Perspectives

After being published in 1932, Aldous Huxley’s science fiction novel Brave New World instantly became a best-seller. The story presents a totalitarian society 632 years ‘after Ford’, which means around 2532 AD. The British author was inspired by the scientific and technical progress in the first third of the 20th century.

In this section, we first describe Huxley’s life, then the historical background and the development that worried the author. For better understanding we’ll use a simple language. 

The horror of the First World War and the Roaring Twenties, Black Friday in 1929, and ultimately the Great Depression gave rise to totalitarian regimes in Europe. Liberalism and Fordism, which shape this period and which dogmatically shape the narrative, are also portrayed. We’re also illustrating the main inventions and discoveries of the early 20th century that revolutionized people's lives. 

Being Huxley's most famous work, the book is still considered a classic of the modern literary period of the 20th century. The author creates a dystopia shaped by cultural pessimism. The book is also an experimental novel in which the author works with quick changes of perspective and fragmentation. These aspects are described in the last section of this chapter, which examines the literary perspective.