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murielthereader 's review for:
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World has an entrancing beginning, despite the vast amount of information that gets dumped on the reader. Huxley is skillful in his delivery of this information. The ending features a satisfying Socratic dialogue, which brings me to my next observation. Brave New World seems to be inspired greatly by the argumentation of Socrates in [book:The Republic|30289] by Plato. Socrates argues that for there to be perfect justice and equality, children would have to be separated from their parents at birth and raised within a certain caste that performs its respective function to society. That way, there is no favoritism, only meritocracy.
**Contains semi-spoilers here on**
Huxley goes a step further and has these children be defined within a certain caste at the fetal stage through chemical treatments. This is no longer meritocracy, but forced predestination through human intervention. Just like in The Republic, the ruling class (Mustapha Mond in Brave New World, for example) is aware of the truth, but choose to propagate the status quo instead. For the rest of society, there is happiness contingent on an ignorance of the truth. We are left with the question of which is more important: truth or happiness? I found validity in both Mustapha Mond and John's arguments at the end. This is very much a philosophical argument. How do you define the greater good? Their right to suffer and experience life unadulterated to the greatest extent (John's argument)? Or protect them and subvert nature to the greatest degree in order for them to always be well-fed, well-clothed, and a manufactured form of "happy"?
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A brief breakdown of my rating: amazing beginning and ending, more than a few boring parts in the middle that didn't seem to drive the plot forward. For its ideas, I would give it 4 stars. For the plot, it must be bumped down to 3 stars.
**Contains semi-spoilers here on**
Huxley goes a step further and has these children be defined within a certain caste at the fetal stage through chemical treatments. This is no longer meritocracy, but forced predestination through human intervention. Just like in The Republic, the ruling class (Mustapha Mond in Brave New World, for example) is aware of the truth, but choose to propagate the status quo instead. For the rest of society, there is happiness contingent on an ignorance of the truth. We are left with the question of which is more important: truth or happiness? I found validity in both Mustapha Mond and John's arguments at the end. This is very much a philosophical argument. How do you define the greater good? Their right to suffer and experience life unadulterated to the greatest extent (John's argument)? Or protect them and subvert nature to the greatest degree in order for them to always be well-fed, well-clothed, and a manufactured form of "happy"?
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A brief breakdown of my rating: amazing beginning and ending, more than a few boring parts in the middle that didn't seem to drive the plot forward. For its ideas, I would give it 4 stars. For the plot, it must be bumped down to 3 stars.