Chapter Summaries and Analyses

Chapter 1

The DHC introduces a group of young students to the labs. Readers soon realize that birthing is no longer the norm; all human beings are produced in labs instead. Readers are also introduced to Henry Foster and a young nurse in this chapter. Henry is proud of what he does, and he doesn’t question anything.

The shocking Bokanovsky process is also introduced in this chapter. This process enables labs to produce 96 babies—instead of just one baby—from a single egg. It is argued that doing so fosters social stability; the process is central to the preservation of “community, identity, stability,” key tenets of the society depicted in the novel. The chapter also features one of Huxley’s most famous lines: “what man has joined, nature is powerless to put asunder.”

Analysis

Chapter one serves as a startling introduction. It features many elements of science fiction and focuses on themes such as propaganda and oppressive governmental control. People are categorized into groups even before they are born, and have to live the lives assigned to them.