1. The story opens up in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre where people are grown from embryos and trained and indoctrinated to fit into a controlled and scary world. Their social caste is already chosen for them before they are created, ranging from the Alphas(government leaders) to the Epsilons(low-intelligence physical laborers).The story follows Bernard Marx and Lenina through this Utopian world. You see how the people are "sleep trained" from childhood to conform to the wishes of their leaders and to participate in the use of soma, a drug, and have random origies that distract them from their menial existences. These two take a trip to the Savage Reservation and discover a man named John who is the illigetimate son of the director of the hatchery and a woman who disappeared 25 years ago. They return to London with Marx and Lenina and the director is laughed out of office. John is a rebel towards the way of life and refuses to attend assemblies and denies Lenina's sexual advances. Lenina is too far absorbed in the way of life. John's mother starts to die and he overhears several epsilons talking bad about her and he gets violent with them and his mother ends up dying. Then he is arrested for trying to destroy a large amount of soma. Finally John flees society attempting to become independent when a photographer makes a film about him which becomes very popular. John is now a celebrity. He ends up hanging himself.
2. Two of the themes present in this novel are the incompatibility of happiness and truth, and the fear of an all powerful government. Throughout the story, the characters are split either lost in their own false realities due to soma and origies on their pursuits of happiness and ignorance to the truth. Or like John, defiant of these substances on the desperate search for truth. The author proves that no one can achieve both of these goals completely and simultaneously. The novel also radiates why an all powerful government is a terrifying thing. How these embryos entire lives are thought out for them before birth is scary, and the loss of free will is a dangerous and haunting thing to think of.
3. Aldous Huxley's tone is definitely one of drama and parody. "Twenty-two years, eight months, and four days from that moment, a promising young Alpha-Minus administrator at Mwanza-Mwanza was to die of trypanosomiasis." "Slowly, majestically, with a faint humming of machinery, the Conveyors moved forward, thirty-three centimeters an hour. In the red darkness glinted innumerable rubies." These two excerpts demonstrate his dramatic tone. His parodic nature shines through however with quirky little sayings like "orgy porgies" or "bumblepuppies" for semi-serious matters in the novel.
4. Style. Huxley's taunting style made me think longer about the text because he doesn't come right out and tell you what you need to know. Examples are when he describes John's death, he doesn't outright tell you he's dead. The same thing happens with the orgy porgy, and whether John and Lennina had sex. He just gave enough information to make a resonable guess.
Imagery. The consistent use of imagery comparing humans to animals is present throughout the novel and shows that the society is so dehumanized that everyone are compared to animals. "Straight from the horses mouth" is used frequently as well as, "Any cow can merely hatch out embryos" and "the stupid curiosity of animals" reffering to delta people.
Setting. Huxley's elaborate use of detail does well to disturb you and make you think about how scary this future really is. Through his description of buildings like the hatchery, recreational activities like centrifugal bumblepuppies, and even jobs like the World Controller. His vivid detail unsettles you immensely.
