Brave New World Aldous Huxley Ashiq Ahmed

Reason for Choice Sci-Fi genre Read it before Can fit a wide variety of topics Easy and interesting read

Summary Brave New World presents a dystopian future where everyone is perpetually happy. While that does not seem so bad, the way they are happy is. Everyone is stripped of their freedoms and are genetically modified to basically be the same as one another. The main character John, who is not native to the “brave new world,” goes on an emotional journey through the society. In his journey, he has multiple highs and lows that lead to him becoming a makeshift celebrity and then getting arrested after he goes on a riot when he is confronted sexually and finds out his mother died. After his emotional episode, he meets the leader of the society, Mustapha Mond, and has a philosophical conversation with him. The conversation causes him to become mad with Mond and his decisions, so he goes on a spiritual strike to try and cleanse himself of his sins. Word of this gets out and people flock to John. In his flurry of emotions, he decides to have an orgy with the group of people that are with him, and then commits suicide the next day out of shame for what he did.

Protagonist: John Represents how society is like in the present Symbolizes free will and freedom Similar to a tragic hero Flaw would be his emotions and how erratic he can be

Antagonist: Mustapha Mond Represents the sacrifices people have to make Symbolizes stability and safety Selfless, but uses logic rather than emotion when making decisions

Major Themes and literary devices Truth vs. happiness Freedom vs. safety Science and knowledge Multiple allusions to Shakespeare and old literature

Pros and Cons Pros: Interesting story Can fit many topics for essays Easy concept to understand and follow Cons: Fairly long Starts off pretty slow Can be uncomfortable at times

Recommendation Overall, I would recommend this book for everyone to read, especially for the AP Lit students in the future. The book presents multiple concepts and conflicts that are easy to understand and can be used to write about various AP essay prompts. For the people who just want a book to read, Brave New World can be a worthwhile pick up due to the way it presents its conflicts and how it can symbolize struggles that societies all over the world face everyday.