Book Club Meeting “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley

Written by Dmitrii Cucer

On Saturday, July 23, America House Chișinău held its monthly Book Club meeting. This month’s book was “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, a dystopian social science fiction novel depicting a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy. 

The meeting started off with an intriguing introduction, which consisted of 3 questions that participants had to write down the answer to three questions: “What is a perfect world?”; “What does happiness mean to you?”; “Would you rather choose Stability, Comfort, and Happiness or Freedom?”.

After meditating on such curious ideas, students increased their interest in discovering the book’s context.

Through reading excerpts of the book and discussion, the participants dived into a future society in which technological and medical innovations are used by the state to exercise control over its citizens. They also found out about the principles that conducted that time’s society and related them to today’s world.

As an illustration, the attitude of always looking young and dreading old age is ingrained in our culture as well. In the novel, people are under constant pressure to innovate and invest in the newest trends. Similar to our own culture, where we are focused on being current with fashion and technology.

 In the end, participants realized the message of the book. Through the idea that this future New World shares similarities with our current society, Huxley is ultimately warning us of the harmful effects that expansion and development of a capitalist ideology can impose on society. Some of the participants, linking to their answers at the beginning of the session, came to a conclusion that stability, comfort, and happiness are not eternal, nor sustainable. It is better to seek the truth and be free even if it involves suffering than to live a life full of pleasure and happiness as a slave to someone else’s authority.