REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is Huxley's attitude toward science?

¥ How does he contrast it with technology?

¥ Do you think such a comparison is common in current literature?

2. Has man always written about Utopia?

¥ Is there any promise of one being attainable?

¥ How is the adjective Utopian used?

3. What is Huxley's attitude toward the flesh?

¥ How is this manifested through the actions of the principal characters in Brave New World?

¥ Do you suppose it relates to his adolescent illness?

4. The civilization Huxley depicts represents the magnification of negative ideals.

¥ This kind of society has often been called a Utopia-in-reverse.

¥ What does this mean?

¥ Is a Utopia-in-reverse more likely to be realized than a Utopia?

¥ How many devices might they share in common. Taken on its own terms, is the brave new world without flaws?

5. Brave New World has been described by some as a satire of a "hopelessly drifting age."

¥ If so, what does the novel satirize?

¥ Try to relate the satirized subject or object with its real-world correlative.

¥ Do we find irony in the two works under consideration? Paradox?

6. Mystical religion was one of the preoccupations of Huxley's later life.

¥ Is there any evidence of its influence in either of the works discussed.

7. In Point Counter Point, Huxley discusses two of his literary notions: "the musicalization of fiction" and "the novel of ideas."

¥ What do you suppose he means by these?

¥ Can you make a case for either or both in the works under consideration?

8. In his earlier novels, Huxley ridiculed the aristocrats and Bohemians of postwar London, who devoted their existences to social revelry and chit-chat.

¥ Show how these same failings in human nature feature in Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited.

9. In Brave New World, what do you think of some of Huxley's devices for mass amusement and control.

¥ Describe some.

¥ Is there a chance of their invention or discovery?

10. What is prophecy?

¥ How good do you think Huxley's prophecies for man's future are?

¥ What do we mean when we use the term visionary?

11. What are the impersonal forces within man that are pushing him toward the brave new world?

¥ What are the symptoms they exhibit?

¥ Is there a paradox involved in man's trying to ameliorate his lot?

12. Do you think the brave new world can be prevented?

¥ Does Huxley offer a cure for the conditions propelling us toward it?

13. Is this novel a warning to humanity?

¥ Explain your answer with specific, concrete details.