Personal Influences Behind Aldous Huxley's Brave New World Michael Wainwright

Although the stark imagery of Aldous Huxleyâs classic Brave New World may seem difficult to match with reality, it is not surprising that the inspirations for this dark, bitter work were bred in the authorâs own life and times. Born on July 26, 1894, Aldous Leonard Huxley was thrust into the world of the British intelligentsia, a world that would eventually form the framework for the totalitarian government of Brave New World, especially in its scientific aspect. Aldous was the grandson renowned biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, one of the scientists who had helped to develop the theory of evolution, and his aunt was already an established novelist by the time young Huxley was born. It was in this climate that Aldous Huxley was raised, reaping the benefits of an intellectual upbringing while struggling to cope with the pressures of belonging to such an affluent family.

One event that left a permanent mark on Huxleyâs mind was the death of his mother when he was 14. This, he said later, gave him a sense of the âtransience of human happiness,â? and a sense of loss that can be clearly detected in Brave New World. This is one particular instance where the more ambivalent side of Huxleyâs nature is made clear through his writings. In...