"'The lower the caste,' said Mr. Foster, 'the shorter the oxygen.' The first organ affected was the brain. After that the skeleton. At seventy per cent of normal oxygen you got dwarfs. At less than seventy eyeless monsters." -pg. 14
Ok, so this is definitely an interesting beginning to a book. We open on a factory with one purpose: artificially creating, fertilizing, and "prepping" embryos for their pre-destined caste in life. This concept of heating/cooling, depriving oxygen, transmitting diseases, or inflicting other conditions on these creatures is very creative and makes me wonder if this technology would actually be possible in the future-or tolerated. It is also a bit disturbing to me- which I think the author intended it to be. It's that kind of edgy, quirky start that makes the audience want to keep on reading. The idea that these embryos, before they are born- or "decanted"- are subjected to all kinds of conditioning in order to be properly suited for their environment as a human is a bit unsettling for me. Nevertheless, Huxley's medical termology and odd-yet-interesting thinking intrigues me.
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