Huxley

ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894 - 1963)

On 10 October 1930 Huxley delivered a lecture at Willington on the theme of science and literature. The visit to Durham made a considerable impression on him. Certainly Huxley was moved to reflect on the fact that though his Willington hosts were kind and intelligent, he himself felt more at home with a member of the Durham cathedral clergy, a man of similar background to his own. Huxley concluded that the public school system was responsible, and that 'we' took good care to maintain this and other barriers. His tone is rueful and resigned rather than complacent or supercilious. One feels that Huxley, despite his remoteness from the world of manual labour is actually more perceptive than J.B. Priestley (q.v.) in this area. Huxley apparently first went down a mine on 19 February 1931, probably the Brancepeth 'C' pit at Willington. He was deeply moved:

In that terrifyingly unnatural goblin-world of the mine, to be confronted suddenly - after what seems, to the stranger from the upper sunlight, an age of wandering through stifling labyrinths - by the pale glimmer of the naked human body. How movingly beautiful it is, this body of man. How white and smooth and, in the monstrous twilight at the coal-face, under the menace of the low ceilings of sagging rock, how delicate-looking, how defenceless and frail!

Conditions in the coalfield, however, appalled him and his honest reaction was to run away as far as possible.

Huxley also visited Middlesbrough, and was aware of the town's growth and significance. He gives a detailed account (1920s) of the technologically-advanced Brunner and Mond chemical plant in Billingham (later absorbed into ICI), and the most recent introduction to his famous science fiction novel Brave New World (1932) states that this experience of 'an ordered universe in a world of planless incoherence' was one source for the novel. Mustapha Mond is a character in the book. Though the great Transporter Bridge has been described by Pevsner as a European monument in its 'daring and finesse', Huxley doesn't mention it. His description of Durham cathedral is also low-key. His poor eyesight may account for this, but can hardly explain his extraordinary assertion that he never saw a cabbage growing in the North East. He presumed the vegetables must be imported; the 'barriers' evidently prevented him from questioning the natives on the point. Huxley's self-assurance here as he pronounces on what he only half-comprehends speaks volumes about the gap between the classes at this period. The title of the Willington article is, significantly, 'Abroad in England' ; that on Middlesbrough speaks of 'alien Englands'. The audience addressed throughout is a metropolitan one. His cynical remarks about the dole, however, make an interesting, rather Leninist, contrast with Priestley:

I am sure no ghost could be as terrifying as these spectres of flesh and blood who walk the streets of our northern cities. Dead men hopelessly resigned to death. One could wish they were less resigned, less dumbly patient. But the dole has taken the violence out of their despair. Rebellion is generally the product of hunger. Regarded as a premium against the risk of revolution, the dole has been well worth paying.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894 - 1963) On 10 October 1930 Huxley delivered a lecture at Willington on the theme of science and literature. The visit to Durham made a considerable impression on him. Certainly Huxley was moved to reflect on the fact that though his Willington hosts were kind and intelligent, he himself felt more at home with a member of the Durham cathedral clergy, a man of similar background to his own. Huxley concluded that the public school system was responsible, and that 'we' took good care to maintain this and other barriers. His tone is rueful and resigned rather than complacent or supercilious. One feels that Huxley, despite his remoteness from the world of manual labour is actually more perceptive than J.B. Priestley (q.v.) in this area. Huxley apparently first went down a mine on 19 February 1931, probably the Brancepeth 'C' pit at Willington. He was deeply moved: In that terrifyingly unnatural goblin-world of the mine, to be confronted suddenly - after what seems, to the stranger from the upper sunlight, an age of wandering through stifling labyrinths - by the pale glimmer of the naked human body. How movingly beautiful it is, this body of man. How white and smooth and, in the monstrous twilight at the coal-face, under the menace of the low ceilings of sagging rock, how delicate-looking, how defenceless and frail! Conditions in the coalfield, however, appalled him and his honest reaction was to run away as far as possible. Huxley also visited Middlesbrough, and was aware of the town's growth and significance. He gives a detailed account (1920s) of the technologically-advanced Brunner and Mond chemical plant in Billingham (later absorbed into ICI), and the most recent introduction to his famous science fiction novel Brave New World (1932) states that this experience of 'an ordered universe in a world of planless incoherence' was one source for the novel. Mustapha Mond is a character in the book. Though the great Transporter Bridge has been described by Pevsner as a European monument in its 'daring and finesse', Huxley doesn't mention it. His description of Durham cathedral is also low-key. His poor eyesight may account for this, but can hardly explain his extraordinary assertion that he never saw a cabbage growing in the North East. He presumed the vegetables must be imported; the 'barriers' evidently prevented him from questioning the natives on the point. Huxley's self-assurance here as he pronounces on what he only half-comprehends speaks volumes about the gap between the classes at this period. The title of the Willington article is, significantly, 'Abroad in England' ; that on Middlesbrough speaks of 'alien Englands'. The audience addressed throughout is a metropolitan one. His cynical remarks about the dole, however, make an interesting, rather Leninist, contrast with Priestley: I am sure no ghost could be as terrifying as these spectres of flesh and blood who walk the streets of our northern cities. Dead men hopelessly resigned to death. One could wish they were less resigned, less dumbly patient. But the dole has taken the violence out of their despair. Rebellion is generally the product of hunger. Regarded as a premium against the risk of revolution, the dole has been well worth paying.
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