The story of “Brave New World” may be set in a future world, but it was influenced by Aldous Huxley’s impression and extrapolation of the world of his time. Written between the two World Wars, one can easily glimpse a certain sense of time and place in the plot, setting, and themes he developed. Nevertheless, the novel could speak to his generation and carry its prophetic message to the present. Several historical events and sentiments help us understand the story’s context better.
Historical Context
Aldous Huxley wrote “Brave New World” in France in 1931 and published it in 1932. The world had undergone and was going through significant changes. Seldom in world history had a generation experienced such significant change on such a global scale. The First World War had ended a decade ago, with a carnage of its kind never being seen. Russia had seen a bloody revolution, which led to the creation of the communist Soviet Union, and was ruled by Stalin. The Roaring Twenties had just ended, which saw unprecedented economic growth matched by a rise in consumer culture. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 had ushered in the decade-long Great Depression. The Second Industrial Revolution, or the Technological Revolution, led to rapid industrialization, scientific discoveries, mass production, and standardization. Radical political movements spread throughout Europe, from the far left to the far right.
Author’s Background
Huxley was born on 26th July 1894. He was born into the Huxley family, a renowned family of biologists. He showed early promise in following the family tradition, but an eye disease that blinded him for two years cut short his aspiration to become a doctor. He switched to literature instead. His bad eyesight prevented him from military service during the World War, and he taught French for a year at Eton. George Orwell, who wrote 1984, was his student. He completed his first novel at 17 and published four satire novels: “Crome Yellow” (1921), “Antic Hay” (1923), “Those Barren Leaves” (1925), and “Point Counter Point” (1928). “Brave New World” was his fifth novel. Huxley was influenced by the scientific ideas of his time. Darwinism, eugenics, and genetic manipulation were ideas that charged popular imagination at the time. He also observed how Ford’s ideas were pervasive in society when he visited San Francisco. J. B. S. Haldane published a lecture, “Daedelus“, in which he explored the subversive nature of scientific progress and its dangers, which also influenced his ideas. D.H. Lawrence and H.G. Wells were literary influences.
Cultural Context
Techno-optimism and scientific futurism were ideas that followed the rapid scientific discoveries, technological growth, and industrialization of the early 20th century. Consumerism became a dominant feature of the economic boom. With the surplus wealth created came the hedonism of the Roaring Twenties. Standardized entertainment was developed to cater to the masses coming into abundance. Huxley’s article in Vanity Fair titled “Pleasures” lampoons modern entertainment as catering to a dumb, undifferentiated mass of people and, therefore, can be mass-produced. Cinema meant that movies were dumbed down and consumed by many. Other distractions were created to fill the population’s leisure time. It became almost impossible to find distractions that tasked the mind. Or even to imagine entertaining oneself.
Literary Context
Huxley wrote soft science fiction, which focused more on the social aspect of the world created than its scientific foundation. “Brave New World” was taking a baton from the science fiction of the earlier generation. Specifically, it caricatures of H. G. Wells’ “A Modern Utopia“. The ingenuity of Huxley’s “Brave New World” was that he subverted the utopia trope to create his dystopia, describing a world full of contented, pleasure-seeking citizens who had no reason to revolt because they were so sated. Similar works like Orwell’s “1984” and Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” could only imagine a state that oppressed its citizens with force and coercion. Huxley argued in a letter he sent to Orwell on the publication of his book.
“Within the next generation I believe that the world’s leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narcohypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience.”
Critical Reception
Upon its publication, critics generally praised “Brave New World” as a remarkable, well-written novel. G. K. Chesterton found merit in Huxley’s book in that it questioned the naive optimism of the earlier generation’s utopian fiction, reflecting the feeling of a generation disillusioned over both the social promises of socialism and the economic ones of capitalism. Over time, the novel continues to receive positive reviews, particularly for its accurate examination of human nature and society. However, charges of plagiarism have continued to dog Huxley about the book, with readers noting the close resemblance of ideas and themes to other earlier works.
Modern Relevance
“Brave New World” has received that dubious honor of controversial books: banned due to the work insensitivity, use of offensive language, and being sexually explicit. It ranks high on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books. On the other hand, the novel ranks among the Top 100 lists compiled by Modern Library, The Observer, and BBC.
Because of its popularity, it has been adapted into different media several times since its publication. It has been adapted into a radio broadcast three times, made into a film three times, and developed into two TV series, the most recent of which aired in 2020.
