The caste system
The caste members
The characters of the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley are organized in a caste system. The term ‘caste’ comes from the Portuguese word “casto” (race, from the Latin castus: pure). In the novel it describes a strictly segregated group or social class that fulfills certain economic functions.
The people of the World State are divided into five castes, whose names are derived from the first letters of the Greek alphabet: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. The caste members are divided into ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ members, with the plus members having better properties and advantages than the minus members. The members of a caste can be recognized at first glance by their appearance and their clothes, which are identical in color. Deltas, for example, wore only khaki colored clothes. Each caste ...
