text: what is the setting of brave new world?? what is the setting of brave new world?? at its core, brave new world is a "novel of ideas." the characters are often ill-defined, serving mainly to advance the themes huxley wishes to explore. the novel is roughly split into three sections.  the first section introduces the reader to the world state and the characters that inhabit it. bernard marx begins the novel as the apparent main protagonist, portrayed as one of the few individuals in a world of conformity.  in the second section huxley defies traditional utopian novel structure as he introduces a separate and contradictory version of the future, the malpais savage reservation. both of them are presented in an equally convincing fashion, allowing huxley and the reader to contrast his futuristic utopian vision with contemporary society. this contrast is made even more evident by his introduction of the character john the savage. here again, huxley defies convention by introducing the novel's real main protagonist nearly halfway through the novel. an outcast in both the savage reservation and the world state, john replaces bernard marx, becoming a heroic (albeit flawed) figure. with john's arrival in the world state, a place already somewhat familiar to the reader, huxley is able to provide a new perspective for the reader to consider.  the third section deals almost entirely with john's reaction to, and inevitable destruction by, the world state.