Brave New World

[emma_goldman]

Do you think there's a reason the main character is named Bernard MARX?

It makes me wonder if Huxley did this on purpose or not. ;)

[which doctor]

There are lots of references in the book like that.

* Lenina Crowne: Crown is a turn of phrase referring to the monarch and monarchial government; her first name recalls Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution of 1917, a radical overthrow of a monarchy.

* Mustapha Mond: The head of the local society is named after a particularly modernistic pair, Mustapha Kemal Atatürk and Sir Alfred Mond. The former was a leader who modernised Turkey while the latter was head of Imperial Chemical Industries, a leader in modern labour relations in Britain – and also happened to be Jewish.

Two characters are named after a blend of fascists and industrialists:

* Primo Mellon combines Miguel Primo de Rivera, the dictator of Spain before to Francisco Franco, and Andrew W. Mellon, an industrialist turned philanthropist.
* Benito Hoover joins fascist Benito Mussolini and Herbert Hoover, early 20th-century President of the USA. Hoover may also refer to W.H. Hoover, the industrialist responsible for mass-producing the vacuum cleaner.

Furthermore, there are references to the emerging communist state of the Soviet Union in the 1930s:

* Bernard Marx is an obvious reference to Karl Marx, while the Bernard may be taken from socialist writer George Bernard Shaw.
* Sarojini Engels is another reference in the book to Friedrich Engels, a co-theorist of Marxism and the developer of Marxist economic policy.

Other minor characters who take their names from scientists, political leaders and industrial leaders:

* Sarojini Engels' first name is a reference to Sarojini Naidu, an Indian political leader and contemporary of Gandhi.
* Fifi Bradlaugh is a reference to Charles Bradlaugh, a British political activist and atheist.
* Herbert Bakunin is a reference to Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin, a Russian anarchist
* Clara Deterding is a reference to Henri Deterding, a former chairman of the Royal Dutch Shell oil company.
* Joanna Diesel is a reference to Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the Diesel engine.
* Darwin Bonaparte combines scientist Charles Darwin with dictator Napoleon Bonaparte.
* George Edzel is a reference to Edsel Ford only son of Henry Ford and president of the Ford Motor Company from 1919-1943.
* Polly Trotsky is a reference to Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist. The apparent successor to Lenin, he was instead exiled to Mexico after Stalin came to power.

[liberationjunky]

Thats really intresting I hadnt noticed any of that

[emma_goldman]

That's neat really. It's like Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984, clearly a masculine version of EMMA GOLDMAN. :)

[bezdomni]

Yes. It is a poor refernece to Marx.

[Little brother]

My Ext English teacher got in a fair bit of trouble for giving us this book for our year 11 ext English prelim course. Apparently the ideas and references in the book arn't "appropriate" for the young "easily influenced' mind like ours. blah.

[apathy maybe]

I recommend this book, as well as the subsequent Brave New World Revisited, to everybody. It is an interesting commentary on human nature.

For a previous discussion on the book see this thread from 2003, http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=6426 The greatest good for the greatest number?

[Kamerat Voldstad]

Originally posted by Little [email protected] 7 2006, 11:16 AM
My Ext English teacher got in a fair bit of trouble for giving us this book for our year 11 ext English prelim course. Apparently the ideas and references in the book arn't "appropriate" for the young "easily influenced' mind like ours. blah.
Yeah, like you weren't already thouroghly "influenced" by contrary thinking. Damn antidialogical education...

[emma_goldman]

Originally posted by apathy [email protected] 7 2006, 12:26 PM
I recommend this book, as well as the subsequent Brave New World Revisited, to everybody. It is an interesting commentary on human nature.

For a previous discussion on the book see this thread from 2003, http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=6426 The greatest good for the greatest number?
Is that by Huxley or is it a spin off?

[emma_goldman]

Originally posted by Little [email protected] 7 2006, 11:16 AM
My Ext English teacher got in a fair bit of trouble for giving us this book for our year 11 ext English prelim course. Apparently the ideas and references in the book arn't "appropriate" for the young "easily influenced' mind like ours. blah.
That's weird. I know a capitalist who loves that book. :lol:

[Ander]

Originally posted by emma_goldman+Sep 7 2006, 05:06 PM--> (emma_goldman @ Sep 7 2006, 05:06 PM)
apathy [email protected] 7 2006, 12:26 PM
I recommend this book, as well as the subsequent Brave New World Revisited, to everybody. It is an interesting commentary on human nature.

For a previous discussion on the book see this thread from 2003, http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=6426 The greatest good for the greatest number?
Is that by Huxley or is it a spin off? [/b]
From what I remember, Revisited is exactly that, Huxley revisiting what he had written. Several years after finishing the original, Huxley goes back and analyzes how the world has changed and if it has become anything like his predictions. I believe he comes to the conclusion that society has become more like Brave New World than he ever expected. Something along those lines anyway.

[Zero]

Why would someone try to hide influences when they name people like Benito Hoover, and put in Marx and Engles?

Why not just say 'Based on fictional non-fiction.'

[Mariam]

* Mustapha Mond: The head of the local society is named after a particularly modernistic pair, Mustapha Kemal Atatürk and Sir Alfred Mond. The former was a leader who modernised Turkey while the latter was head of Imperial Chemical Industries, a leader in modern labour relations in Britain – and also happened to be Jewish.

At last..now i got it..