Aldous Huxleycaste

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Brave New World (1932)

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)



Born in Surrey in 1894.

His family members were prominent figures of

the English ruling class and intellectual elite:

His father was the son of Thomas Henry

Huxley (great biologist who helped to developthe theory of evolution).

His mother was the niece of Matthew Arnold

(important English poet).

Huxley’s ancestry “brought down on him aweight of intellectual authority and a

momentum of moral obligations.”



When a student at Eton, he started suffering from an

eye illness which almost made him blind.

Partially healed, attended Oxford University and

graduated with honors but was not able to fight in

World War I or engage in scientific work.

Acquired an encyclopaedic erudition; travelled widely

around the world ; lived in Italy for a while

His experiences in these places provided material to be

used in Brave New World (1931 – publ.1932)

(ie. Benito Mussolini led an authoritarian government that

fought against birth control in order to produce

manpower for the war)



Highly interested in

politics (pamphlets against the Spanish War)

pacifism (supported the Peace Movement)

mysticism ( experienced drugs to improve hisvision)

Extremely prolific and versatile, wrote about

painting, religion, music, science, philosophy

A major influence upon the youngintelligentsia of his time



1984 : Important Terms

Totalitarianism

The political concept that the citizen should be

totally subject to an absolute state authority

Caste System

division of society based on differences of wealth,inherited rank or privilege, profession,occupation, or race



UTOPIA = Imaginary, indefinite place of ideal perfection(especially in laws, government, and social conditions)

ANTIUTOPIA / DYSTOPIA

The reverse of traditional utopia. It’s aim is to promotethe advent of a better society by presenting the negative

aspects of society in hideous terms.

A dystopian work tends to exaggerate tendencies

already present in society, projecting them into the

future and warning mankind against the dangers of continuing along the same path.

FIRST ANTI-UTOPIA: Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels



Caste System

The caste system in Brave New

World includes 5 major castes named

after Greek letters (i.e. , Alpha to

Epsilon)There are differences in the

members of castes (i.e., outer

appearance, intelligence, livelihood).

They are trained to dislike other

castes; as a result , everyone is

happy and stability is achieved.



Introduction

Thomas (The Director)

He is the administrator in the year 623AF of the

Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre.

The Director runs a futuristic baby-factory where

the assembly-line production of genetic castes is

streamlined and controlled, and maturing

youngsters are conditioned to be happy abouttheir state-allotted roles in life.



Structure

10 World Controllers

Alphas Plus(ruling elite)

Alphas (elite)Betas

Gammas

DeltasEpsilons



Function of Caste System

The society in Brave New Worldseeks to create happiness for

everyone. Everyone is happy to

belong to their caste.The caste system is needed to cover

every little part of the processes that

form the society (i.e. work, housing,etc.). Everyone works for everyone

(COMMUNITY).

Aldous Huxleycaste

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