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Brave new world essay topics and outline examples, essay title 1: dystopian themes in "brave new world": a critical analysis of social control, consumerism, and individuality.

Thesis Statement: This essay explores the dystopian themes in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," focusing on the concepts of social control, consumerism, and the suppression of individuality, and examines their relevance to contemporary society.

• Introduction
• Dystopian Elements: Defining Characteristics of "Brave New World"
• Social Control: The Role of Soma, Conditioning, and Surveillance
• Consumerism: The Pursuit of Pleasure and the Commodification of Life
• Suppression of Individuality: The Conformity of Citizens in the World State
• Relevance to Contemporary Society: Analyzing Parallels and Warnings
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Ongoing Significance of Huxley's Vision

Essay Title 2: The Role of Technology in "Brave New World": Examining the Impact of Genetic Engineering, Conditioning, and Entertainment

Thesis Statement: This essay investigates the pervasive role of technology in "Brave New World," specifically genetic engineering, conditioning, and entertainment, and analyzes how these elements shape the society portrayed in the novel.

• Technological Advancements: Genetic Engineering and the Creation of Citizens
• Behavioral Conditioning: Shaping Beliefs and Social Roles
• Entertainment and Distraction: The Use of Soma, Feelies, and Escapism
• Impact on Social Order: Maintaining Stability Through Technology
• Critique of Technology: The Dangers and Ethical Questions Raised
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Relationship Between Technology and Society

Essay Title 3: Character Analysis in "Brave New World": Exploring the Development of John "the Savage" and Bernard Marx

Thesis Statement: This essay provides a comprehensive character analysis of John "the Savage" and Bernard Marx in "Brave New World," examining their backgrounds, motivations, and the roles they play in challenging the societal norms of the World State.

• John "the Savage": Origins, Beliefs, and Struggle for Identity
• Bernard Marx: The Outsider and His Quest for Authenticity
• Comparative Analysis: Contrasting the Journeys of John and Bernard
• Impact on the World State: How These Characters Challenge the System
• Symbolism and Themes: Analyzing Their Roles in the Novel
• Conclusion: Reflecting on the Complex Characters of "Brave New World"

Modern Conflict in Brave New World

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Reservation in Brave New World

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The Relation of Brave New World to Our Society Today

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Ascertaining Whether The Brave New World is Actually Brave

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1932, Aldous Huxley

Science Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Bernard Marx, Mustapha Mond, Helmholtz Watson, Lenina Crowne, John the Savage

The novel is based on a futuristic society that is heavily controlled and manipulated by a powerful government. It is inspired by Huxley's observations of the rapid scientific and technological advancements during the early 20th century, along with his concerns about the direction in which society was heading. Huxley's vision in "Brave New World" presents a world where individuality and personal freedoms are sacrificed in favor of stability and societal control. The novel explores themes of dehumanization, social conditioning, and the dangers of unchecked scientific progress. It serves as a critique of the emerging consumer culture, where people are distracted and numbed by mindless entertainment and shallow pleasures.

In the futuristic society of "Brave New World," the world is governed by a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of people's lives. Humans are engineered in laboratories and categorized into different castes, each conditioned from birth to fulfill specific roles in society. Among them is Bernard Marx, an Alpha Plus with feelings of alienation and discontent. Bernard travels to a Savage Reservation with Lenina Crowne, his love interest, and encounters John, a young man born to a woman from the civilized world but raised by a native woman on the Reservation. John becomes a symbol of the old, natural ways of life that the World State has eradicated. Back in civilization, John's presence disrupts the rigid social order, leading to chaos and rebellion. However, the government suppresses the uprising and maintains its control. Ultimately, John becomes disillusioned with the superficiality and lack of humanity in the brave new world, leading to tragic consequences.

The setting of "Brave New World" is a dystopian future where the world is tightly controlled by a centralized government known as the World State. The story primarily takes place in London, which serves as the central hub of the World State's operations. London in this future society is a highly advanced city characterized by technological advancements, efficient transportation systems, and elaborate social conditioning. Beyond London, the novel also explores the Savage Reservations, which are isolated regions where people still live in a more primitive and natural state. These reservations are juxtaposed against the highly regulated and artificial world of the World State, highlighting the stark contrast between the two.

One of the central themes is the dehumanization of society in the pursuit of stability and control. The World State prioritizes uniformity and conformity, suppressing individuality and natural human emotions. This theme raises questions about the price of a utopian society and the loss of essential human qualities. Another theme is the manipulation of technology and science. In this dystopian world, advancements in genetic engineering and conditioning have been taken to extreme levels, resulting in the creation of predetermined social classes and the elimination of familial bonds. This theme highlights the potential dangers of unchecked scientific progress and the ethical implications of playing with human nature. Additionally, the novel explores the theme of the power of knowledge and the importance of intellectual freedom. The characters in "Brave New World" struggle with the limitations placed on their understanding of the world and the suppression of critical thinking. This theme emphasizes the importance of independent thought and the pursuit of knowledge in maintaining individuality and resisting oppressive systems.

One prominent device is symbolism, where objects or concepts represent deeper meanings. For example, the "Savage Reservation" symbolizes a world untouched by the World State's control, showcasing the contrasting values of individuality and natural human emotions. Another literary device employed is irony, which serves to highlight the disparity between appearances and reality. The World State's motto, "Community, Identity, Stability," is ironically juxtaposed with the lack of true community and individual identity. The citizens' pursuit of happiness and stability comes at the expense of their authentic emotions and experiences. A significant literary device used in the novel is foreshadowing, where hints or clues are given about future events. The repeated mention of the phrase "Everybody's happy now" foreshadows the disturbing truth beneath the facade of happiness and contentment. Additionally, the author employs satire to critique and ridicule societal norms and values. The exaggerated portrayal of consumerism, instant gratification, and the devaluation of art and literature satirizes the shallow and superficial aspects of the World State's culture.

One notable example is the television adaptation of the novel. In 2020, a television series titled "Brave New World" was released, bringing Huxley's dystopian world to life. The series delves into the themes of technology, social control, and individual freedom, exploring the consequences of a society built on conformity and pleasure. The novel has also inspired numerous references and allusions in music, literature, and film. For instance, the band Iron Maiden released a song called "Brave New World" in 2000, drawing inspiration from the novel's themes of societal manipulation and the loss of individuality. The song serves as a commentary on the dangers of an oppressive system. Furthermore, the concept of a technologically advanced but morally bankrupt society depicted in "Brave New World" has influenced science fiction works, such as "The Matrix" and "Blade Runner." These films explore themes of control, identity, and the implications of a society driven by technology, echoing the concerns raised in Huxley's novel.

"Brave New World" has had a significant influence on literature, philosophy, and popular culture since its publication. The novel's exploration of themes such as totalitarianism, technology, social conditioning, and individuality has resonated with readers across generations. One major area of influence is in dystopian literature. "Brave New World" established a blueprint for the genre, inspiring subsequent works such as George Orwell's "1984" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." These novels, among many others, have drawn upon Huxley's critique of societal control and the dangers of sacrificing individual freedom for stability and pleasure. The novel's influence also extends to the fields of psychology and sociology. The concept of social conditioning, exemplified by the conditioning techniques in the novel, has contributed to discussions on the influence of environment and societal norms on individual behavior. Additionally, "Brave New World" has made a lasting impact on popular culture, with its themes and phrases becoming embedded in the collective consciousness. References to the novel can be found in music, films, and even political discourse, highlighting its enduring relevance.

Brave New World is an important novel to write an essay about due to its enduring relevance and thought-provoking themes. Aldous Huxley's dystopian vision offers a powerful critique of the dangers of unchecked scientific and technological progress, as well as the potential consequences of a society driven by pleasure, conformity, and the suppression of individuality. By exploring complex topics such as social conditioning, consumerism, and the loss of human connection, Brave New World prompts readers to reflect on their own society and its values. It raises critical questions about the nature of happiness, free will, and the balance between individual freedom and societal control. Furthermore, the novel's literary techniques, such as its vivid imagery, symbolism, and satire, provide ample material for analysis and interpretation. Students can delve into Huxley's use of irony, character development, and narrative structure to deepen their understanding of the novel and engage in critical analysis.

"Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced." "Happiness is never grand." "Civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic." "You can't make flivvers without steel, and you can't make tragedies without social instability." "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."

1. Huxley, A. (2007). Brave New World (1932). Reading Fiction, Opening the Text, 119. (https://link.springer.com/book/9780333801338#page=128) 2. Woiak, J. (2007). Designing a brave new world: eugenics, politics, and fiction. The Public Historian, 29(3), 105-129. (https://online.ucpress.edu/tph/article/29/3/105/89976/Designing-a-Brave-New-World-Eugenics-Politics-and) 3. Kass, L. R. (2000). Aldous Huxley Brave new world (1932). First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, 51-51. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA60864210&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10475141&p=AONE&sw=w) 4. Meckier, J. (2002). Aldous Huxley's Americanization of the" Brave New World" Typescript. Twentieth Century Literature, 48(4), 427-460. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3176042) 5. Feinberg, J. S., & Feinberg, P. D. (2010). Ethics for a Brave New World, (Updated and Expanded). Crossway. (https://www.crossway.org/books/ethics-for-a-brave-new-world-second-edition-ebook/) 6. Buchanan, B. (2002). Oedipus in Dystopia: Freud and Lawrence in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Journal of Modern Literature, 25(3), 75-89. (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/46720) 7. McGiveron, R. O. (1998). Huxley's Brave New World. The Explicator, 57(1), 27-30. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144949809596803?journalCode=vexp20) 8. Higdon, D. L. (2002). The Provocations of Lenina in Huxley's Brave New World. International Fiction Review, 29(1/2), 78-83. (https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/IFR/article/download/7719/8776?inline=1)

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111 Brave New World Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

The importance of Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World can’t be overestimated. Today, its themes are as relevant as ever. If you’re looking for Brave New World essay titles or examples, you’re on the right page! But first, check out our simple writing guide.

🔝 Top 10 Brave New World Essay Topics

🏆 best brave new world topic ideas & essay examples, ✔️ good research topics about brave new world, 🔍 interesting topics to write about brave new world, ❓ brave new world essay questions, ✅ interesting brave new world research paper topics, brave new world essay topics: how to choose.

First, you should pick up the topic. The first thing that your readers interact with when they read your paper is the topic and title. That’s why you should carefully select the issue you’re going to discuss in the essay.

Here’s how to select the perfect paper subject:

• Carefully read the essay instructions. Make sure that you understand them correctly.
• Look through the Brave New World essay examples on the page below. Make notes while reading them and select relevant topics.
• Adapt the topic to meet your requirements and start the research.

Brave New World Thesis: How to Write

After you’ve finished your research, it’s time to write Brave New World thesis statement. It should reflect what your paper will be about.

Remember, you should analyze the book instead of summarizing, unless you’re assigned to write a book summary. Keep the thesis statement short and strong.

Brave New World Essay Outline

The next step is to create a Brave New World essay outline. The more detailed it is, the easier will be the whole writing process. Point out key ideas you’re going to cover in your writing: your opinion, supporting arguments, and research results.

In your Brave New World essay introduction present your topic and thesis statement. Then, in the main body, share your point of view and provide supporting arguments. Lastly, in conclusion, summarize the key issues.

Brave New World Essay Prompts

Now, let’s talk about the content of your future paper. Below, you’ll find examples of Brave New World essay questions with prompts to discuss in your writing:

• Happiness and truth. Can anyone be happy without expressing their will freely? What are the elements of happiness described in the book? Investigate, what do you think happiness is and what constitutes it.
• Characters. Who is your favorite character? Provide in-depth character analysis in your paper.
• Shakespeare and John. What is the role of Shakespeare in Brave New World?
• What modern issues does Brave New World cover? How does the novel correlate to current events? Provide examples.
• Theme of drugs. How does soma contribute to the main theme of the novel? Express your opinion if people should self-medicate when they want to avoid true emotions?
• Theme of love. Is there a place for love and sentiment in the World State?
• Racial equality. How does the author describe gender and racial equality in the book? Does the World State have it?
• Depression and suicide. What are the reasons that led to John’s suicide? Could he avoid it?
• Technology and its impact on society. How did technological breakthroughs impact the establishment of the World State? How does the power of technology affect the citizens of the World State?

Aldous Huxley’s book still remains one of the most controversial masterpieces and has much more ideas for analysis than we provided above. IvyPanda essay samples presented below will also reveal some interesting opinions and thoughts you can use as a source of inspiration for your writing. Whether you’re looking for argumentative, descriptive, narrative, and expository essay topics, check the paper examples below!

• The World State’s Idea of Perfection
• The Role of Escapism in Huxley’s Novel
• Huxley’s Novel as a Critique of Modernity
• Love in a World of Artificial Happiness
• Individuality vs. Conformity in Brave New World
• Themes of Control and Oppression in Brave New World
• Technology as a Double-Edged Sword in Huxley’s Novel
• Conditioning and Indoctrination in Brave New World
• Freedom of Thought vs. Censorship in the World State
• Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Contemporary Societies
• The Brave New World Dystopia by Aldous Huxley The primary assertion in the novel is that the cost of this stability is the loss of individuality, creativity, and genuine human connection.
• Quotations in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that […]
• Comparison of G. Orwell’s “1984”, R. Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and A. Huxley’s “Brave New World” The leadership is in charge of virtually each and every single activity that takes place in the lives of the inhabitants of the society.
• Dystopias “Brave New World” by Huxley and “1984” by Orwell The modern world is full of complications and the moments when it seems like a dystopia the darkest version of the future. In the novel, promiscuity is encouraged, and sex is a form of entertainment.
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley He chooses to stay on, despite his clear disapproval of the society around him Before his trip to the wilds, he becomes aware of the imminent threat of exile.
• Biographical Analysis of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World The writers came up with books and articles that tried to warn the society about the effects of their actions, while others tried to educate the society on what it needed to do to better […]
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Novel Analysis In addition, the clash of Alphas and Betas is drastic some strive for recognition and living in a fake world, while others try to preserve their human nature.
• The Future of Society in “Brave New World” by Huxley and “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Postman Thus, this work will study the similarities between the visions of the authors of these literary works and their view of society.
• Huxley’s Brave New World Review Huxley has written in the introduction of his recent print of the book that much of the inspiration for the book was a result of his visit to the high technology Brunner and Mond plant […]
• Technology Control in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” They leave you with a, but there is a self-limiting effect of all of our contemporary psychotropics and mood-alterers. The tabloid news is full of people who have become addicted to prescription drugs, or find […]
• Circumstance and Individual in Huxley’s “Brave New World” He is not allowed to participate fully in the rites and ceremonies of the Reservation, so he fashions his system of thought out of the scripture and the dramas he reads.
• The Dystopian Societies of “1984” and Brave New World The three features which are discussed in this respect are the division of the two societies into social strata, the use of state power and control over citizens, and the loss of people’s individualities.
• Novel Response: Brave New World For instance, he uses changes in the world state society of the characters to illustrate how the changes influence their lives in a negative way.
• Common Theme Between Books These include psychological manipulation of the citizens, exercising physical control on the people, and using technology to control information, history and the citizens for the benefit of the party.
• The Predicted Modern Society in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Depiction of the Utopian Community in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Funhouse Mirror: An Examination of Distortion of Government in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Consequences of Living in a Society Under a Totalitarian Rule in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Analysis of Satiric Elements in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Lost of Emotions for Social Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• Alcohol in Our Society; Huxley’s View in Relation To “Brave New World”
• The Similarities Between Government Control and Suppression of Individuality in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Satirical Representation of the Perfect Society in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• Constant Individual Conditioning Is Needed to Reinforce Society in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Analysis of the Reality That the World Have Inhuman Society Controlled by Technology in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Theme of History in “Brave New World” by Arthur Huxley and “1984” by George Orwell
• The Origin of Happiness in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of Propaganda and Hypnopaedic Teachings in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• A Literary Analysis of a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Suppression of Individuality in Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Important Role of Reproductive Technology in the Social Control of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• A Contrast Between Two Societies in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Superficial Reality of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Advancement of Science and Its Effects on the Individual in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Social and Sexual Interaction in the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Values of Society in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”
• A Review of the Dangers of Technology in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Moral Dilemmas in Our Society in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of the Futuristic London in the Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Theme of Selfishness in a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Implications of Having Adults Filled With Suggestions From the States in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Dystopian and Utopian Societies in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “1984” by George Orwell
• The Pursuit of Happiness in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• A Society of Drugs and Promiscuous Sexual Relations in a “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Using Soma to Find Happiness and Pleasure in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Issue of Cloning as Described in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Role of Government and Technology in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Role of Technology in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Importance of Soma in Control of Social Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• An Overview of the Construction of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Portrayal of Community, Identity and Stability in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• The Use of Distortion in “Brave New World” By Aldous Huxley
• A Critique the Depiction of Role of Science in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• The Non-Existence of Individualism in the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• An Analysis of the Advancement of Science in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• Utopia and Dystopia in the Futuristic Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
• How Does “Brave New World” Illustrate the Point of Happiness?
• Does “Brave New World” Suggest That We Should Seek Something Else in Life Rather Than Our Happiness?
• How Are Women’s Bodies and Reproduction Depicted Within “Brave New World”?
• What Are the Parallels Between “Brave New World” and Our World Today?
• How Does “Brave New World” Compare to Biology?
• What Does “Brave New World” Suggest Be Valuable?
• How Does “Brave New World” Resemble the 21st Century?
• Why Does John Reject the Civilization Represented in “Brave New World”?
• How Does “Brave New World” Reflect the Context in Which It Was Written?
• Why Would Shakespeare Not Work in Brave New World?
• How Does the Novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley Suggest That the Individual Will Be Treated in the Future?
• Will Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” Be Our Brave New World?
• How Far Have the Prophecies of “Brave New World” Come True?
• What Are Mustapha Mond’s Arguments Against Freedom in “Brave New World”?
• How Does Huxley’s “Brave New World” Portray Authority of Science and Technology on Society?
• Is John From “Brave New World” Really Freer Than the World State Members?
• How Would Plato and Sophists View the World of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley?
• What Is Huxley’s Vision of a Utilitarian Society in “Brave New World”?
• How Does the “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley Compare to the Real World?
• Why Does Mustapha Mond Insist That Science Must Be Constrained in the Same Way That Art and Religion Are in “Brave New World”?
• How Does the “Brave New World” Fit Into the Six Characteristics of Malark’s Theory of Characteristics?
• What Traits of Humanity Does John Savage Represent in the “Brave New World”?
• Is Huxley’s Society in “Brave New World” Able to Suppress Religious Impulses Completely?
• In What Ways Does Huxley Moralize Sexuality in the “Brave New World”?
• Do You Believe That Huxley’s Blindness Influenced the Way He Viewed Society in “Brave New World”?
• Why Does John Savage Kill Himself at the End of the “Brave New World”?
• Do You Believe That Mustapha Mond Is the Antagonist of the “Brave New World”?
• Is “Brave New World” a Utopia or a Dystopia?
• What Is the Main Message of “Brave New World”?
• Can Happiness Be Reached Through Drugs Like “Soma” From “Brave New World”?
• Ethical Implications of Genetic Engineering in Brave New World
• Brave New World vs. 1984: A Comparison of Dystopian Societies
• The Critique of Consumerism and Mass Production in Brave New World
• The Theme of Dehumanization of Art and Creativity in a Technologically Advanced Society
• Psychological Manipulation and Mind Control in Brave New World
• How Gender and Sexuality Are Represented in Huxley’s Brave New World
• Religion and Spirituality in a Technological Utopia
• How Control and Surveillance in the World State Create the Illusion of Freedom
• The Impact of Conditioning and Sleep-Learning on Characters’ Behavior
• Huxley’s Vision of the Future: Predictions That Came True
• The Historical Events That Inspired Brave New World
• The Role of Soma in Maintaining Social Stability in the World State
• Satire and Social Commentary in Brave New World
• Savage Reservation’s Contrast with the World State’s Society
• Brave New World and Utopia: The Paradox of Perfection
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Themes and Analysis

Brave new world, by aldous huxley.

'Brave New World' explores the perils of technological advancement, the consequences of sacrificing individuality for societal stability, and the ethical dilemmas of manipulating human nature.

Article written by Ebuka Igbokwe

Bachelor's degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ‘ is a thematically rich work and the author delivers a profound social commentary with satirical wit and distinctive style. Huxley references a wide range of literary works and philosophical ideas, a touch that gives the work literary weight and sets it in a broader intellectual context.

The story of ‘ Brave New World ’ deals with certain themes such as consumerism, technological control of society, immediate gratification, and loss of personal identity.

Consumerism and Capitalism

While Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ primarily critiques totalitarian control and the sacrifice of individuality, it also provides commentary on the role of capitalism and consumerism in shaping the society of the World State. It invites readers to consider how unchecked production and excessive consumption can influence a society’s values, norms, and priorities, sometimes at the expense of genuine human connections and personal development. So central is this theme that Ford, the father of the assembly line and mass manufacture, assumes the figure of a deity in the story.

In the World State, humans are treated as products to be mass-produced and mere cogs in the wheel of society. Citizens are conditioned from birth to value material possessions and instant gratification over healthy and rich interpersonal relationships and individual experiences. The caste system, the technology for developing human embryos, and the conditioning process for the citizens are eerily similar to the manufacturing of goods in a factory.

The World State deliberately fosters a culture of constant consumption and dispensability. Citizens are conditioned to replace and put aside items and people without hesitation and discouraged from being attached to anything. The rapid turnover of possessions and relationships reflects the concept of planned obsolescence inherent in capitalist economies , where goods are designed to have short lifespans to encourage continuous purchasing.

Technological Control Over Society

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ explores technocracy, a system of government where experts and technology are the driving forces behind social and political decisions. In this dystopian world, technocracy plays a central role in maintaining control and achieving social stability.

‘ Brave New World ’ shows the consequences of technocracy when taken to the extreme. While a technocracy can harness science and technology for the betterment of society, it can also lead to the objectification of its citizens.

In the World State, this system of government is evident in nearly every aspect of society. The government, composed of World Controllers like Mustapha Mond, is a technocratic elite that makes decisions based on scientific principles and advanced technology. Human life itself is highly controlled, with citizens created in hatcheries, conditioned for certain specific roles, and sorted into castes based on their preselected intelligence and potential functions.

Technocratic principles also guide the development of the ideas through which the society is stabilized. The World State utilizes reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, and behavioral conditioning to create a population that is docile, predictable, and content. The aim is to eliminate suffering, conflict, and dissatisfaction, and to create a clock-work, well-ordered society. Here, technical expertise is not merely an aid to governance but radically influences culture. The result is that every aspect of society is meticulously engineered and regulated as if the individual members were parts of a machine.

Immediate Gratification and Pleasure Seeking

Aldous Huxley’s ‘ Brave New World ’ presents a dystopian society where immediate gratification and pleasure-seeking are cardinal pursuits. The World State is a carefully constructed society that prioritizes shallow, hedonistic pleasures over deeper emotional connections and true intellectual and spiritual pursuits.

The drug “soma” is the primary instrument for immediate gratification in ‘ Brave New World ‘. It provides citizens with a quick and artificial sense of happiness, contentment, and emotional numbness. Whenever individuals in that society experience negative emotions, they are encouraged to consume soma, which promptly alleviates their discomfort.

The society of the World State is designed to stave off intense and prolonged desire through a culture of shallow pleasures and hedonism. Citizens are encouraged to frequently indulge in casual sex and recreational activities. There is a conspicuous absence of deeper, meaningful relationships, intellectually engaging activities, or character-building cultural experiences. For example, the Solidarity Service is a communal gathering that features group singing which ends in a sexual orgy.

By conditioning the citizens to avoid any form of suffering, they are prevented from experiencing the profound joys, sorrows, and personal growth that come from facing life’s challenges.

Loss of Humanity and Identity

The World State views individual agency as a potential threat to social stability. Its government fears that allowing people to make meaningful choices or experience genuine emotions and intellectual autonomy might lead to conflict, dissatisfaction, or nonconformity. Consequently, individual agency is curtailed in favor of a controlled, harmonious society.

Citizens of the World State lack the freedom to make significant life decisions, pursue deep emotional connections, or engage in intellectual exploration. In their society, happiness is a paramount objective. From birth, individuals are conditioned to accept their predetermined roles in society, conform to societal norms, and avoid discomfort or suffering. This conditioning fosters a conformist culture where citizens find happiness in their assigned roles and shallow pleasures, even if these dehumanize them.

Throughout ‘ Brave New World ,’ characters who exhibit any unsanctioned initiative or seek greater agency often face social disapproval and adverse consequences. Bernard Marx, for instance, questions the status quo and longs for more genuine human connections. His desire for agency leads to isolation and eventual exile.

John “the Savage” also embodies the tension between retaining a strong sense of self and succumbing to pressures to conform to the social mold. Raised outside the controlled society, he represents an admirable alternative answer to the question of what it means to be truly human. However, his rebellion comes at a cost. He tries to resist the dehumanizing influence of the society of World State, but he fails to fully resist its corruption, and he commits suicide.

Key Moments in Brave New World

• The novel begins with a tour of a group of boys through the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where human life is artificially created, conditioned, and categorized into castes, led by the DHC and Mustapha Mond.
• Lenina Crowne and a co-worker discuss Lenina’s four-month monogamous relationship with Henry Foster, a situation frowned upon by their society which promotes promiscuity.
• Bernard Marx is introduced. He is a psychologist who has romantic feelings for Lenina and is offended when she is sexually objectified by her former partner.
• Benard and Lenina have a date and he invites her to go on a vacation to the reservation.
• Bernard and Lenina’s visit to the Savage Reservation introduces them to a world where people live outside the controlled society. Here, they encounter John “the Savage,” and Linda his mother.
• John “the Savage” is revealed to be the son of the Director of Hatchery and Conditioning who left his pregnant mother on the Savage Reservation.
• Bernard contrives to bring John over to the World State. His appearance causes a stir and the DHC’s resignation.
• While he gains popularity, John finds it increasingly hard to fit into the society of World State. He makes friends with Helmholtz Watson.
• Lenina tries to seduce John, but John attacks her and calls her a whore. He desists from attacking her when he learns that his mother has died.
• In grief at his mother’s death, John stirs up a minor riot at the hospital and is detained by the police.
• Mustapha Mond summons John, Helmholtz and Benard. In this meeting, Helmholtz and Benard are exiled.
• Mustapha Mond explains the principles behind the society to John, Bernard, and Helmholtz. He provides insight into the government’s use of technology and conditioning to eliminate suffering and conflict.
• Following Mond’s refusal to send John into exile like Bernard and Helmholtz, John is forced to remain in London.
• John’s self-flagellation to cleanse himself from the corruption of the civilization he joins draws a crowd, and in the ensuing chaos, he participates in an orgy. Overcome with guilt, John commits suicide.

Tone and Style of Brave New World

Aldous Huxley’s writing style in ‘ Brave New World ’ is marked by several key characteristics. First and foremost, he frequently adopts a satirical tone, using humor and irony to criticize social norms and to explore the unbridled use of technological and scientific advancements in managing society.

Furthermore, ‘Brave New World ’ is replete with literary, historical, and cultural references, encouraging readers to engage with a broader intellectual context. The narrative is character-driven, emphasizing personal development and psychological exploration. Aldous Huxley excels in world-building, creating immersive and believable environments that contribute to the depth of his story.

Huxley features dialogues that serve as a vehicle for philosophical and moral discussions. He also makes extensive use of irony, both situational and verbal, to underscore the absurdity of societal norms and critique certain aspects of human behavior presented in the story.

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About Ebuka Igbokwe

Ebuka Igbokwe is the founder and former leader of a book club, the Liber Book Club, in 2016 and managed it for four years. Ebuka has also authored several children's books. He shares philosophical insights on his newsletter, Carefree Sketches and has published several short stories on a few literary blogs online.

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Brave New World

By aldous huxley, brave new world study guide.

Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World , published in 1932, is a dystopian novel set six hundred years in the future. The novel envisions a world that, in its quest for social stability and peace, has created a society devoid of emotion, love, beauty, and true relationships.

Huxley's novel is chiefly a critique of the socialist policies that states had begun to advocate in the early twentieth century. Huxley, by 1932, had observed the increasing tendency of Western government to intrude upon people's lives. This intrusion, he believed, limited the expression of freedom and beauty that is integral to the human character. Through Brave New World and his other writings, he suggested that beauty is a result of pain and that society's desire to eliminate pain limits society's ability to thrive culturally and emotionally. Many readers initially found this difficult to accept, living as they did in the aftermath of World War I, when a lack of societal control had caused a war that inflicted great pain and death on an entire continent.

The novel also comments on humanity's indiscriminate belief in progress and science. Huxley had himself desired a scientific career before the near blindness that he suffered during childhood kept him from such pursuits. The Western world, Huxley believed, placed too much emphasis on scientific progress at the expense of a love for beauty and art. His novel attempts to show how such science, when taken too far, can limit the flourishing of human thought. In World War I, humanity had seen the great destruction that technology such as bombs, planes, and machine guns could cause. Huxley believed that the possibility for such destruction did not only belong to weapons of war but to other scientific advancements as well.

The reaction of society to the book ranged from acclaim to outrage. H.G. Wells, a famous writer of science fiction and dystopian literature, panned the book as alarmist. Other critics challenged Huxley's depictions of religion and ritual as well as his views of sexuality and drug use. The novel's stark depictions of sexuality and cruelty meant that it continues to incite controversy over whether or not it is an appropriate book for all ages and audiences. Nevertheless, as a social critique, Brave New World takes credit with Orwell's 1984 for advancing a new genre of literature that fuses science fiction, political allegory, and literary ambition.

Brave New World Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Brave New World is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What is the purpose of depriving some embryos of adequate oxygen?

The world controller conditions the embryos so that the resulting children will fit into a desired category of people. Alphas are given more oxygen so that they develop into the intellectual and physical, except for Bernard, elite. People like...

chap 1 Explain the fertilization process used in Brave New World. How does the hatching and conditioning centre acquire the necessary ovum and spermatozoa?

Basically the hatching and conditioning centre is a place where people are genetically engineered. The students view various machines and techniques used to promote the production and conditioning of embryos. The scientists take an ovary, remove...

Summarize both sides of the debate that Mond and John have regarding God.

Mond explains that since society eradicated the fear of death and since science keeps everyone youthful until death, religion is unnecessary. He reads to John passages from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis and from a work by Cardinal...

Study Guide for Brave New World

Brave New World study guide contains a biography of Aldous Huxley, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Brave New World
• Brave New World Summary
• Brave New World Video
• Character List

Essays for Brave New World

Brave New World essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

• Methods of Control in 1984 and Brave New World
• Cloning in Brave New World
• God's Role in a Misery-Free Society
• Character Analysis: Brave New World
• Influences Behind Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451

Lesson Plan for Brave New World

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Brave New World
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Brave New World Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Brave New World

• Introduction

Brave New World

Introduction to brave new world.

Aldous Huxley ’s dystopic novel , Brave New World , was published in 1932. It became an instant hit for the way it presented the futuristic world as amazing and stunning at that time when WWII was still not on the horizon and the people were technologically not as advanced as presented in this novel. On account of the ingenious presentation of that social fabric, the novel was ranked as the best English novel of the century. Huxley wrote sequels in essay form Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962). The story revolves around the World State where people have been put into hierarchical order after they come out of hatcheries and are graded on the basis of their functions and performance duly monitoring and surveilled.

Summary of Brave New World

The story starts from the Hatching and Conditioning Centre, located in London where its director and assistants are lecturing the touring boys. They learn about processes Bokanovsky and Podsnap used for creating identical human beings through the embryonic processes in which different human beings are produced in factories into separate castes of Alpha and Beta at the top. The Alpha takes up the higher positions in the World States and other positions go to other castes in hierarchical order. The last race, the Epsilons, are occupying the final stage at the bottom of the hierarchy for doing labor. One of the employees also informs the boys about the vaccination procedure. From there, they visit the Nursery and see the programming of the infants through different techniques. Such as the use of ‘Soma’ drugs to escape unpleasant experiences.

When the students come into the open, they see games and sexual acts where a World Controller, Mustapha Mond, delivers a lecture to the touring students about history, the State’s narrative , and the nation’s ideology. Simultaneously, Lenina talks to Fanny about her intimacy with Henry Foster at which Fanny rebukes her for becoming too intimate and not being promiscuous. However, Lenina also informs her that she has already met Bernard Marx, a short and funny-looking guy for an Alpha caste and different than his peers.

Meanwhile, Bernard becomes furious about Lenina’s mention in the conversation of Henry and one of the assistants. Engaged in work, Lenina then informs Bernard that she would be gladdened to have the trip to the Savage Reservation. Meanwhile, Bernard meets his friend, Helmholtz Watson, for having disenchanted from the World Estate on account of their shortcomings. When Bernard applies for permission to visit the reservation, he has to go through the rigors of listening to the director’s tales before winning it. The director becomes nostalgic by mentioning his own trip to Reservation twenty years ago with a woman who was never to be recovered. He also learns about his exile and reviles at it but then moves to the reservation.

When he is on the reservation, he and Lenina are surprised to see its aging population contrary to the youth of the World State. They also watch religious rituals going on and they meet John, who narrates the story of Linda, his mother having met years back. Bernard senses Linda associated with his director in the past and learns about her ostracization from the village because of her willingness to sleep with various men and her book reading habit developed by Pope, her former lover. When Bernard agrees to take John to his world, he also asks him to take Linda with him.

Then Bernard promises him and asks Mustapha for permission to take Linda back. All of them fly back to London where the Director is waiting to confront Bernard, but he brings John and Linda instead and forces the Director to resign. So, John becomes a big hit in the society of London on account of his alienated look. However, he does not fit well in this world and with Lenina. Although Bernard becomes promiscuous, John hardly touches Lenina who becomes confused over his self-control and tries to seduce him on many occasions but fails. Despite Bernard’s insistence, John stays reclusive and refuses to meet important guests. Bernard, then, introduces him to Helmholtz and others and ridicules the reading of Romeo and Juliet by John for these ideas being foreign to the World State and its existing cultural milieu.

Lenina soon takes to John, visiting his apartment and taking soma. She confesses her feelings for him and he reciprocates. Hearing this she offers herself to him but ridiculed by the promiscuity of the World state he curses by using the lines from Shakespeare. However, John rebuffs her every effort. During this time, he comes to know about the death of Linda while Lenina was in the bathroom. He, later, says goodbye to her at the Hospital for the Dying. John is left to meet the clones having their soma ration. He tries to raise a rebellion among them but only causes riots which attract the attention of Helmholtz and Bernard.

However, the police arrive and arrest them all to bring them to Mustapha Mond. There they hold a debate on the policies, leading to John argue his cause and Mond responding to his arguments . While John argues in the favor of art and religion, Mond rejects his claims , adding these are useless things. Soon he exiles Helmholtz and throws Bernard out, threatening to reassign him to Iceland. Meanwhile, John says goodbye to them and stays far away in an abandoned lighthouse to purify himself by starving and flagellating. This catches the attention of a photographer leading many sight viewers to visit John. Meanwhile, Lenina arrives at which John calls her ‘strumpet’ and whipping her and himself. He cries out at her ‘Kill it, kill it’. The intensity of emotion leads the crowd to engage a party in which John participates. At the final realization, he commits suicide for submitting to the World State after that.

Major Themes in Brave New World

• Commodification: The novel shows the commodification of life in that human beings are being hatched, brought up, taught, and eliminated as if they are commodities. When the touring students come to know about hatcheries, they also learn how they are run. Thomas is monitoring Hatcheries and Conditioning Centers where Marx and Foster have been born to lead others. Crowne and Linda, too, show commodified human beings. When John visits the World State, he comes to know the application of this commodification by the upper class to keep on ruling the lower class. The purpose of commodification has been shared by Bokanvosky’s process in which it has been ensured that the new generation conforms to the social structure they are going to live in.
• Dystopian Society: The novel presents a dystopian society where human beings have lost not only their freedom but also their independence. Emotionless, they are being marked in the D.H.C. assembly line. Even if they have some common sense , they keep it to themselves such as Thomas and Marx. Human natural conditioning and mental preparation have also created a dystopia where human beings have become subservient to machines and mechanical behavior. That is why Lenina fails in hooking John who questions this very culture of the World State.
• Utilitarianism: The novel shows utilitarianism through the efforts of Big Brother to establish the Hatcheries for human production as well as conditioning. The savage, John, who visits the World State, comes to know this mechanical routine and detests it. He thinks that Soma food does not fit human beings. Instead of appreciating, he rather berates it and debates it with Mustapha. However, John preaches that though this system utilizes human beings, it is not akin to nature such as taking soma to experience human emotions is unnatural. Lenina’s engagement in promiscuity and her suicide points to the absence of this natural element she could not brook.
• Misuse of Science: brave new world shows the thematic strand of the misuse of science in that human engineering through hatching and conditioning has created desired characters. However, they do not conform to the new ethical framework of the World State. The director briefs the student about the paid voluntary work and conditioning of the Alpha males. The characters of Helmholtz and Bernard Marx have been conditioned, yet they are independent in their thinking most of the time. When Marx does not conform to the standards set by the World State, he is exiled. Similarly, hypnopedia for children and soma food point to this misuse of science.
• Dehumanization: The novel presents the dehumanization of its characters through different strategies adopted by the political elite. Human engineering and scientific techniques have successfully changed the behavior of some characters, yet humanity emerges from Lenina who does not find peace or Helmholtz and Marx who do not conform to the existing rules. Although soma has done its job well, yet the use of Bokanvosky’s process has, to some extent, makes dehumanization possible.
• Consumer Society: The theme of consumerism is significant in the novel in that human beings in the World State are primarily consumers who are fed with specific conditioning and specific food, soma, in order for them to conform to the social fabric created by the World State. That is why John does not become its consumer and shows other characters independence of thinking beyond marketing mechanism.
• Human Emotions: The novel sheds light on human emotions that though they could be engineered, robbed, taken away, and even subverted, yet human beings have the capability to feel empathy, sympathy and realize the dearth of these emotions. That is why when Lenina does not feel soma resolving her problems, she commits suicide and Bernard Marx has shown his desire to control his emotions.
• Genetic Engineering: The production line of the Hatchery and Conditioning center shows that the genetic engineering of humanity and its threat to the natural life cycle is not a figment of imagination. The creation of Alpha males or even the best human beings as argued by Mustapha does not seem a far-fetched idea. The subversion of the thoughts of Lenina and Bernard Marx and the surprising arguments of John show that humanity is facing this threat now .
• New Totalitarianism: The theme of new totalitarianism is significant. It is seen through characters like Mustapha Mond or Bernard Marx, as they are being controlled by the center. The World State has produced a culture where individuals have lost their individuality. Thomas views this as an “inescapable social identity” of every individual that conforms to the social structure engineered by the World State.

Major Characters Brave New World

• Bernard Marx: Bernard Marx is one of the protagonists along with John as they meet during the trip of the students to the hatchery. His special task is to teach sleep learning. Belonging to Alpha plus class has blessed him to think independently, a feature that makes him unfit for the World State society. It is, however, attributed to his stunted growth due to alcohol addiction. His mental independence has given him a feature that makes him empathetic toward others. Most of his character traits show that his condition is not executed properly and that his indifference lies in this. That is why he does not enjoy taking soma and feels a grudge against Lenina for enjoying her life. He leaves the World State by the end after his meeting with Helmholtz as he does not seem to fit into the society where his life constantly faces threats.
• John the Savage: Despite his supposed savageness, John is an important character in the novel. He was brought up on the Savage Reservation where he has learned sympathy and empathy, his two manly traits. Despite his otherness in the World State, he seems supposedly unethical except when he comes to know about Malpais. He could not understand the promiscuity of his mother and the enjoyment of the Malpasian males. His poetic rendering stays with him despite his tour of the World State and giving priority to freedom and not reconciling with existing contradictions, he ends his life.
• Helmholtz Watson: The character of Helmholtz Watson is equally important when starts to involve in the building of a new culture through engaging himself in emotional engineering. Befriending Bernard Marx has given him a point to vie for his attractiveness and intelligence despite his efforts to rationalize his dislike for him. Surprisingly, he loves poetry and lashes out at the wrong cultural engineering at the World State policy though he has been brought upon in a culture different from that of John the Savage. When he helps John to throw away soma by the end, he is exiled from the World State, considering his assistance an act of rebellion.
• Lenina Crowne: A teenager of just 19, Lenina Crowne is a female character of the novel who is working in the hatchery as a technician. Despite her being a lucky figure in the World State, she is promiscuous and becomes easy-going with almost everyone. Being in a relationship with Henry Foster does not impact her. She often uses soma to support her emotional state and goes to the reservation to enjoy life with Marx. When John spurns her advances by the end, she disappears from the novel.
• Mustapha Mond: As the controller in the country, Mond presides over the administration of one zone to consolidate the reins of the government. He controls the people about their do’s and don’ts in this connection and knows what to put on the pedestal of sacrifice for the greater good of the state. Although he is a physicist, he loves to please the public by proving that history is just a bunk and nothing else. He has evolved his own concepts about different social and individual values and finally lets John go to his mother by the end of the novel.
• Henry Foster: As an Alpha male, Foster musters the courage to flirt with Lenina, though, he quits immediately sensing his own future going to dogs. His casual behavior angers Bernard who warns him after which he moves on with the conventions, not showing his waywardness.
• Linda: Belonging to Beta-minus class, Linda is another significant female character who has a savage son, has brought upon on the reservations, yet she works in the Fertilizing Room. Having become a prostitute, Linda shows her other side that she cannot tolerate the type of life. Not able to bear it anymore, she takes too much soma to take her life.
• Thomas: Working as a D. H. C., Thomas is well-known in his circle as Tomakin and only appears in the initial chapters of the story. He briefs the students about the working of the hatchery and its role in the World State. Having a pedantic persona , Tomakin keeps a close watch on rebellious people like Bernard to whom he dispatches to Iceland as punishment. He resigns after Bernard confronts him about John to whom he fathered on the Reservation.
• Fanny Crowne: A friend of Lenina, Fanny presents herself as a typical lady in the World State. She is not her relative, yet she has a strong impact on Lenina in ruining her life by asking her to become promiscuous. Despite her own conditioning, she advises others to go wayward which is rather a surprising thing about her.
• Benito Hoover: A minor character, Hoover loves Lenina despite belonging to the Alpha class in the state. His name signifies two great dictators of the WWII era.

Writing Style of Brave New World

The writing style of Brave New World is known for highly detailed and technologically loaded diction . The characters are conditioned to live in that technologically modified world where the use of emotions is considered an abomination. The overall ironic style is called a mocking style in which the most vital information is held to be disclosed quite late in the text. It happens not only in the case of Bernard but also in Lenina. However, in terms of language, Huxley is highly precise to the point of clinical accuracy. He knows how to use diction appropriately to convey suitable meanings. For figurative language and literary devices , the author mostly turned toward metaphors , similes, irony , and sarcasm .

Analysis of the Literary Devices in Brave New World

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the whole life and growth of the political landscape of the World State as shown through Mustapha Mond, John, Bernard, and Lenina. The falling action occurs John could not brook the situation, isolates himself, and engages in punishing himself. The rising action moment of the novel arrives when Marx and Lenina visit the Savage Reservation and meets John.
• Anaphora : The novel shows examples of anaphora such as, i. We slacken off the circulation when they’re right way up, so that they’re half starved, and double the flow of surrogate when they’re upside down. They learn to associate topsy-turvydom with well-being; in fact, they’re only truly happy when they’re standing on their heads. (Chapter-One) The example shows the repetitious use of “they’re.”
• Alliteration : brave new world shows the use of alliteration at several places as the examples given below, i. Government’s an affair of sitting, not hitting. You rule with the brains and the buttocks, never with the fists. For example, there was the conscription of consumption. (Chapter-3) ii. “As though I’d been saying something shocking,” thought Lenina. “He couldn’t look more upset if I’d made a dirty joke–asked him who his mother was, or something like that.” (Chapter-4) iii. But though the separating screen of the sky-signs had now to a great extent dissolved, the two young people still retained their happy ignorance of the night . (Chapter-5) Both of these examples from the novel show the use of consonant sounds such as the sound of /s/ occurring after an interval to make the prose melodious and rhythmic.
• Allusion : The novel shows good use of different allusions as given in the below examples, i. “Well, Lenina,” said Mr. Foster, when at last she withdrew the syringe and straightened herself up. (Chapter-I) ii. “O wonder!” he was saying; and his eyes shone, his face was brightly flushed. “How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!” (Chapter-8) iii. He hated Popé more and more. A man can smile and smile and be a villain. Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain. What did the words exactly mean? (Chapter-8) iv. Did he dare? Dare to profane with his unworthiest hand that … No, he didn’t. The bird was too dangerous. His hand dropped back. How beautiful she was! How beautiful! (Chapter-9) The first example shows the reference to Lenin, the second to The Tempest by Shakespeare and the third to Hamlet , and the fourth to Romeo and Juliet both by Shakespeare.
• Antagonist : Mustapha Mond is the antagonist of the novel as he appears to have tried his best to spread the domination of the World State by working as the Controller.
• Conflict : The novel shows both external and internal conflicts. The external conflict is going on between John who has been bred up in the natural world and other characters who have been conditioned. There is also an internal conflict in the mind of Lenina who could not brook this controlling atmosphere .
• Characters: The novel shows both static as well as dynamic characters. The young boy, John, is a dynamic character as he shows a considerable transformation in his behavior and conduct by the end of the novel. However, all other characters are static as they do not show or witness any transformation such as Mustapha Mond, Bernard Marx, and Helmholtz Watson as well as Fanny.
• Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Linda commits suicide and John vows to bring a revolution to change the system.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows many instances of foreshadows. For example, i. A SQUAT grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State’s motto , COMMUNITY , IDENTITY, STABILITY. (Chapter-1) ii. INFANT NURSERIES. NEO-PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING ROOMS, announced the notice board. (Chapter-II) The mention of state, slogans, and nurseries show that this is some modern state set in the future. Therefore, this is an apt use of foreshadows.
• Hyperbole : The novel shows various examples of hyperboles such as, i. He was digging in his garden–digging, too, in his own mind, laboriously turning up the substance of his thought. Death–and he drove in his spade once, and again, and yet again. (Chapter-18) ii. The Savage nodded. “I ate civilization.” “What?” “It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then,” he added, in a lower tone , “I ate my own wickedness. (Chapter-18) Both examples exaggerate things as digging the mind and eating civilization are exaggerations .
• Imagery : brave new world shows the use of imagery . A few examples are given below, i. Hot tunnels alternated with cool tunnels. Coolness was wedded to discomfort in the form of hard X-rays. By the time they were decanted the embryos had a horror of cold. They were predestined to emigrate to the tropics, to be miner and acetate silk spinners and steel workers. Later on their minds would be made to endorse the judgment of their bodies. (Chapter-1) ii. There was a loud noise, and he woke with a start. A man was saying something to Linda, and Linda was laughing. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin, but the man pulled it down again. His hair was like two black ropes, and round his arm was a lovely silver bracelet with blue stones in it. (Chapter-8) iii. A moment later he was inside the room. He opened the green suit-case; and all at once he was breathing Lenina’s perfume, filling his lungs with her essential being. His heart beat wildly; for a moment he was almost faint. (Chapter-9) The above examples show images of feeling, sight, color, and sound.
• Metaphor : brave new world shows perfect use of various metaphors as given in the below examples, i. Two shrimp-brown children emerged from a neighbouring shrubbery, stared at them for a moment with large, astonished eyes, then returned to their amusements among the leaves. (Chapter-4) ii. Lenina did her best to stop the ears of her mind; but every now and then a phrase would insist on becoming audible. (Chapter-6) iii. The rock was like bleached bones in the moonlight. (Chapter-8) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel as the first shows a comparison of children to fish, Lenina’s mind to a body, and rock to bones.
• Mood : The novel shows various moods; it starts with quite a dry and rocking mood and turns to be highly exciting at times and tragic when it reaches Linda’s suicide.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, Brave New World, are sex, drugs, and consumerism.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated from the third-person point of view , which is the author himself.
• Personification : The novel shows examples of personifications such as, John began to understand. “Eternity was in our lips and eyes,” he murmured. (Chapter-11) ii. Pierced by every word that was spoken, the tight balloon of Bernard’s happy self-confidence was leaking from a thousand wounds. (Chapter-12) These examples show as if the eternity and balloon have feelings and lives of their own.
• Protagonist : Bernard Marx is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the world and moves forward as he grows and transforms.
• Repetition : The novel shows the use of repetition as given in the below example, i. “ Silence , silence,” whispered a loud speaker as they stepped out at the fourteenth floor, and “Silence, silence,” the trumpet mouths indefatigably repeated at intervals down every corridor. The students and even the Director himself rose automatically to the tips of their toes. They were Alphas, of course, but even Alphas have been well conditioned. “Silence, silence.” All the air of the fourteenth floor was sibilant with the categorical imperative. (Chapter-2) This passage from the second chapter shows the repetition of “silence.”
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the dystopian future country of the World State showing events of 632AF.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes as given in the below examples, i. The tropical sunshine lay like warm honey on the naked bodies of children tumbling promiscuously among the hibiscus blossom. (Chapter-4) ii. Like the vague torsos of fabulous athletes, huge fleshy clouds lolled on the blue air above their heads. (Chapter-4) iii. At Brentford the Television Corporation’s factory was like a small town. (Chapter-4) iv. Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly–they’ll go through anything. (Chapter-4) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things. The first example shows sunshine compared to honey, the torsos of athletes to clouds, the factory to a town, and the words to X-rays.

Related posts:

• Brave New World Themes
• Brave New World Characters
• The World is Too Much With Us
• All the World’s a Stage
• Once the World Was Perfect
• Discovery Of the New World
•  All the World’s a Stage
• This Is My Letter To The World
• The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm
• Aldous Huxley

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Huxley's Brave new world : essays

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Brave New World

Aldous huxley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Brave New World raises the terrifying prospect that advances in the sciences of biology and psychology could be transformed by a totalitarian government into technologies that will change the way that human beings think and act. Once this happens, the novel suggests, the totalitarian government will cease to allow the pursuit of actual science, and the truth that science reveals will be restricted and controlled. Huxley argues that the more human beings harness technology to guarantee human happiness, the more they will end up enslaved by technology, to the neglect of higher human aspirations.

World State technology is undoubtedly effective in creating complacent citizens. During a student tour, the Director of the London Hatchery explains the process of hypnopaedia, when recordings asserting World State morality are played for sleeping children to subconsciously absorb: “‘Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind. And not the child’s mind only. The adult’s mind too—all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides—made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions!’ The Director almost shouted in his triumph.” Such a process is chilling, because the whispered suggestions actually give shape to a developing child’s thought processes and his or her perception of the world.

Yet, at the same time, such technological control is inherently reductive. That is, the use of conditioning like hypnopaedia falsely suggests that a human being can be reduced to the ethical maxims he or she is force-fed. While such conditioning is undeniably effective for keeping the World State running, the presence of figures like Bernard and Helmholtz —both of whom resist aspects of their conditioning and long for something more than what the World State says is permissible—shows that it’s not foolproof. There is more to humanity that the mind’s ability to “judge and desire and decide,” and World State technology is unable to control that “something more” as effectively as it forms children’s likes and dislikes.

Because technology is limited in this way, the World State must control its advancement. When Mustapha Mond explains to the Savage that even technological and scientific advances are suppressed for social reasons, he says, “Every change is a menace to stability. That’s another reason why we’re so chary of applying new inventions. Every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive; even science must sometimes be treated as a possible enemy.” In other words, technological changes risk undoing the World State’s carefully conditioned stability and making people recognize and resist their enslavement. He goes on to explain that, “We can’t allow science to undo its own good work. That’s why we so carefully limit the scope of its researches—that’s why I almost got to an island. We don’t allow it to deal with any but the most immediate problems of the moment.” Mond doesn’t question the value of science; he used to be an avid researcher himself. Because he knows science’s potential, though, he makes sure its ambitions remain limited, so that the World State’s achievement of stability can stand unchallenged.

In “Our Ford ’s” time, Mond muses, “they seemed to have imagined that [science] could be allowed to go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. […] Mass production demanded the shift [from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness]. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t.” Mond’s reminiscence on 20th-century technological progress is one of the most prophetic notes in the novel. Huxley suggests that his readers should not assume that such progress can last forever, especially when it is allowed to usurp concerns about aspects of the human experience besides shallow happiness, like truth and beauty. The more human beings use technology to secure convenient happiness, the further enslaved they will become by it.

Technology and Control ThemeTracker

Technology and Control Quotes in Brave New World

“And that...is the secret of happiness and virtue—liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.”

Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly colour. I'm so glad I'm a Beta.

“Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too—all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides—made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions... Suggestions from the State.”

Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches.

“A gramme in time saves nine.”

“Put your arms around me...Hug me till you drug me, honey...Kiss me till I'm in a coma. Hug me honey, snuggly...”

"Free, free!" the Savage shouted, and with one hand continued to throw the soma into the area while, with the other, he punched the indistinguishable faces of his assailants. "Free!" And suddenly there was Helmholtz at his side–"Good old Helmholtz!"—also punching—"Men at last!"—and in the interval also throwing the poison out by handfuls through the open window. "Yes, men! men!" and there was no more poison left. He picked up the cash-box and showed them its black emptiness. "You're free!"

Howling, the Deltas charged with a redoubled fury.

“The world's stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get... And if anything should go wrong, there's soma.”

“There's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears—that's what soma is.”

‘The Student’ and ‘Brave New Words’: Teaching Teachers New Tricks

T he U.S. has the world’s best universities and, it sometimes seems, the world’s worst students. This is because most universities have two business models. One is research and development in concert with the private sector, and the creation of new patents. The other is keeping young people off the streets and the unemployment rolls, and using other people’s money—parental savings, student loans—to advance programs of indoctrination inimical to most Americans.

The first business attracts the cream of the world’s scientists and makes the U.S. the world’s leading innovator. The second is clotted with identity-based tokenism, political extremism, bureaucratic incompetence, intellectual imposture and students who can’t spell. Not to mention, especially on Ivy League campuses, antisemitism. University presidents pander to the mobs, and professors link arms to defend their protégés.

Democracy requires educated citizens. Government needs competent servants. The education system produces neither in sufficient number. From your local preschool to the Harvard Kennedy School, American education is failing the public. But it was not always this way, and it doesn’t need to be.

Michael S. Roth is the president of Wesleyan University, and his book “The Student” is an instructive and idealistic apologia for the ideals of instruction, from Confucius and Socrates to the clowns and communists of current educational theory. An apologia is not an apology—as medieval students knew, an apologia is a defense or justification—but Mr. Roth’s is welcome anyway.

The means and ends of education, Mr. Roth shows, have always changed to reflect their time and place. He begins with the ancients: Confucius (“harmonious integration”), Socrates (“critical self-awareness”) and Jesus (“renewal through the acceptance of a mentor’s path”). Confucius, Socrates and Jesus didn’t write anything down, so we must take their students’ word about their pedagogical aims.

Confucius, the son of a nobleman who had lost his social footing, lived in disordered times and wrote in exile, like Machiavelli but with morals. Confucian educational theory inculcated private virtue (de) in the service of public benevolence (ren). The ideal student is a junzi (learned gentleman), the ideal result a “harmonious collective.”

Socrates was born in 469 B.C., about a decade after Confucius’ death. Unlike many of today’s professors, Socrates was good with his hands and was proud to defend his homeland. “His stonemason father taught his son the family trade, and Socrates fought for Athens against the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War. One student, the soldier-historian Xenophon, depicts Socrates as the practical man who teaches that eupraxia (well-being) comes from successfully completing a difficult task. Another, Plato, depicts Socrates as an ironic trickster, whose irritating questions teach that self-knowledge begins in recognizing your own ignorance.

Athens’s oligarchy executed Socrates for “corrupting the youth.” Jesus was also executed for political reasons. He taught, Mr. Roth writes, neither Confucius’ “return to tradition” nor Socrates’ “conversational encounters,” but pursued the “transformative dimension of learning” to the highest level, total rebirth. This method creates disciples and revolutionaries, not students and bureaucrats. Socrates would have appreciated the irony, and Confucius the results, of how Christianity remade education.

Before the modern age, the ideal education was private: small groups of adepts or followers, and tutors in the homes of the wealthy. The university was born in medieval Europe to train staff for the Catholic Church. It was reborn in early modern Europe during the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment. As the means of education went public, its ends changed from teaching Christian dogma and training bureaucrats to reviving the Greek “spirit of critique” (”critical thinking,” as educators now call it) and socializing liberal-minded gentlemen. The proto-modern student appears late in the Renaissance. Hamlet (home from Wittenberg U.) is anguished, antagonistic, depressed, pushing 30 and entirely dependent on his parents. Shakespeare, the son of a glover, did not attend any university.

Mass democracy requires mass education, and that, gradually, opened the university to all. The early 20th-century American university was both a finishing school for idlers and a social and professional escalator for women, African-Americans and the children of immigrants. The contradictions in the student body heightened in the decades after 1945. The GI Bill and the removal of racist quotas allowed adult students to study seriously and made university admissions more meritocratic, but “corporatization” and credentialist conformity also intensified.

“The great object of Education,” Emerson wrote, should be “commensurate with the object of life.” He meant the inner life, not social life or the pursuit of a “vulgar prosperity that retrogrades ever to barbarism.” But, like Ophelia with Hamlet, today’s American student receives mixed messages. One is the Romantic ideal of education as personal liberation; the other is the Enlightenment ideal of ordering society by reason and specialization.

Mr. Roth is alert to these complexities, but he struggles to explain what happened to student identity in the 1960s. Why did the leaders of the freest and most comfortable generation in human history become Trotskyites and Maoists? Why, when the students asserted their Kantian right to educate themselves, did their independent minds all conform to the same repressive political ideologies?

The usual parochial reasons (civil rights, the Vietnam draft, campus curfews, sex-segregated dorms) are insufficient. The rebels of 1968 lost the battle but won the war by retreating to the campus, inducting generations of students into the myth of revolution and sending them on the long march through the institutions. More than the internet, the prime site of radicalization today is the elite private university. As Mr. Roth notes, if the good student is a true believer, there is no place for Socrates’ “ironic skepticism.” A degraded Confucianism endures, because the ever-expanding bureaucracy needs managers.

The university has always been a Ship of Theseus, sailing on even as all of its original timbers are replaced. It has mutated into the allegorical Ship of Fools, a vessel for the vanities. The crew is now cannibalizing itself, like the shipwrecked sailors in Théodore Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” (1819). Salman Khan’s “Brave New Words” suggests it can be refloated on the ocean of artificial intelligence. AI, Mr. Khan believes, can combine the personalized ancient model (“the kind of tutor Aristotle was to Alexander the Great”) with the impersonal modern model (“the utopian idea of offering mass public education to everyone”).

Mr. Roth asks if certification by “a teacher (or bot)” is “the capitalist version of Confucian harmony,” with teaching reduced to “lessons of conformity”; students should be so lucky. As the founder of the tutoring firm Khan Academy, Mr. Khan has done more than anyone to compensate for the failings of old-school education. He is blunt about the unsustainable inadequacy of a system in which three-quarters of graduating high-schoolers “lack basic proficiency in writing” and “a majority of students, even the ones who graduate from high school and then decide to go to college, do not even place into college-level math.”

The alternative ideal, advanced in this readable and cheery view of the academic apocalypse, would grant “every student on the planet” access to “an artificially intelligent personal tutor” that could debate with them, fine-tune their writing and suggest “new ways of experiencing art and unlocking their own creativity.” It would be enough for them to learn to read and write.

Mr. Khan offers generative AI as the sweet spot between public and private education. Instead of instructors “teaching to the test” in the classroom, or students compensating with Khan Academy’s online videos and Khanmigo chatbot, both student and teacher would work together with an AI tutor. “I do not believe machines are going to relegate the teacher to the role of the teaching assistant,” he writes. But exactly how he sees this hybrid model working isn’t always clear. If a virtual Socrates can return pupils to the agora, gearing the questions toward their individual needs, teachers most likely will end up in a reduced role, adjusting assignments and expectations to fit the AI’s lesson plans.

As the fates of Socrates and Jesus teach us, bad things are often done in the name of the public good. Mr. Khan recommends that students ask their AI to help “generate a first draft” of essays, but admits that the line between “help” and “cheating” is unclear. He recognizes the need for data protection and “guardrails” to avoid “bias and misinformation” but admits “uncertainty” about how these guardrails should be designed, because AI is a new frontier.

We have already crossed it. While Mr. Khan dreams of a “real, ethical, responsible tutor sitting next to your child when they do anything on the internet,” the emerging reality of this fraternal image is Big Brother, under orders from the Education Departmenttion and the American Federation of Teachers. Some teachers get flustered by directing the traffic at drop-off and pickup. They won’t have the time to micromanage the digital education of every child.

AI will take over because it is efficient, cheap and nonunionized: Khan Academy serves more than 100 million students a year on an annual budget of about $70 million: “equivalent to the budget of a large high school in many parts of the United States.” Mr. Khan believes that teachers won’t be thrown overboard in the name of efficiency, because teaching is an “essential profession.” But if AI will shortly “automate almost any traditional white-collar process,” why should teachers be spared?

The same goes for university students. AI, Mr. Khan writes, can be trained not to favor college applicants by “race, religion, gender, or age”—but it won’t, because that would be political anathema. AI can also detect the cheating which is endemic in college papers—but that would be bad for the university business.

Though universities will fight to retain their pre-digital monopolies, the writing is on the whiteboard. Why take out a government-issued mortgage on a traditional credential for a white-collar job that no longer exists? What kind of eupraxia would students get from completing a task in which AI did the hard work? Anyway, we don’t need more social workers, gender students and Marxist literary theorists. We need plumbers, nurses and soldiers: people trained to do the jobs that AI can not yet do. Socrates’ father was right: Stonemasonry is a job for life.

Mr. Green is a Journal contributor and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

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Guest Essay

Dear Boomers, the Student Protesters Are Not Idiots

By Elizabeth Spiers

Ms. Spiers, a contributing Opinion writer, is a journalist and a digital media strategist.

Appearing last week on “Morning Joe,” Hillary Clinton lamented what she views as the ignorance of students protesting the war in Gaza. The host, Joe Scarborough, asked her about “the sort of radicalism that has mainstream students getting propaganda, whether it’s from their professors or from the Chinese Communist government through TikTok.” Ms. Clinton was happy to oblige. “I have had many conversations, as you have had, with a lot of young people over the last many months,” she said. “They don’t know very much at all about the history of the Middle East or frankly about history in many areas of the world, including in our own country.”

I’ve taught students at the college level for 12 years, most recently at New York University’s journalism school. I’ve also seen and heard the assumptions made about them by some of their elders — administrators, parents and others. So it’s no surprise now to hear protesters described as “ spoiled and entitled kids ” or delicate “ snowflakes ” who cower in their safe spaces and don’t believe in free speech . Billionaires like Ken Griffin , Bill Ackman and, of course, Donald Trump — as entitled as anyone — have been particularly vocal in their disdain, calling the students in one instance “whiny” and demanding that they be punished for protesting. Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, even suggested that TikTok should be banned in part because “you’re seeing how these kids are being manipulated by certain groups or entities or countries to foment hate on their behalf and really create a hostile environment here in the U.S.”

Whether they realize it or not, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Lawler and the rest are engaging in a moral panic about America’s youth that is part of a larger effort to discredit higher education in general. That effort includes fearmongering about diversity programs and critical race theory. But it starts with students.

In the current panic, the protesters are described as somehow both terribly fragile and such a threat to public safety that they need to be confronted by police officers in riot gear. To justify the police department’s excessive response at Columbia University, Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry showed Newsmax viewers a large chain and a book with the title “Terrorism” that had been recovered from one site of protest. The former was a common bike chain Columbia sells to students and the latter was part of Oxford University Press’s lovely “Very Short Introductions” series, which covers topics from animal behavior to Rousseau and black holes.

There are some obvious partisan factors at work here: Staunch support for Israel among Republicans , for instance, and the long-running right-wing insistence that elite universities are liberal indoctrination camps. But recent research reveals a significant generational divide as well. A recent YouGov poll found that 45 percent of people ages 45 to 64 strongly opposed the protests, as did 56 percent of people 65 and older. By comparison, only 12 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds strongly opposed them, and 21 percent of people ages 30 to 44.

It’s not just about Gaza; similar age gaps emerged in response to protests after the murder of George Floyd, too. Eighty-seven percent of adults ages 18 to 34 supported the protests in June 2020, according to Gallup , while only 54 percent of adults 65 and older did. And just 3 percent of the older group had participated in the protests, while 26 percent of the younger group had.

We know from research that adults under 40 are more likely to participate in a protest than adults over 40, and generally prefer informal political participation more than their older cohorts, who are more likely to participate by voting. But that doesn’t fully explain the outright hostility some have leveled at campus protesters.

High-profile public figures of all ideological stripes have varyingly called for the students to be kicked out of their institutions, made unemployable or sent to prison. They’ve floated implausible scenarios in which the protests turn deadly. Students brave enough to risk their financial aid and scholarships are derided as childish rather than principled. And though they are educated to participate in civic life, as soon as these students exercise their First Amendment rights, they are told that protecting private property is a more pressing public concern. It’s as though some older adults simply can’t wrap their heads around the idea that college students, who are old enough to marry, have families and risk their lives for their country, are capable of having well thought-out principles.

“They basically want students to shut up and study,” is how Robert Cohen, a scholar of 20th-century social protest, put it when I spoke to him this week. It doesn’t matter how virtuous the cause, he explained; older generations start with a bias against students. But protest is often the only way students have any voice at all in university matters. “People do not understand that university governance is fundamentally undemocratic,” Mr. Cohen said, noting that even students who have convinced universities to consider divestment have won, at best, the right to make their case to the board.

In my experience, the stereotypes about today’s students are often ludicrously far from reality. College students of this generation have far more knowledge about complex world events than mine or Ms. Clinton’s did, thanks to the availability of the internet and a 24/7 news cycle fire-hosed directly into their phones. Representative Lawler may be correct that some portion of that information comes from clips on TikTok, and social media can be misleading, but there’s no evidence that college students are more likely to be misled by TikTok than people Mr. Lawler’s age and older are likely to be misled by Facebook. In fact, research indicates that younger people are more savvy and skeptical about media, and more likely to triangulate among different sources to see if something is true.

They may also be more sensitive to the horrors of children being killed here and elsewhere because they grew up participating in active shooter drills and watching the aftermath of mass shootings on the news. They are less financially secure than generations prior, and less likely to believe that institutions will save them or reward them for loyalty and hard work . But they are not babies, and they are not oblivious or naïve. And their ideas and actions cannot be dismissed just because some bad actor — no mass movement is without them — does or says something stupid.

I’m somewhat sympathetic to those who find protests uncomfortable. They’re always disruptive, as they’re supposed to be. And big loud crowds make me nervous now in a way that they didn’t when I was 22 and a big loud crowd was fun and meant I was at a club with oontz-oontz-oontz music and 73 of my closest friends. I now prefer political participation that is less hard on the knees. But I am exhilarated to see students using protest for exactly the reasons it’s protected by the First Amendment. It allows them to stand up for their values, invest in what’s happening in the world and hold decision makers accountable, even if it means putting themselves at risk. And most compellingly, it’s getting the attention of the president and other lawmakers who can effect change far beyond the walls of any university campus.

Elizabeth Spiers, a contributing Opinion writer, is a journalist and a digital media strategist.

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