Huxley was remarkable methodical in the naming of his characters. Each and every name was modeled off of some historical figure, usually known for a job or accomplishment similar to that of the character in the novel. It isn't uncommon, though, to find Huxley making ironic pairings.
There are some very obvious name connections such as Bernard Marx and Karl Marx, Benito Hoover and Benito Mussolini, and Lenina Crowne and Vladimir Lenin.
George Bernard Shaw was a well-known playwright when Huxley was writing Brave New World. He was an active socialist who was an advocate for women's rights, just as Bernard was not pleased with the way Lenina advertised herself to the world. Karl Marx was a German communist philosopher who believed the lower class would rise up and take over society. Bernard had a completely opposite opinion, as he was an Alpha who seemed to enjoy his high status even with his social issues. He never appeared concerned about the treatment of Deltas and Epsilons, he only cared about the treatment of himself. Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist leader who took on the ideas of Marx. Lenina does not show the qualities of a leader. In fact she is one of the ironic connections. Her name and character better represents the result of totalitarianism: conformity. Lenina's life revolves around thinking exactly what the controllers and the conditioning want her to believe, even if she is able to comprehend the revolutionary thoughts from Bernard, for example. Benito Mussolini was essentially the father of totalitarianism. His regime in Italy was the inspiration for many other dictatorships that followed in different countries. The closest connection to Hoover would be The Hoover Company which was a major mass-production manufacturing company while Huxley was writing. His character is similar to Lenina's in that he represents a product of dictatorships: conformity. He is a stereotypical Alpha solely striving to fill his duties as such. John Broadus Watson was a philosopher that studied human behavioral patterns, just as Hemholtz Watson is responsible for creating hypnopaedic phrases used to alter the behavior of the genetically engineered people. Hermann von Helmholtz was a brilliant German physicist, and his name simply magnifies the intelligence of Hemholtz's character. John can have many connections. It is one of the most common male names, so it can be used to represent the common man from the society we know today. Both he and Linda have very "American" names while those outside the reservation have very unique, complex names. This was one simple way to separate the types of characters in the novel because the names did not mesh at all. This could also be a biblical reference. John the Baptiste baptized Jesus Christ and was a devoted follower for the rest of his existence. John in the novel was so devoted to God that he ended up killing himself while trying to rid himself of his sins (all information is from "Tools of Characterization in Brave New World" on Shmoop.com). |
|
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Tools of Characterization in Brave New World."Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 25 May 2016.