Talk:Brave New World

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Contents 1 Ill-defined characters? 2 Comparison with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four 3 Adaptations 4 Soma: A Stimulant? 5 Dystopian? 6 Characters

[edit] Ill-defined characters?

This statement doesn't seem very NPOV. - 24.252.131.209 19:27, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comparison with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

it says "The dystopian world of 1984 is all-encompassing, the world Brave New World includes "savage reservations" and "the islands". The latter are places of exile for freethinkers but they are also to some extent a haven. No such places exist in 1984." if im not mistaken in 1984 the world of the proles is comparable. although its not a clean comparison there is a place in society that is not under constant opression. 69.76.80.162 19:19, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Hell, the whole section is original research and should probably be expunged. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 01:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not the WHOLE section, but there is a lot of it that is less than properly cited. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 22:17, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Adaptations

Someone needs to revise the adaptations. While several of the movies are direct adaptations there are several that should not be listed if anything they should be put under 'see also'. These would include Equilibrium, The Island, and Demolition Man. Yes they share a similiarity but all sci-fi utopia works share a common theme. The Island especially has nothing in particular to do with Brave New World and Equilibrium may have used it for inspiration or even alluded to the novel where as Demolition Man has some allusions it falls short of the comparison. Brave New World is all about consumerism, drugs, and overt stimulation. Where in Demolition Man drugs are prohibited, people do not have sex, where in a brave new world they have government ordered orgies, and other very distinct differences. Stellrmn 01:44, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Soma: A Stimulant?

I thought soma made the characters sleep better. I would think it would be a narcotic hallucinogen or something. Boris B 05:58, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I doubt pharmacology in 1932 was that specific.

As I remember it soma is a drug much like a mixture of the pot of today and something along the lines of cocaine and even heroin. Huxley might've had opium in mind, and some of the aspects of it does make it seem like opium. Zeerak.w 08:11, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dystopian?

I hear this book's setting frequently referred to as a dystopian future. However I personally have come to doubt such a straightforward labelling of the fictional society. Is it truly dystopian if, (assuming we are to believe the characters) the majority of the planet's population is in fact, happy all the time? (Now it's been quite some time since I'm personally read the book so if this is inaccurate, feel free to correct me). While culturally passive and day-to-day life was banal, generally the situation was excessively bearable to most people, (with a few exceptions in the case of the protagonists). I'm not saying it was perfect, but of all the "dystopian" futures I can think of, Sexy Drug Party Universe really doesn't sound too bad!--24.141.134.4 18:52, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

The standard of living and happiness of the individual are not the only driving force of something being a dystopia. A few definitions from a "define:dystopia" search on Google:

*"Unfortunate "accounts of imaginary worlds, usually in the future in which present tendencies are carried out to their intensely unpleasant culminations""

*"an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives; an imaginary place or state where everything is as bad as it possibly can be: or a description of such a place."

*"Polar opposite of utopia. A society in which social and/or technological trends have contributed to a corrupted or degraded state."

Or, even from Wikipedia's own Dystopia page: "A dystopia (alternatively, cacotopia, kakotopia or anti-utopia) is the antithesis of a utopian society. Dystopian societies are usually characterized by extreme governmental tyranny and an exploitation of the people."

While it can be seen that unhappiness and a low standard of living and whatnot can be factors of a dystopia (or may define a dystopia), it is also safe to say that there are several other possible conditions that I believe Brave New World easily fulfills. -- Masterzora 02:51, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

It has been commented on before that many people seem to sense a bit of ambiguity in BNW. I did, too. And I suspect that this ambiguity was intentional on Huxley's part. This in contrast to Nineteen Eighy-Four, which I think is unambiguously dystopian. --Kvaks 11:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I suppose not only we feel the ambiguity but that makes this book so great. If we could say that this is only a bad dream it would be meaningless. But as it is a utopia/distopia that aims towards the making of a better world we have to choose which kind of life would we prefer. The one that the Bible states to be where obviously there's pain (Genesis 3:16-17) or the one in a brave new world where there is no pain at all but no content as well.

[edit] Characters

I think Linda (John the Savage's mother) should be included on the list. I mean, some of the characters included have no bearing on the plot. I haven't read the book in a while, so if someone else could add her that would great. FruitMart07 02:31, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

oops. I just missed it because it didn't have a bullet. FruitMart07 02:32, 25 March 2007 (UTC)