Answer the following questions and support them with quotes from the book Brave New World. The answers shouldn’t be that long
How would Hemholtz define happiness (see p. 182) and how and why would his definition agree with that of the average citizen?
In Chapter 17 is Mustapha Mond right in some way when he criticizes the words of Cardinal Newman and William James? If we discover that we dont need God because we can be independent of him, because there are no losses for which we need to be compensated, is Mond right? Or is this another reason that we need God? What would the savage say? Does the Savage make the right choice?
The people in the new world were conditioned from the moment of conception. How are we conditioned in our society?
What faults in our society does Aldous Huxley point out in Brave New World?
Do you agree with Mond that happiness and truth are opposed to each other? (ch. 16)
What is the difference between feelies or the scent organ and high art? According to Mond, why is it necessary to choose between happiness and high art? (ch. 16)
Is the happiness the Savage first experiences through work the same as the happiness experienced by the people of the BNW? (ch. 8)
What does Lenina mean when she says, Was and will make me ill; I take a gramme and only am? (ch. 6)
In many ways, the main characters of the book are cartoon figures – Helmholtz Watson the alienated superman, Bernard Marx the cowardly, hypocritical intellectual, Mustapha Mond the cynical all-knowing leader, John the doomed idealistic. Discuss the book as an allegory and elaborate on what each character stands for.
What does Huxley suggest is the final end of man? Aristotle claims that the end of man is happiness. Would Huxley agree or disagree? How do you think Huxley would define happiness, and how would you? Is there a difference between happiness and pleasure? (foreword, chapter 12)
