Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Basic Facts

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Basic Facts- Brave New World Key Facts about Brave New World Where Written: England When Published: 1932 Literary Period: Modernism Genre: Dystopian novel Setting: London and New Mexico, as they exist under the rule of an imagined future one-world government called the World State. Climax: The debate between Mustapha Mond and John Antagonist: The World State; Mustapha Mond

Historical and Cultural Background Published in 1932 By 1932 the world had seen the most destructive war of the time, World War I. In response, totalitarian regimes and fascist parties took power. In addition, Huge gains in both science and technology were taking place. This provided lowcost mass produced items, including automobiles and home

Huxley’s Response In response, Huxley wrote Brave New World. It examines the rise of technology through a dystopian lens. Huxley spent the 1950’s looking for a drug that would be socially and phusically acceptable, an escape from reality in an effort to create hiss own utopia through universal happiness. The novel looks at the rise of technology, science, and totalitarianism in the 1930 s to imagine a future totalitarian state in which humanity had been robbed of all free choice and were forced into happiness through the manipulation of genetics and psychology. It closely resembles 1984.

Main Ideas and Motifs to be aware of Science Sex Power Suffering Literature Freedom Isolation Identity Drugs Class and Society

Eugenics & the USA The American Eugenics Society was an organization that began in the United States in the early 1900 s. Its mission included not just segregation, but a racial cleansing and the establishment of a strong, pure race untainted by the blood of those that were deemed lesser, whether by race or by disability. At the height of the movement, 30 states had adopted legislation that legalized the sterilization of individuals deemed unfit for reproduction. State laws in California included permissions for those who were in prisons to be eligible for sterilization, as well as those found to have any chance of carrying hereditary dementia or insanity.

Eugenics & the USA Starting in 1907, a majority of the states enacted laws authorizing forced sterilization of the “feebleminded, ” a malleable category that included people who did poorly on primitive and wholly unrealiable IQ tests. The laws also called for sterilizing people who were deaf, blind, sick, or poor-all thought to be heritable conditions. Before the eugeinc era ended, some 70, 000 Americans would be forcibly sterilized. Eugenics did far more harm in Nazi Germany, where 360, 000 or more people were forcibly sterilized in the service of a warped racial ideology.

Supporters of eugenics Alexander Graham Bell was a staunch supporter of the movement, and thought that deaf people should not be allowed to marry. Many eugenics projects got their financing from some of the corporate moguls of the day, including the Carnegie Institution, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Harriman railroad conglomerate. The Racial Integrity Act of Virginia was established in 1924. The purpose was to document the race of every person in the state, allowing for a massive genetic database to be created.

Better babies? State fairs across the country started holding Better Babies contests. Mothers were encouraged to bring their babies to fair judging contests, and in much the same way as livestock was judged, babies would be judged on things like health, weight, and size. Better Babies soon evolved into Fitter Families, a contest where whole families would present judges not only with their happy, healthy babies, but with an abbreviated version of their racial pedigree. Doctors would perform examinations on all the members of the family, awarding and deducting points according to guidelines, and families were given a letter grade to show just how eugenics-friendly their family was. Winners would be rewarded with medals and trophies in these contests, which remained hugely popular throughout the 1920 s.

Embryo Editing Recently, a National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine endorsed embryo editing. Embryo editing is aimed at genes that cause serious diseases when there is no reasonable alternative. It is more wary of editing for “enhancement, ” like making already-healthy children stronger or taller. They recommended a public discussion, and said doctors should “not proceed at this time. ” Some of the biggest supporters of embryo editing today are people who carry genes for serious disorders such as Huntington’s disease which can cause people to lose bodily control and slowly go mad.

Read and Respond Agree or Disagree Twentieth century eugenics has been called a war on the weak while embryo editing is called a war for the weak.