XMind

"Brave New World" and its characters

1. The Novel

   1. written by Aldous Huxley

   2. first published 1932

   3. setting

      1. "World State"

      2. 632 "after Ford" (about 2540 A.D.)

   4. themes

      1. advantages and disadvanteges of technology

      2. price for happiness

      3. danger of too powerful government

2. Social Structure

   1. government

      1. World State

         1. Motto: Community, Identity, Stability

         2. 10 world controlers

         3. people are "predestined" into one of 5 castes

         4. conditioning (mentally and physically) to fulfill different tasks

      2. Islands

         1. on islands (e.g. Iceland) social outcasts can lead a relativly individual life

         2. being sent to an island is usually regarded as a punishment

      3. Reservations

         1. cut of by huge electric fences

         2. “a place which […] has not been worth the expense of civilizing” (p. 139)

   2. caste system

      1. Alphas

         1. wear grey

         2. intelligent

         3. take over important jobs (directors, controllers, wardens, ...)

      2. Betas

         1. wear mulberry

         2. still have individual lifes

      3. Gammas

         1. wear green

      4. Deltas

         1. wear khaki

      5. Epsilons

         1. wear black

         2. illiterate

         3. "don't need human intelligence" (p. 15)

      6. (Savages)

         1. live outside the world state

         2. are not regarded as "civilized"

      1. Bokanovsky’s Process creates up to 96 identical “twins”

3. Background Figures

   1. idolized

      1. Henry Ford

         1. born 1863, died 1947

         2. American Industrialist

         3. inventor of the assembly line for cars

         4. founder of the "Ford Motor Company"

         5. worshiped like a god in the World State

      2. Sigmund Freud

         1. born 1856, died 1939

         2. Austrian physician, psychologist

         3. famous for development of the psychoanalysis

         4. critic of religion

         5. seeing sexual desire as primary motivational energy of human life

         6. in the novel seen as the same person as Ford

      3. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

         1. born 1849, died 1936

         2. Russian physician, psychologist

         3. described phenomen of conditioning

         4. World State conditioning methods are named after him

      4. Thomas Malthus

         1. born 1766, died 1834

         2. British Scholar

         3. population theories

         4. in the novel: methods of contraception named after him

   2. illegal

      1. William Shakespeare

         1. born 1564, died 1616

         2. famous English poet and playwright

         3. quoted throughout the novel (by John)

      2. Cardinal Newman

         1. born 1801, died 1890

         2. roman catholic priest and cardinal in England

         3. wrote influential (religious) books

      3. Maine de Biran

         1. born 1766, died 1824

         2. French philosopher

      4. Francis Herbert Bradley (?)

         1. born 1846, died 1924

         2. English philosopher

   3. fictional

      1. Reuben Rabinovitch

         1. little boy from Poland

         2. first to experience the effects of sleep teaching

4. Characters

   1. main characters

      1. Bernard Marx

         1. characteristics

            1. alpha-plus

            2. psychologist specializing in hypnopædia

            3. smaller than normal alphas

            4. bad reputaion

            5. popular theory: too much alcohol in his blood-surrogate when he was fetus

         2. attitude

            1. in love with Lenina

            2. often has negative feelings

            3. coward, hypocrite

            4. jealous

            5. feels isolated from rest of society

               1. inferiority complex due to his small height

               2. doesn’t enjoy sports, solidarity service, sex, soma

               3. feels that others don’t respect him (even lower castes) (p. 56)

            6. independence of mind because of feeling inferior and depressive rather than philosophically convinced

         3. development

            1. is desperate at the prospect of being sent to iceland

            2. with John: finally enjoys everything he longed for

            3. succes goes to his head

         4. function

            1. human: want’s things he can’t have

            2. values similar to someone from today’s society

            3. ironic: just after Mond’s explanation that everybody’s happy comes unhappy Bernard

      2. John the Savage ("Mr. Savage")

         1. characteristics

            1. appearance: blond hair, pale blue eyes, bronzed skin

            2. son of Linda and the D.H.C.

            3. born in Malpais

            4. grew up with Indian as well as Utopian culture

            5. was taught to read with Shakespeare

         2. attitude

            1. always quotes Shakespeare, values based on Shakespeare’s plays

            2. hated Popé, tried to kill him

            3. naive optimism about the "Brave New World" (crushed in reality)

            4. outcast in both primitive and modern society

         3. development

            1. used by Bernard to humiliate the Director

            2. back in London: celebrity

            3. loves Lenina, sees himself as Romeo, Lenina as Juliet (p. 156)

            4. is outraged by Linda’s death & the death conditioning of children

            5. tries to enlighten the BNW-society by taking away the Soma

            6. flees to an abandoned “air-lighthouse” (p. 209)

            7. hunted down by a mob of sightseers

            8. finally hangs himself (p. 222)

         4. function

            1. represents "normal" values

            2. failure of the World State's system

            3. discusses central questions of the novel with Mond

      3. Lenina Crowne

         1. characteristics

            1. Beta-Plus

            2. "uncommonly pretty" (p. 17)

            3. auburn, permantently waved hair

            4. Vaccination-worker at the Hatchery

            5. ideal woman: attractive, popular, "pneumatic"

         2. attitude

            1. typical of her society

            2. happy, well conditioned

            3. defies conventions by dating Henry alone longer than usually

            4. doesn’t understand John’s values

         3. development

            1. likes Bernard Marx despite his reputation

            2. wants to see the reservation

            3. also profits from John’s fame

            4. frustrated that John doesn’t want her

         4. function

            1. at first seems different from the others

            2. a typical representative for a female world state citizen

      4. Mustapha Mond

         1. characteristics

            1. Alpha-Double Plus

            2. appearance: middle height, black hair, hooked nose, dark, piercing eyes

            3. World Controller for Western Europe

            4. makes the rules for society, decides what may be published

            5. admired, worshiped almost like a god

         2. attitude

            1. was interested in science when he was young

            2. access to forbidden books (“But as I make the laws here, I can also break them.” p. 188)

            3. one of the most independent thinkers

            4. knows that high art was “sacrificed” as “the price we have to pay for stability” (p. 190)

         3. development

            1. lectures students about past and present state of the earth

            2. patiently explains John why things are the way they are (pp. 188-206)

            3. won’t let John leave (“to go on with the experiment” p. 208)

         4. function

            1. links old and new values, explains the new ones

            2. debates with John

      5. Helmholtz Watson

         1. characteristics

            1. Alpha Plus

            2. appearance: athletic, handsome

            3. physical beauty, muscular strength, success

            4. lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing)

         2. attitude

            1. isolated because of intelligence

            2. looks for a deeper sense of life

            3. unsatisfied with his job: “Can you say something about nothing?” (p. 61)

         3. development

            1. gets into trouble because he wrote a poem about solitude (p. 155)

            2. loves poetry, but cultural difference makes him laugh at Shakespeare's works

            3. without hesitation joins John’s uprising (p. 184)

            4. gladly accepts to go to the Falkland Islands

         4. function

            1. more philosophical resistance to society than Bernard

            2. still influenced by the conditioning

      6. Thomas "Tomakin" (D.H.C.)

         1. characteristics

            1. Alpha

            2. appearance: tall, rather thin, long chin, prominent teeth

            3. Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C.) for London

            4. administrates the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre

         2. attitude

            1. self-important

            2. strictly conventional, conservative

         3. development

            1. in a flashback tells Bernard about the events in the reservation (lost his girl)

            2. is humiliated and ridiculed by the appearance of his son

            3. resigns his job, leaves

         4. function

            1. typical male citizen

            2. at first high position, later suffers from society

   2. minor characters

      1. Malpais

         1. Popé

            1. a native of Malpais

            2. Appearance: long, black braids; wears a large silver bracelet with turquoise

            3. sleeps with Linda

            4. brings her Mezcal

            5. gives Linda a copy of „The Complete Works of Shakespeare“

            6. John hates him, once attempts to kill him

         2. Linda

            1. a Beta-Minus

            2. pregnant with John when she gets lost from Thomas in a trip to New Mexico

            3. too ashamed to go back (because of John)

            4. misses the civilization

            5. loves John (doesn’t want Popé to touch him, tells him about the World State, teaches him to read and write)

            6. ages, grows fat

            7. gets used to mescal (alcohol) instead of soma

            8. is disliked by savage people and by civilized people

            9. return to civilization = return to soma, tv etc. (permanent soma-holiday)

            10. dies shortly after returning to the World State

         3. Old Mitsima

            1. teaches John to live the Indian way (e.g. pottery and building a bow)

            2. may be a father figure

         4. Kiakime

            1. gets maried in the pueblo

            2. John liked her, runs away

         5. Kothlu

            1. marries Kiakime

         6. Palowhtiwa

            1. young Indian who does a ritual procedure while Lenina and Bernard are at the reservation

      2. World State

         1. Friends/ relations of Lenina

            1. Fanny Crowne

               1. Beta

               2. embryo worker in the bottling room

               3. good-natured

               4. not related to Lenina (only about 10000 names are still in use)

               5. friends with Lenina, often talks to her

               6. voices the conventional values of her society (e.g. that Lenina should have more than one man)

            2. Benito Hoover

               1. disliked by Bernard

               2. always good-natured, kind to others

               3. always offers sex-hormone chewing gum

               4. friend and ex-lover of Lenina (she describes him as too hairy)

               5. stereotypical Alpha (obeys all social norms, quotes hypnopaedic learning)

            3. Henry Foster

               1. conventional Alpha male

               2. expert on statistics in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre

               3. discusses Lenina’s body with co-workers

               4. his success makes Bernard jealous

               5. cowardly leaves Lenina alone when John attacks them (p. 221)

            4. George Edzel

               1. Alpha

               2. Lenina states his ears are too big

            5. Jean-Jacques Habibullah

            6. Bokanovski Jones

            1. (Ex-)lovers of Lenina

         2. Solidarity Group

            1. Morgana Rothschild

               1. Bernard sits next to her during the “orgy-porgy” and is distracted by her unibrow

            2. Fifi Bradlaugh

               1. Bernard states she is attractive, but he prefers other women

            3. Clara Deterding

            4. Joanna Diesel

            5. Sarojini Engels

            6. Jim Bokanovsky

            7. Herbert Bakunin

            8. Tom Kawaguchi

               1. arrives later than Bernard and gets a better seat (which makes Bernard jealous)

            1. attractive women at the solidarity service, Bernard regrets not to sit next to them

            2. male members of Bernard’s Solidarity Group (frequent soma-driven orgys)

         3. Eton College

            1. Miss Keate

               1. Headmistress of Eton College

            2. Dr Gaffney

               1. provost (director) of Eton College

         4. Physicians

            1. Dr. Wells

               1. advises Fanny to take a pregnancy substitute

            2. Dr. Shaw

               1. agrees to leave Linda on “permanent soma-holiday” - even though it will shorten her life

         5. Reporters

            1. Primo Mellon

               1. reporter for the Hourly Radio

               2. tries to interview John who then kicks him

            2. Darwin Bonaparte

               1. paparazzo

               2. brings attention to John by publishing photos and videos of him

         6. Others

            1. Polly Trotsky

               1. little girl involved in sexual play in the garden during the student’s tour

            2. Arch-Community songster of canterburry

               1. the (secular) equivalent of an archbishop

               2. powerful, influential

               3. sleeps with Lenina

               4. upset when John doesn’t show up at Bernards party

         7. Jobs in the World State (examples)

            1. Director of Predestination

            2. Assistant Superintendent of Psychology

            3. Warden of the Reservation

            4. Ford Chief-Justice

            5. Director of Crematoria and Phosphorus Reclamation

   1. character relations

5. Meaningful Names

   1. main characters

      1. Mustapha Mond

         1. Mustapha Kemal Atatürk

            1. founder of Turkey after World War One

            2. pulled his country into modernisation and official secularism

         2. Alfred Mond

            1. charismatic British businessman and politician

            2. founder of Imperial Chemical Industries corporation

      2. Bernard Marx

         1. George Bernard Shaw

            1. playwright

         2. Karl Marx

            1. German philosopher

            2. author of "Das Kapital" and "The Communist Manifesto"

      3. Lenina Crowne

         1. Vladimir Lenin

            1. Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution

      4. Helmholtz Watson

         1. Hermann von Helmholtz

            1. German physician and physicist

         2. John B. Watson

            1. American behaviorist

   2. the Reservation

      1. Popé

         1. Native American rebel

         2. blamed for Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico

   3. Friends/ relations of Lenina

      1. Fanny Crowne

         1. Fanny Kaplan

            1. famous for an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Lenin

      2. Benito Hoover

         1. Benito Mussolini

            1. dictator of Italy

         2. Herbert Hoover

            1. then President of the USA

      3. Jean-Jacques Habibullah

         1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

            1. French political philosopher

         2. Habibullah Khan

            1. served as Emir of Afghanistan in the early 20th century

   4. at solidarity service

      1. Morgana Rothschild

         1. J P Morgan

            1. US banker

         2. Rothschild family

            1. famous for its European banking operations

      2. Herbert Bakunin

         1. Herbert Spencer

            1. English philosopher

            2. Social Darwinist

         2. Mikhail Bakunin

            1. Russian philosopher and anarchist

      3. Fifi Bradlaugh

         1. Charles Bradlaugh

            1. British political activist and atheist

      4. Clara Deterding

         1. Henri Deterding

            1. co-founder of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company

      5. Joanna Diesel

         1. Rudolf Diesel

            1. German engineer who invented the diesel engin

      6. Sarojini Engels

         1. Friedrich Engels

            1. co-author of The Communist Manifesto along with Karl Marx

         2. Sarojini Naidu

            1. an Indian politician

      7. Tom Kawaguchi

         1. Ekai Kawaguchi

            1. Japanese Buddhist monk

            2. the first recorded Japanese traveler to Tibet and Nepal

   5. others

      1. Polly Trotsky

         1. Leon Trotsky

            1. Russian revolutionary leader

      2. Miss Keate

         1. John Keate

            1. nineteenth-century headmaster

      3. Dr Wells

         1. H. G. Wells

            1. British writer and utopian socialist

            2. found unrealistic by Huxley

      4. Dr Shaw

         1. another reference to George Bernard Shaw?

      5. Primo Mellon

         1. Miguel Primo de Rivera

            1. prime minister and dictator of Spain (1923–1930)

         2. Thomas Mellon

            1. American lawyer

            2. founder of the Mellon Bank

      6. Darwin Bonaparte

         1. Napoleon Bonaparte

            1. military and political leader (later emperor) of France

         2. Charles Darwin

            1. theory of evolution

      7. Arch-Community songster of canterburry

         1. Archbishop of Canterbury

            1. parody on the Anglican Church's decision to approve limited use of contraception

6. Sources & Additional Information

   1. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Berlin: Cornelsen, 2007. Print.

      1. all page references refer to this edition

   2. "Brave New World." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 5 February 2010.

      1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World

      2. a long, detailed article; offers a nice overview of the characters

   3. "Book Notes for 'Brave New World'." Literapedia. Wikispaces. Web. 5 February 2010.

      1. http://literapedia.wikispaces.com/Brave+New+World

      2. very short summaries on the different chapters - to get a quick overview

   4. "study guides"

      1. Huxley.net. David Pearce. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://huxley.net/bnwbab.html

         2. includes Huxley's "Brave New World Revisited" - not a must read but maybe interesting...

      2. "Novel Analysis Brave New World." Novelguide.com. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://www.novelguide.com/bravenewworld/index.html

         2. copyright AND design of 1999... but good information

      3. "Book Notes on Brave New World." BookRags. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://www.bookrags.com/notes/bnw/

         2. very detailed

      4. "SparkNote on Brave New World." SparkNotes.com. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bravenew/

         2. very detailed, my personal favourite

      5. "Brave New World Study Guide & Literature Essays." GradeSaver. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://www.gradesaver.com/brave-new-world/

         2. short articles, includes a "Glossary of Terms"

      6. "Brave New World." Abiturerfolg.de. Web. 5 February 2010.

         1. http://www.abiturerfolg.de/bravenewworld.html

         2. some mistakes, not too recommandable