Brave New World Study Guide

Glossary of Terms

A.F.

Annum Ford, the year of our Ford

Alpha

The highest caste within the Utopian society

anthrax bomb

A biological weapon used in the pre-Utopian society

asafetida

A gummy resin having an obnoxious odor

Bokanovsky Group

A group of identical twins created by dividing a single egg many times. This process is only used on Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons.

boskage

A mass of trees or shrubs, a thicket

Bottling

The embryos and babies are grown in bottles for nine months rather than in a womb.

Brave New World

The title is taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest and the phrase is spoken by Miranda.

Caste System

The society exists as a five-tiered caste system consisting of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Alpha caste members are the ruling elite, with each respective caste getting progressively less intelligent and smaller in stature. See the individual caste names for more information.

Centrifugal Bummble-puppy

A game in which children fling a ball onto a platform. The ball then rolls down the interior and lands on a rotating disk which flings the ball in a random direction, at which point the ball must be caught.

D.H.C. for Central London

The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, the man who leads the students on a tour in the first few chapters.

Decanting Room

The room in which the babies are removed from the bottles.

Economic Collapse

Part of the period following the Nine Years' War is called the Economic Collapse.

ectogenesis

growing something outside of the body rather than inside; in this case growing embryos in bottles rather than in a mother's womb.

Epsilons

The lowest caste of the Utopian society. They are malformed and quite stupid.

father

A dirty word in the Utopian society, but usually more humorous.

Ford

The man who created the ideological underpinnings of the Utopian society and who is substituted in phrases where God is usually used.

fretsawyer

someone who creates ornamental works

Freud

The Utopian society believes that Ford and Freud are the same man, but that Freud is the name Ford used when writing about psychology. In reality Freud is considered the father of modern psychoanalysis.

Hypnopaedia

Sleep learning, which is part of the conditioning process. Huxley pretends that it was discovered that people could learn ethics while sleeping and so this is used extensively to help teach lessons which ensure the social stability.

Island

The islands are where social outcasts are sent; the Falkland Islands are where Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are sent.

Malthusian Belt

Thomas Malthus is famous for showing that the world population grows more rapidly than the supply of food. Huxley uses the word to mean a contraceptive, hence limiting the growth in population.

mother

A dirty word in the Utopian society.

Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning

Pavlov is famous for showing that animals can be trained to do something through a system of rewards and punishments. This is used on all babies to condition them to like or dislike certain objects. It is one of the main conditioning techniques which helps ensure social stability.

Nine Years' War

A war which led to almost total destruction. After a severe economic crisis the world submitted to the World Controllers who took over and redefined the social order.

Obstacle Golf

One of the adult games.

Orgy-porgy

A Solidarity Service hymn and dance which is used to signify the coming together of many people into a unified oneness. It is used during Bernard's Solidarity Service and later when the Savage confronts the crowd.

Phosphorous Recovery

The cremation factories are able to recovery 99% of the phosphorous contained in each body. This is used as a raw material or in fertilizer.

pneumatic

Containing air; Huxley uses the term to mean buxom.

Podsnap's Technique

A way of ripening all the eggs of the ovary at once so that thousands of siblings can be made within a two year period.

Pregnancy Substitute

An intravenous injection which tricks the body into thinking it is pregnant and which is used to balance the hormones.

Red Rocket

The transatlantic jetliner.

Reimann-surface tennis

One the adult games.

Savage Reservation

One of the only places left on earth where people remain in a state of nature. The Savages were not considered worth civilizing and were therefore placed in fenced off area which contained some of the worst land.

sibilant

hissing

Solidarity Service

A take off on a religious service but with strong sexual elements.

soma

A narcotic used to create pleasant sensations without any after-effects. The word is actually taken from a drug that exists in India.

viviparous

Bringing forth live young rather than eggs.