He is accompanied by Lenina Crowne, an attractive foetus technician. Bernard Marx, a petty and depressive psychiatrist who works for the Hatchery, is sent on a mission to the New Mexico Reservation, where “savages” live. It is a society that rests on consumerism and collectivism and has a rigid caste system.

Fun Fact: Kurt Vonnegut admitted to ripping off the plot of Brave New World for Player Piano (1952), claiming that Brave New World’s plot “had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We.''īrave New World follows a few characters as they live their lives in the seemingly utopian World State metropolis of London.

Notable Adaptations: Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Brave New World for SyFy.

Main Characters: Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne, John, Linda, DHC, Mustapha Mond.

Themes: Utopia/dystopia technocracy individual vs.

This is, of course, the reason why we are so passionate about making the world into a happier place and why we believe that if we could make the world even 5% happier, the positive effect of happiness would be astronomical. Moreover, many problems that haunt our society today would be automatically addressed and, perhaps, some other problems would take place, but in comparison, the benefits would outweigh the costs. To this, I always reply that it’s better not to cry, even if we have to give up both the Mercedes and Lambo. After all, it’s better to cry inside a Lamborghini rather than in a Mercedes, or so we are told. In other words, a society built on the ideals of happiness is an entirely different place, which some unhappy people can’t understand and find somehow disturbing. People behave differently when they are happy and many things that people pursue when they are unhappy become irrelevant. Still, virtually all aspects of life improve when we are happy and deteriorate into an unhappy state. After all, our current society today is the most technologically advanced society the world has ever seen, and things like smartphones and access to pineapples in Russia are a clear sign of desired progress, right? Huxley Didn’t Know About The Superiority of Happiness Certainly, things can’t be that easy and straightforward, right? Certainly, we aren’t happy and there are good reasons why this is the case. The priority is the idea that all these things should lead to happiness, but not happiness itself.Īs such, when we hear someone state that happiness is possible, it is transformational in the sense that it will make almost every other aspect of our life better, and that we should forgo all these different objects that make us happy for the happiness itself, we get skeptical.

Sure, we do all these things for the sake of happiness, but happiness is just not a priority. Today we are living in a society where happiness is desired, but it takes a second place to other social and economic metrics, like having money, buying cool stuff, and marrying and having children. Still, this story is an excellent metaphor for what people today think about happiness. Fixing the World With Happiness Brave New World vs Current WorldĬertainly, Huxley’s book was written before we knew about happiness.

Brave new world book review