Huxley throws the idea of utopia into reverse, presenting us what is known as the "dystopian" novel. Huxley's bleak future prophesized in Brave New World was a capitalist civilization in which people are scientifically and psychologically engineered to be passive and useful to the ruling class. Reproduction is controlled through genetic engineering, and people are bred into a rigid class system. As they mature, they are conditioned to be happy with the roles that society has created for them. The rest of their lives are devoted to the pursuit of pleasure through sex, recreational sports, the getting and having of material possessions, and taking a drug called Soma. Concepts such as family, freedom, love, and culture are considered grotesque. Against this backdrop, a young man known as John the Savage is brought to London from the remote desert of New Mexico. Ultimately, John challenges the basic premise of this society in an act that threatens and fascinates its citizens. - (from book description)
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