Analysis of Exposistion
In the expository sequence of Aldous Huxley’s revolutionary novel Brave New World, we are introduced to shocking processes and mindsets that help us identify and establish the world that this story takes place in. Revealed to us are not only the characters but also the beliefs and social structure of the World State, the universe that Huxley fashions within Brave New World. The most prominent part of the exposition in Brave New World takes place in the first chapter, where we are introduced to the Director of Hatcheries in London. Through a tour he leads with a group of students, we learn about how mass production has influenced human reproduction. Reading through this part of the story invokes numerous feelings and questions, many of which are applicable today in how science has allowed us to progress beyond creation and into advancing how we go about everyday life. Is it truly moral to create life instead of giving birth to it? Are we playing 'God' by doing so? In Brave New World, many of the characters we meet show little emotional attachment to the partners in their relationships, presumably because of the lack of familial ties and the heavy emphasis on sexual relations. We discover through the novel that this is largely because the World State has changed the ‘norm’ of marital, sexual, and social affairs, making it so that casual sex and even drug-abuse are healthy human habits. In chapter 3, children fool around in the bushes, the word ‘mother’ is taboo, and it is encouraged to have an active sex life to stay happy, as most women are made infertile, and those who aren’t take a substantial amount of contraceptives. The most disturbing example of this is most definitely found in Chapter 5, where citizens of the World State gather on a Thursday for Solidarity Service: "The service had begun. The dedicated soma tablets were passed in the centre of the table. The loving cup of strawberry ice-cream IsomaI was passed from hand to hand and, with the formula, 'I drink to my annihilation,' twelve times quaffed." The Solidarity Service, similar to church on a Sunday, is a ritual that promotes the immoral lifestyle of those in the World State--the worship of Henry Ford, whose Model T somehow spurred the growth of a largely dystopic society. It begins by taking soma, chanting, and then participation in casual group sex. Without knowing about the norms of this new society, many would be taken aback at the lack of intimacy when it comes to sex, just like John the Savage, who comes to the World State as an adult knowing nothing about it other than the fact that people fly helicopters.