Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

Aldous Huxley was born Godalming, England, on July 26, 1894. He was born into a distinguished family, which was known for its achievements in science, literature, and education. He had two brothers, Julian and Andrew, who became biologists. Huxley attended Hillside Preparatory School as a child, and then was sent to Eton (a boarding school in Europe) He was gifted in learning and he had reached 6 foot 4 by that age. However, Huxley would soon suffer three losses that would change his life. The first happened a few months after he started attending Eton. His mother, whom he dearly loved, died of cancer at the age 45. Then, at the age of 17, he got a serious eye disease that left him blind for 18 months. This forced him to leave Eton, and this

He published his first book, The Burning Wheel. It was a collection of 30 poems, written in blank verse. He then went on to publish many other literary works. Huxley stopped receiving financial support from his dad. From then on, Huxley decided to get a job. His first job was being a writer and art critic. This job helped him to meet the intelligent people of Europe. He met many surrealists in Paris, which helped Huxley to write many literary essays. They helped him to understand changes in Western civilization and assisted Huxley in writing his most famous work of art in 1932, Brave New World. It took him 4 months to write this essay. It mainly critiqued the socialist policies from the early twentieth century, as well as the Western government, and how it tried to control common people’s lives. In 1937, Huxley wrote, Ends and Means: an Enquiry Into the Nature of Ideals. This book mainly emphasizes that a it is not possible to be democratic while preparing for war, and that they need a tyrant to lead them. Also in 1937, Huxley would become a Hollywood screenwriter, and so he moved to California. He still continued to keep writing

When Huxley first got his writing job, he was influenced by surrealism. They encouraged him to write literary essays, and even contributed to the writing of Brave New World. They influenced him to write about the threats of power from technology, in the novel Eyeless in Gaza. The Hippy Countercultural Movement became big in the early 1960’s. They rejected the lifestyle of American’s and tried to live life carefree. They also were strongly against American involvement in the Vietnam War. The 1950’s was a decade of psychedelic drugs for Huxley. While taking the drugs LSD and mescaline, he wrote a collection of essays known as The Doors Of Perception. This work of literature became worshipped by hippies and was one of the bases of the hippy