such as reading.

The plot is simple, but the ideas presented through this novel are significant. First, let’s quickly summarize the story, then we can list the main ideas. The story starts in the Center of Hatching and Conditioning in London. The Director of the Center takes a group of students through the assembly line process of making humans. He also explains to the students how people are conditioned to fit into the functional classes.

Benard Marx, an Alpha male, feels that he doesn’t fit into society because of his “inferior” physical condition. Lenina Crowne, a Beta female, is attracted to Bernard and joins him on a trip to Savage Reservation in America, where people live in poverty and are naturally born. They both meet John, a naturally born human, and his mother, Linda, who turns out to have been impregnated by the Director. Bernard brings John and Linda back to the “civilized” world because he thinks that they will be a spectacle.

John observes the empty life of this civilized world and despises it. This civilized world does not read literature or history, does not know the meaning of pain, considers extreme sexual promiscuity to be the norm, does not value meaningful relationships, prohibits family life (no mothers or fathers), lacks humanity, prefers empty happiness over truth, uses a drug called soma to keep everyone in a good mood, and the list goes on. After Linda (his mother) dies, John seeks solitude by going to a remote place. However, he quickly becomes an attraction and people follow him as a celebrity. Disturbed by this brave new world, he finally takes his own life.

Through this novel, the author presents multiple ideas:

• The use of advanced technology to manipulate, subjugate, and control societies.
• The vanishment of individual freedoms by powerful entities.
• Tying consumerism to happiness.
• The incompatibility of happiness and truth.

In 1958, after publishing Brave New World by 26 years, Huxley published Brave New World Revisited. This is a nonfiction work where he addresses and expands on his main ideas and concerns. I read Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited back-to-back. This helped me understand the novel much better and gain new insight to what the author intended to convey. I also recommend reading the inversion of this novel, 1984 by George Orwell.