A Brave New World Literary Analysis

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Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is considered one of the greatest literary works of all time. In fact, it is considered by modern library the fifth best book of the 20th century. It is a story of how technological marvels make humanity lose sight of what really matters. Aldous Huxley loved to criticize rapid progress, not wanting people to lose ethical values like the society in the book. Huxley uses allusions to great works of literature and famous people to give full impact to his criticisms. The most prevalent figure in Brave New World's society is Henry Ford. People use colloquialisms like "Our Ford" and "Thank Ford". All the crosses have had their tops chopped off to turn them into giant T's in honor of his model T. Ford has replaced …show more content…
In fact, it is one of the two books that John uses to learn to read when he is growing up. He directly quotes Shakespeare and indirectly alludes to it. Even the book's title is taken from Shakespeare. It comes from The Tempest. "Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in 't!" This is also referred to by John in the book when he quotes, "O brave new world," he repeated. "O brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once." He is then mocked by Bernard who states, " "You have a most peculiar way of talking sometimes," said Bernard, staring at the young man in perplexed astonishment. "And, anyhow, hadn't you better wait till you actually see the new world?" This is because the people in the book have been conditioned to only see literal things, and they can't really understand complex metaphors that appear all over in Shakespeare. Huxley uses Shakespeare in particular because he wants to bring attention to the idea of civilized v. savagery. Even though John is a "savage" he quotes Shakespeare, who is hailed as a literary genius in our civilization. By bringing up this topic, Huxley can make the readers think about what civilization really is. Is it measured by technological advancements, or human morals and freedom of choice and

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