Brave New World Questions and Answers
Brave New World
What is hypnopaedia teaching in Brave New World?
Hypnopaedia is teaching children in their sleep. As children in the World State have no parents, they all live in dormitories. Every night they hear repetitions of the ideas that the state wants...
Brave New World
Why did John kill himself in Brave New World?
John's values and outlook on life are thoroughly incompatible with the World State: he despises the World States and everything it stands for, a theme quite strongly expressed in the confrontation...
Brave New World
What is the pregnancy substitute in Brave New World?
Central to the continued functioning and social order of the World State, all of society operates through a very strict hierarchy quite akin to a caste system. Identified by corresponding letters...
Brave New World
Why are the children having erotic playtime in Brave New World?
Children engage in erotic play because it teaches them to equate sex with meaningless fun. Sex plays a very different role in the modern society than it does in ours. To them, motherhood and birth...
Brave New World
What does the title Brave New World mean?
When Miranda uses the phrase "brave new world" to describe the survivors of the shipwreck in The Tempest, the jaded Prospero responds, "'Tis new to thee." Huxley presents the reader with an...
Brave New World
What is the purpose of the Solidarity Service, and why does Bernard feel more alone afterwards?
The Solidarity Service is an orgy. Its purpose is sexual release. The sexual release occurs in a context that binds people more tightly to the society as a whole rather than in an exclusive sexual...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, what is the Bokanovsky Process?
Bokanovsky's Process involves splitting a single embryo into anywhere from eight to 96 identical embryos, each of which will grow into an identical human being. When one of the students asks what...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, how do the people in The World State feel about death?
Because the World State wishes to minimize discomfort while maximizing happiness and security, people are taught to view death casually. The society has no funerals, no grieving, and no cemeteries....
Brave New World
What are the similarities and differences between John the savage and Bernard Marx in Brave New World? Although they...
One might assume John the Savage and Bernard Marx would get along well. Both hate the shallow hedonism of the World State, particularly in regards to art and love. When his co-workers talk about...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, what is each caste's designated color?
Each caste in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is distinguished by the color of its work clothes. In order of caste from lowest to highest, Epsilons dress in black, Deltas wear khaki, Gammas wear...
Brave New World
How does society trick the Savage in chapter 18 of Brave New World?
In Chapter 17 of "Brave New World," the Savage defiantly tells Mustapha Mond, 'But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, why does John refuse to come to the party? What effect does this have on Bernard?
When John refuses to come to the party, or even to open the door to Bernard, at the beginning of chapter 12, the only reason he gives for not wanting to attend is that he has always done so before....
Brave New World
What is the Social Predestination Room in Brave New World?
The Director of the Hatcheries gave the students a tour of the institution and explained the activities that took place in the different departments. The centre was basically a human reproduction...
Brave New World
What is the purpose of the Hatchery and Conditioning Center?
In Brave New World, the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is the site of all reproduction of human life. There ova are kept at "blood-heat" and sperm frozen. Once the ova are...
Brave New World
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, what does John the Savage mean when he says, "O brave new world that has such...
It is ironic that only a handful of the people in the brave new world would understand the title of the book, or be familiar with the source of the quotation which provides it. When John the Savage...
Brave New World
Explain John’s quote in Brave New World that “eternity was in our lips and eyes.”
In addition to expanding John's perception of eternity, this moment represents a unique connection for the displaced character in modern society. At the beginning of chapter 11, Linda takes comfort...
Brave New World
Describe Bernard's relationship with Lenina in Brave New World.
The culture in Huxley's Brave New World demands that no one participates in monogamous relationships. Everyone is supposed to date and sleep around, but at the beginning of the book, Lenina has...
Brave New World
In Chapter 18, how can you explain the description of the novel's closing paragraph? do you find any symbolism?
The final section of Chapter 18 in Brave New World describes how the helicopter pilots uncover John the Savage's body in the lighthouse: Just under the crown of the arch dangled a pair of feet....
Brave New World
In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, what is the religion on the Savage Reservation?
When Bernard and Lenina visit the Savage reservation, they watch a religious ceremony. The people first bring out painted images of an eagle and of Jesus nailed to the cross. In the ceremony, a...
Brave New World
What Is Obstacle Golf
Obstacle Golf, like Escalator Squash, is an example of a complex sport created primarily for the purpose of keeping factories busy producing parts for it. As the Director explains, all sports are...
Brave New World
Explain the irony contained in chapter 10 of Brave New World.
The most common form of irony contained in chapter 10 of Brave New World is situational irony, in which outcome differs from expectation; this situational irony is cemented by the actions of the...
Brave New World
What are the tasks/jobs each caste in the caste system carries out in Brave New World?
The classes in Brave New World are named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Within these five categories, we hear pluses and minuses...
Brave New World
In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, what is the function of the Solidarity Service? Discuss the various ways in...
The Solidarity Service functions as a religious ritual in the World State. Its purpose is to reinforce the social conditioning that everyone belongs to everyone else, as well as to provide...
Brave New World
What is the purpose of John's citing lines from Romeo and Juliet in chapter 9 of Brave New World?
John quotes from act 3, scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet, in which Romeo has been banished from Verona and is complaining to Friar Laurence that even animals—even flies—will be allowed to touch Juliet,...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, why do you think the Reservations are maintained? What is shown about the people of this society...
When John arrives in London from the Savage Reservation, he learns that a savage reservation is a place which, owing to unfavourable climatic or geological conditions, or poverty of natural...
Brave New World
How are the castes in Brave New World different from each other?
One significant difference is that the two highest castes - Beta and Alpha - are not mass-produced, and thus have a degree of individuality. That individuality extends, logically, to physical...
Brave New World
What do Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson have in common in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley?
Let's start by stating some simple, surface level similarities. Both characters are male, and both are bred Alpha males. That means both men have been designed and conditioned to be top tier...
Brave New World
Helmholtz calls Shakespeare a “marvelous propaganda technician.” How does he explain Shakespeare’s success?
In chapter 12, Helmholtz was in trouble for sharing a rhyme with his class; the rhyme was challenging the student’s conditioning. He narrated the rhyme to John who thought it better to share his...
Brave New World
What does Helmholtz think is the source of Shakespeare's power?
Helmholtz says that Shakespeare was an excellent propaganda technician, but his society was more interesting so he had more to write about. John, who grew up on a reservation and is referred to as...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, how are Bernard and John similar? How are they different?
John the savage is ridiculed by the larger new world population for his beliefs with regards to issues such as monogamy. On the other hand, Bernard is ridiculed about his beliefs with regards to...
Brave New World
What is a Neo-Pavlovian in Brave New World?
A Neo-Pavlovian is a conditioning room where the babies in their different categories are conditions to fit into their life roles in the new world. Each set of babies belong to a specific group and...
Brave New World
What do "ending is better than mending" and "the more stitches, the less riches" mean in Brave New World by Aldous...
These quotes are repeated over and over at night until they are conditioned into people, especially betas like Lenina. The World State relies on high levels of consumption to support its industry,...
Brave New World
Explain why Bokanovsky's Process is one of the major instruments of social stability.
The Bokanovsky process is important for social stability as envisioned in the novel Brave New World. The purpose of this process was to enable the government to control the population and the...
Brave New World
Describe Bernard's new life in chapter 11 of Brave New World.
Bernard Marx's life dramatically changes after he returns from the Savage Reservation with John "The Savage." Upon his return, Bernard becomes an instant celebrity and suddenly experiences what it...
Brave New World
How does Bernard feel during and after the service in Chapter 5?
Bernard, an Alpha plus, is running late and has to rush to the Solidarity Service in chapter five. When he arrives, he is relieved not to be the last one there, which underlines how important...
Brave New World
Who Is John Why Is He Attracted To Lenina
John feels emotions deeply, as he has been influenced to do so both by his "savage" culture and his immersion in Shakespeare. He loves both his mother and Lenina in a conflicted, suffering way....
Brave New World
What is done with the dead in the book Brave New World?
Dead bodies are cremated in the World State, which allows them be reused as phosphorus for plant fertilizer. As Bernard Marx explains to Lenina: "More than a kilo and a half [of phosphorus] per...
Brave New World
Freemartin Brave New World
Freemartins are the 70 percent of females in the World State in Brave New World who are neutered as embryos by being given male hormones. Freemartins don't produce eggs and so can't give birth. Of...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, what is soma? Can it be compared to Prozac?
Soma is a kind of opiate in Brave New World that causes people to feel happy so that they don't concentrate on the reality that they live in a dictatorship. Soma is described as having “all the...
Brave New World
How is Bernard Marx different from his associates in Brave New World?
In Huxley's celebrated novel Brave New World, Bernard Marx is an Alpha-Plus who is treated as an outcast in the World State because of his appearance and personality. Bernard Marx is significantly...
Brave New World
Why does John have so much trouble dealing with the children and the Head Nurse?
John is experiencing a good deal of grief about his mother dying and can't understand why children are being allowed to intrude on the experience. They pop up around Linda's bed as John sits with...
Brave New World
How are families and community portrayed in Brave New World?
The traditional family unit is non-existent in the technologically advanced, futuristic World State, and each citizen is dedicated to their specific role in advancing their society. In the World...
Brave New World
What is the main conflict in Brave New World?
As in many works of dystopian science fiction, the main conflict in Brave New World is that between technology and human needs. Although technology is supposed to satisfy everyone's needs and to...
Brave New World
According to the director, why did Ford decide that families were dangerous?
According to the director, Ford determined that families were dangerous because they had fathers, who made people miserable, and mothers, who brought with them psychological "perversions" that...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, what symbolic meaning might zippers have in the novel? What do you think is the origin of the T...
In Brave New World, you could tell how Aldous Huxley uses zippers to symbolize how the dystopian World State is centered on hyper-efficiency and productivity. The zippers are something like a...
Brave New World
What are some literary devices used in the book Brave New World and where are they found?
Huxley utilizes symbolism in his novel by depicting Henry Ford as a symbolic religious figure and deity who resembles Christ. In the World State, technology and manufacturing are supreme, and Henry...
Brave New World
What does "ending is better than mending" mean?
The dystopian society depicted in Brave New World is a throwaway society, a place where consumer products are casually discarded when they are no longer any use. Instead of trying to fix broken or...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, according to John, in what way are the people of this society being “punished” for their “sins”?...
In Brave New World, John the Savage believes that people in the World State are being punished for their "sins" by being robbed of their humanity. They live stunted, superficial, seemingly happy...
Brave New World
In Brave New World, why does Bernard go to the reservation?
Neither Bernard nor the narrator directly explain why he wants to travel to the Savage Reservation. However, the text does give us clues. Bernard is a highly intelligent Alpha-plus who is a...
Brave New World
Rephrase Lenina's saying "Was and will make me ill. I take a gramme and only am."
This line is from Chapter Six of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. In Part 3 of this chapter, against her misgivings about Bernard, Lenina has decided to go with him to the Reservation. But, when...
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