A satirical piece of fiction, not scientific prophecy

 A piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work.  While satire can be funny, its aim is not to amuse, but to arouse contempt.  Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several other techniques are almost always present.

ELF 40S Ms. Van Den Buss che

 A Utopia is a place or society that appears perfect in every way.  The government is perfect, working to improve societies standards of living rather then their own, social aspects of the community run perfectly.  There is no war or disease, only peace and happiness. Everyone outside this Utopian society looks to this place in wonder and awe, believing it is completely perfect in every such way.

 Dystopia came from the term Utopia.  It defines a place or society which is in complete chaos.  The citizens are all suffering and are miserable.  Often times in novels what appears to be a Utopian society it first by the visiting protagonist is actually revealed to be a dystopian society.  The citizens are often revealed to live in terror, under complete control by the government, unaware of corrupt world in which they actually live in, or suppressed by the society as a whole.

“Utopias appear to be much easier to realize than one formerly believed. We currently face a question that would otherwise fill us with anguish: How to avoid their becoming definitively real ? The utopias are attainable. Life marches towards the utopias. And it can be that a new century begins, a century where the intellectuals and the educated class will dream means to avoid the utopias and to return a non- utopian society, less ‘perfect’ and ‘free’.” Nicolas Berdiaeff

 “ Reading Brave New World elicits the same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has vanquished. ”

 Huxley exploits anxieties about Soviet Communism and American capitalism.  The price of universal happiness will be the sacrifice of honored shibboleths of our culture: “ motherhood, ” “ home, ” “ family, ” “ freedom, ” even “ love. ”

 Mustapha Mond, Resident Controller of Western Europe, governs a society where all aspects of an individual's life are determined by the state, beginning with conception and conveyor-belt reproduction.  A government bureau, the Predestinators, decides all roles in the hierarchy.  Children are raised and conditioned by the state bureaucracy, not brought up by natural families. There are only 10,000 surnames. Citizens must not fall in love, marry, or have their own kids.

 Brave New World is centered around both control and manipulation He instills the fear that a future world state may rob us of the right to be unhappy.

 Setting: 2540 AD; referred to in the novel as 632 years AF ( “ After Ford ” ), meaning 632 years after production of the first Model T car  Narration: Third-person omniscient  Point-of-View: Narrated in the third person from the point of view of Bernard or John, but also from the point of view of Lenina, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond

Huxley on advertising, the media, and propaganda "This is rather alarming that you're being persuaded below the level of choice and reason... Advertisement plays a necessary role but the danger of it to a democracy is this: a democracy depends on the individual voter making a rational choice for enlightened self-interest. What these people are doing [advertisers] when their purpose is selling goods, what the dictatorial propagandists are doing, is to try to bypass the rational side of humanity and to appeal directly to these unconscious forces below the surface--so that you are in a way making nonsense of the democratic procedure which is based on conscious choice on rational grounds... Today's children walk around singing beer commercials and toothpaste commercials."

BRAND ALPHABET

 This novel is more applicable today than it was in This is a time of: propaganda, censorship, conformity, genetic engineering, social conditioning, and mindless entertainment. This was what Huxley saw in our future. His book is a warning.

 Consider the number of ads for prescription drugs, which are permitted only in the United States and New Zealand  Doctors and consumer advocates believe these ads drive up health-care costs and seduce millions into asking their MDs for drugs they don’t need for diseases they had never before heard of, like restless leg syndrome

 Is it better to be free than to be happy?  Is freedom compatible with happiness?  Is the collective more important than the individual?  Can children be taught effectively to think in only one certain way?  Can young people be taught so well that they never question their teachings later?  Is stability more important than freedom?  Can alterations made by advanced science to mankind be made permanent at the DNA-level?  Can mankind be conditioned by science?  Should the individual be limited/controlled for the greater good? If so, how much?

“ Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can ’ t. ” - Aldous Huxley

“Manmade utopia is an oxymoron.” - Mike Duran

3-2-1 Exit Slip: Write 3 things you learned Write 2 things you found interesting Write 1 question you have after seeing the power point presentation