Friday, April 13, 2007
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Post your comments about what the dystopian setting reveals about modern life and about how characters respond to the corrupt, flawed, inhumane setting. (For more explanation and guiding questions look below or at the hand out I have you on Friday, April 13.) Use the open response form. Your first comments based on the first 100 pages (or more) of the book are due by Wednesday April 25. (You can either post them yourself or email them to jcook@gloucester.k12.ma.us.
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44 comments:
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the reading audience is presented with just that: a world of the future that is desperately opposite from our contemporary society. Although it shares many common traits with the modern day world (some that the author, who wrote the book in the 1930’s, must have predicted), the book scarily twists morals and standards into an unrecognizable, sterile reality. The story opens in A.F. 632, and the reader is introduced to a backwards world that is based in science and technology, and focuses on the good of the community over the well-being of the individual.
Emotion is outdated, the concept of family is extinct, and choosing your fate is no longer up to you, but up to the scientists who carefully condition the decanted infants. Cleverly, Huxley has created a world that is so perfect, functional, and sterile, that it is flawed. The natural human thought process has been abandoned by the constant repetition of new-world idioms and ideals. Ford has become the replacement for God, centralizing the idea of mechanic efficiency triumphing over human endeavors. It seems as though generations of humans have forgotten the pleasures of independent thinking in exchange for the more productive well-being of the community.
Traces of the modern-day world can still be uncovered in the novel, but many qualities have become modified – or worse, legend and taboo. Sports, working, and entertainment still are present in the new world. Each of which, however, have undergone various changes: while being decanted, children are encouraged to only enjoy games that require a lot of expensive equipment, thus raising income for the government. A worker’s job is decided upon before birth, as they are conditioned to be fit for specific jobs that cater to the community’s needs. Entertainment is not just for leisure time, but seen as a necessity, as people eat out in restaurants or catch the “feelies,” a technologically advanced movie. Each of these modifications in the lives that we enjoy are meant to create stability in the society, by limiting an individuals thoughts and choices.
Brave New World cleverly critiques our modern society by augmenting the problems of today, which will naturally grow if we do not take care of them. We are faced with a future as sterile as technology, and a world that is more shocked by human emotion than promiscuity.
Although this critique is taken to an extreme level for entertainment and shock value, I do believe that the dangers that Huxley warns of in his novel are justified. Even within the timespan from when this novel was first published to now, society has seen a tremendous growth in technology and mechanic industry, and the lessening of importance in homelife and the individual human spirit. Though considered a Savage, the character of John in the novel seems to be the most grounded and correct in his system of beliefs; the world must slow down and focus less on efficiency and more on the individual's well-being.
Despite being decanted and conditioned by the government, the characters of Brave New World each sport varying opinions on the society of which they are a part of. Whether it is because of the "level" they belong to (from Alpha's to Epsilons), or the fact that they belong to a "backwards" world of Savages (John and Linda), these members of the future each react differently to the flaws of their so-called perfect world.
Following the suit of most characters, Lenina's viewpoints are shared by the rest of the individual cells that make up the "human body." Although the author gives clue that she tends to not simply accept standards of society - both by her sub-conscious desires for monogamy and by her strong emotions toward John - she usually resorts back to an idiom she had heard in her hypnopædia cycles earlier in life.
Unlike her, the Alpha Plus, Bernard, seems to both revel and despise his need for out-of-the-box thinking. He cannot be content with the lack of human emotion, of personal motivation, and of individual growth. He realizes that the world around him is so efficient and "perfect" that it has become broken and corrupt. Because of this knowledge, he is introverted and self-involved, two traits that are discouraged in society. Thus, he is viewed as an outcast.
Most of the other characters - the D.H.C., Henry Foster, Mustapha Mond, and Fanny - all fall under the beliefs of the World State: Community, Identity, Stability.
Small details and character's tendencies foreshadow later twists in the plot of the book, as they (as well as the author) no doubt begin to question and resist their dystopia, realizing that a perfect world is far more flawed than that of our contemporary society.
Erin Stockman
April 24, 2007
SETTING- Brave New World
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley a major flaw in the world the characters live in is that the people have very little free will. Human’s are brainwashed, caste and role in society is predetermined, and embryos are altered to fit their role in life. The embryos are created in a ways similar in the making of beer (decanting, bottling, etc.). The character Mustapha Mond is a hinge of corruption. Mond is a World Leader know by the Director of the Hatchery to have objects that could corruption and “uncondition” his students. Mond seems to see the corruption of the system he rules just as the Director sees the potential of corruption that Mond has. Mond’s knowledge of the corruption is revealed in the rather creepy quote, “Suffer little children.” Another aspect of the world in this novel that just seems wrong is sleep-learning. This sleep-learning has great potential to educate all of society, but instead this technique is being used to brainwash children.
There are many parallels to modern life that appear in this novel such as the idea of the usage of soma. Soma seems to be a drug to suppress the minds of humans, discouraging them from freethinking; the people have been taught that soma is used to make you happy. The usage of happy pills is used today in forms such as anti-depressants and painkillers. The idea of making people happy is taken too far and is used as a way to control the people in the story. In modern society social class is often associated with jobs, unskilled laborers generally belong to lower classes. In the novel a person’s caste is society is directly related to their job or role in society. In the modern word job and wealth determine social class, but in Brave New World caste determines job. Although the people in Brave New World are born into their caste just as is often true in our society such as in developing countries where the poor cannot afford to educate their children and then the children become more unskilled laborers. What really makes the caste system wrong in Brave New World is that human intelligence is altered to accommodate the various jobs. With our current technology the processes in Brave New World are not possible, but it warns the reader to be mindful about their rights as human beings to think freely and choose a role in society.
I understand the author’s warnings about the future and what our modern society, but the ideas are taken to the extreme. I understand how the people have been made incredibly submissive to their society, but it would take a huge event such an elimination of all intelligent suspicious people in modern society, to create a society that pressures the usage of drugs such as soma. People should have the ability to make their own choices, to decide their own fate not have it decided for them. Modern society has become more and more reliable on drugs to control human activities. Soma is like a combination of drugs used to suppress the minds of individuals with ADD and drugs that enhance sexual intercourse. The question of whether or not we should try to control ñ human behavior can be asked of modern society. It is great that scientist can stop pain, but as we known these pain-stopping drugs can be addictive. The society in brave new world seems to be addicted to happiness, the problem is the people have forced this happiness and set so many rules for “happiness” that they have forgotten what happiness is. Controlling the fate of an individual is wrong.
Erin Stockman
April 25, 2007
CHARACTERS: Brave New World
At the one hundred-page mark in the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley few characters seem to respond to the flaws in their world. Despite the large amount of main characters Bernard Marx is the only one who really sees the flaws with his world and acts against them strongly. Bernard Marx feels that he is inadequate in a world that is meant to be perfect, he is small physically and is disturbed by orgies and many other actions of his comrades. Bernard’s feeling of being an outsider enables him to view the world from a different point of view, he allows himself to analyze. Bernard seems to enjoy analyzing and realizes that soma destroys his ability to think clearly and is reluctant to take the drug. Barnard feels a sense of emptiness when he not on a soma high but finds no more pleasure when influenced by the drug. Barnard’s friend Helmholtz Watson, a writer, seems to share some of Bernard’s feelings of being an outsider but at this point the novel does not give many other details about Watson. Barnard’s sometimes-girl-friend Lenina questions some of the taboos of the world and is a little rebellious when it comes to relationships. Lenina seems to want to hold more long-term relationships, which are not normal. Lenina sees little else wrong with her world, she believes that it his not her place to question it.
Later in the story Barnard decides to take a vacation to a reservation where people give birth, are raised by parents, and do not use soma. Despites protests from his boss and threats of banishment to Iceland, Barnard proceeds to receive a pass to the reservation feeling more rebellious than ever. Lenina too decides to be rebellious and spend more time with Barnard and goes with him to the reservation. Bernard’s response to the world is to temporarily escape from it and go on despite threats. None of the characters seem complety aware of the corruption, the small discoveries of the characters combined reveal the flaws only to the reader.
Setting
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the world can be seen as flawed, corrupted, and fallen by many eyes. The world that the people live in this novel is very different from the world that we live today. Each person is created in a factory type setting. They way that they act and who they are as human beings is decided before they are even born. Even what they will do for a living is decided before they are born. Because their careers have been decided for them they have to choice but to me in the social class that is picked for them. In a way this echoes the real world today because many people are born in to the social class of their parents or even take on the trades of their parent or parents. One of the most profound differences that I see in this novel so far is that these people do not make choices about their own lives. They follow what they have been programmed to do. They have no free will and seem to be brainwashed. The characters in this novel also take a drug called soma. This drug seems to keep them from thinking on their own. What they have been told is that the drug will make them happy and mellow them out. In a way this also echoes the real world today because there are drugs that are made to make people happier but they do not make the person unable to think on their own. I see this world as a sick and twisted place. I strongly believe that everyone should be able to make his or her own decisions. I feel that everyone has the right be able to control what they want to do and how far they want to make it in his or her own life.
Characters
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley a majority of the characters done seem to respond to living in their flawed and corrupted world. Many of them seem to just go along with it and not even question in. There are a few exceptions to this however. One of the characters that I have noticed that questions they way things work is Bernard Marx. He sees the world in a different way then many people around him. Because he sees the world differently he even realizes that the drug soma obstructs him from thinking freely and often refuses to take it. Bernard’s friends Helmholtz and Lenina often sometimes share the same view that they feel like outsiders in the society. They do not seem to question much more about their flawed world at this point.
Setting
The World state that exists in the world of Brave New World is an excellent example of a flawed world. In this world, science has completely taken over almost every aspect of society. The leaders of the new world chose to dispose of all things that can lead to misery and suffering. Those include : birth of children, “families”, and even emotions.
Without these emotions, the leaders believe that there will be no more suffering and that this system is the best course of action. But, it is not perfect, far from it. While yes, they may be eliminating some causes of misery, they are also getting rid of all things that make people happy. Families, religion, and childbirth are all forsaken in this world.
Another core part of this world and how it functions is the presence of the drug known as soma. Soma is seen as a perfect drug, it eliminates all negative emotions and brings you to a “happy” state. However, it really is not a true state, it simply clouds your emotions and just makes you feel like you are happy. The World State uses this as a tool for stability, getting rid of negative emotions thus eliminating suffering.
Huxley seems to hint at problems that he predicts will affect the world in later years. It seems that he fears a mass increase in sciences and, that it will bring the modern world into a similar state that this world is in. This shows the flaws of technology. Though they appear to be only beneficial, they deep down, have negative consequences. Only by realizing the flaws of this world we may be able to fix them.
Characters
The characters in the novel Brave New World , have a few different opinions on the world they live in. Some such as Bernard Marx see the flaws of the world around them. Others, like Lenina seem to accept and embrace the world as is. But, with all there different characters and their opinions, no character so far has exhibited a true hatred for the World Sate and what it stands for.
Bernard Marx is a major character in this novel. Also, he seems to be one of the only characters thus far to realize the problems of this world. This feeling of indifference to the world may be caused by his inferior physical attributes as compared to other Alphas. Regardless of why he has these feelings, the fact remains is that he does have them. He has unorthodox views on sexuality, seeming to indulge himself in more than is socially acceptable. Also, he does not feel strongly towards soma , a drug taken to alter emotions. These two alone cause him to become an outsider of sorts.
Lenina however, seems to share a whole different view on the world. She seems to have nothing wrong with the world as is, holding no feelings of animosity towards it. The only problem she seems to have is similar to that of Bernard’s, of sexuality. Both of them seem to indulge themselves in it, even though it is not socially acceptable. Soma , however, seems to be the lifeblood of Lenina. She defiantly does not oppose it, and in fact seems to addicted to it if anything.
Bernard and Lenina, being the two major characters thus far in the novel, both hold different views on the World State. Bernard seems to be impartial to it, where Lenina seems to openly embrace it. The views of these two echo the voices of other minor characters, who oftentimes share either Bernard’s or Lenina’s view on the world.
Within the novel, life focuses around industry, and success is based on consumption. Modern knowledge and information, such as psychology, is used in order to make everyone within the novel happy and productive. Aspects of human life, such as social classes, are taken to the extreme. The separation between classes is shown by physical appearance. No one has a choice of which class that he or she will be predestined to. Happiness is decided for one while being produced in a factory. There is no choice within this world; everything is decided for one, and individualism is lost. One becomes “a cell in the social organism.” No one has any passion, any emotion at all that is not another’s engineering. There is in fact a “College of Emotional Engineering.” Human contact and interaction is never filled with passion or love; sex becomes meaningless, and any long relationship is frowned upon. There are no consequences within this world; therefore there is no real learning. Even a drug that helps one escape from one’s engineered reality, soma, has no consequence; it dulls the mind, and numbs the soul. Children go through hypnopeadia, and are taught what to think. Free will is absent within the world.
Everyone can be replaced in this world. “Ending is better than mending.” This keeps production going. It is fear that enabled this world after the economic collapse. It was easier for those who decided upon this world to make it the way it is; production hides laziness of the human spirit.
This could easily happen; corporate America is rapidly taking over. Workers have lost their importance, and people are numbers. Everyone is engaged in technology, much like the book, and is dulled to reality by intrigue in machines. Human interaction is limited, and true love is harder to find between two people. People put work before family, and family is rapidly losing its sacredness.
Soma does not physically destroy anyone; it destroys society and humanity. One does not feel anything; one is on permanent vacation from reality. The machine that is this world allows for one to be in this state in order to maintain stability. If one is happy, one does not complain, and production keeps on going. People are no longer ashamed. The Indian’s drugs, such as mescal, make one ashamed afterwards. Shame connects one to one’s conscience. This, in turn, connects one to self-awareness. Awareness of self destroys the machine; it is soma that destroys self.
Mustapha Mond is not right; John has a more modern day view of the world, one that is more humane. Society today is in between that of the Indians and that of those in the book. It is this view of the world that is the most balanced. The pendulum is swinging towards Mustapha Mond’s reality, but there will always (hopefully) be someone to hold it back
Bernard is becoming increasing disgusted with his world. His inadequacy in height compared to other Alphas has given him a sense of self awareness, and he is starting to explore his humanity instead of his conditioning. Bernard is starting to voice his views, and tries to condition himself away from this with soma. He looks at Lenina and sees wasted potential, and wants to save her. By going to the Reservation, he encounters John, who is also on a path of self-discovery. They want more out of life than happiness; they want truth and reality. At one point, Bernard feels elated by consequence; it frees him to feel something that is real. If he can let go of his fear of losing happiness, he will be able to feel what it is to be human.
Lenina makes the choice not to explore herself. She is afraid to let go,and depends on soma and sex to distract herself form Bernard’s ideas. She sees nothing wrong with happiness. She is asleep and Bernard is waking her up
Setting
Aldous Huxley, the author of “Brave New World” has created a time in the future where everybody has a place and everyone serves a certain purpose. We can see that at this point in time technology has grown tremendously only to show a robotically working world. The world seems to be sterile with little or no source of error. Families, and compassion for one another have seemed to diminished. No one has a support system to go home to at the end of the day. People are no longer working for themselves but are only there to better the society that they live in. Could this be hinting towards our future, that soon offspring’s will be conditioned to think and work in certain ways. If one does not come out as planed than they are just erased from the society. Bernard who has a defect is said to be only kept around because he is good at his job. In this world perfection is everything and how to succeed. In present day we know that nothing can be perfect but we can come close. All this may have to do with the one that they worship, Ford. His life was surrounded by mechanics and technology which relates to the people living in this era. People within this community may see it as the perfect world, but truly it is corrupted and flawed.
Characters
In the novel “Brave New World” characters act differently towards the society in which they are living. Some characters are controlled by the setting that they are in and others want something more than what the society provides. Henry Foster serves to be the perfect example for everyone living in this time. He has no emotional attachment to anyone and sees other women, rather than being stuck on Lenina. He does his job and never does anything out of the ordinary. Lenina is not quite living up to the standards of the people surrounding her. She seems to act like everyone else except when it comes to seeing other men. Lenina is hung up one guy, Henry Foster, instead of dating around like everyone else seems to be doing. Then she branches out and decides to see Bernard. Bernard is what people seem to be see weird. He can see past the mechanical system and doesn’t understand why people act like that. While Bernard is seeing Lenina, some of his unique ways might influence her to think like him. She is somewhat skeptical already, so this might be what helps her see the corrupted society. All the characters in this novel respond to the society differently depending on how they think.
Dan Aloisio
4.25.07
SETTING
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley constructs a false paradise based around the deification of Henry Ford and other principles of the scientific management (efficiency above all) era from which he came. Thousands work in fertilizing centers, where fertilization is oviparous, and embryos undergo a series of divisions aimed at harvesting the maximum number of identical individuals from one original zygote. These developing embryos are then nourished according to the social class to which they are destined, with Alpha-Plusses receiving the most oxygen and related nutrients and Epsilon-Minuses actually subjected to growth-stunting alcohol poisoning. Despite the disparity, the class system persists as a result of each class’ belief in its own superiority. This belief is instilled through the use of repeated phrases during sleep. In fact, the entire role of a parent, an outdated term in this world, is accomplished through this sort of sleep brainwash, known as Neo-Pavlovian conditioning (a sure pun on the famous experiment).
The dystopia is designed in a way such that it manipulates trends in modern society. The most radical and fundamental of these manipulations is the society’s common goal to be happy, foremost and in any way possible. Historically, happiness has not been an ultimate goal in life, but rather a pleasant side-effect. In the early days of humanity, survival was the prime objective. In Christian cultures, the aim of reunion with God in Heaven was the salient quest in life on Earth. Eastern cultures stressed harmony and honor above the attainment of happiness. In modern times, happiness and gratification have replaced these historic aspirations. This shift is complete in Brave New World, where people need only take some soma to cure all discontent. With the primary goal of happiness fulfilled, people in Brave New World can then look towards bettering society and satisfying primal urges. Recreation is based around consumption of resources, so that industrial production is always needed. Sex is no longer a union between people that love each other, but similar to quenching thirst. Ignorance, of course, is central in this new world. People do not know of anything past their occupation and programmed maxims. This fits neatly, because they are happy enough that they do not care to expand their knowledge or thinking. This is likely a comment on the trend towards ignorance and apathy in modern society, which intensifies with each generation.
Personally, the society in Brave New World terrifies me. The focus on happiness and gratification above all is most troubling to me. The component in modern society of this way of thinking frustrates me, so I agree with Huxley’s critique on its absurdity and cowardice. The pervasive regulation of life while pretending freedom also scares me. I can also see forms of this appearing in the modern world, and I hope that people have the knowledge and alertness to recognize the control in disguise. Brave New World is so creepy and frightening because of its basis in the world of today. In that way, it is not entirely new, but merely imbalanced in a startling way.
Dan Aloisio
4.25.07
CHARACTERS
As mentioned in the above response, characters in Brave New World are largely clueless and content with the society of which they are a part. There are a few exceptions to this, including Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson. An unlikely pair of friends, they share their recognition of themselves as individuals in a society where there are none. Each responds to this in his own way. Physically short in stature, Bernard frequently complains about the world around him and is pointedly antisocial. Despite his awareness, Bernard is as much defined by the world around him as anyone else, because he is so anti-world that he will almost just do the opposite for the sake of opposition. However, even he has moments of weakness where he pops some soma and fondles Lenina’s breasts, as if to give up his crusade. Helmholtz, on the other hand, is physically superior to other members of his class. He is highly successful in everything that he does, socially and occupationally, but he is unfulfilled. For this reason, he finds some solace in Bernard’s complaints, though he becomes frustrated with Bernard’s dogmatism in being anti-world.
Many characters in Brave New World conform perfectly to the society around them. Henry Foster is one such example, one of many conformers that see nothing wrong with the world. Lenina also follows society’s intense guidance, but she is at least curious of Bernard’s “oddness” where others dismiss him as an accident.
Linda and John of Malpais (“bad country”) are somewhat separated from the other characters. They live on a modified Indian reservation place in New Mexico. Linda, once a Beta-Minus, arrived accidentally at the location and gave birth to John. Although I have not read much about these two, it is clear that Linda is set in the ways of the civilized world. She preferred it to the savage country. John, on the other hand, seems to show some promise as a revolutionary figure, in that he is capable of communication with the people from the civilized world, while at the same time being aware of the world that we are familiar with. John has read works of Shakespeare, while still hearing of the civilized new world from his mother. He is certainly a character to watch.
Setting:
The Title explains the setting in three words; Brave New World. This is set in A.F. 632 where science is the main topic in the world. This future world produces humans as we produce Coca Cola now. There might be a few different ranks, but each are human is remotely similar and the embryos conditions differently to what the scientists want or need keep the stability of the World State. The present day seems to have some of these traits but at a lower level then the Brave New World. Drinking and taking drugs can make people happy and forget about their troubles but most of the time its not accepted in society. The ones that are accepted are called ant depressant pills but are not used be the majority of society. Soma is the drug that everyone uses in this future and it eliminates the sadness or sorrow you might have and transforms it into happiness. It also seems to prevent you to have any thoughts of your own. It seems as if the society is happy as can be and every stable but it is corrupt in a way that everything is control and there is no free will. Most all of these people’s opinions, thoughts and fears are because of this new invention called sleep-teaching. I see how this could benefit the world and help with education but it is not used for education, it is used to brainwash humans into the scientist’s perception of what they need to know to be happy and stable. In this new world, you are made to like your job and rank among the others but also dislike anyone lower or higher then you. This makes everyone stay at the places that the people need to be to keep the world working. If I was one of them it would seem that everything is going fine and everyone is happy, but why? When I look at that world without the perspective of being one of the future humans, I can see that all the subjects that make humans happy are forbidden in the future. Family, art, religion and free will are some of the most important subjects in most people’s lives today and would not be happy without them. The biggest problem or disagreement I have of this new world is the fell will and choices that the humans have and how you are programmed to be happy and like your job, you can not pick your fate, it’s the conditionings that decides it for you. Humans should always have a right to choose what to do and there should be some sad in the world. I think that the world might not be in the best shape it could be as of right now but it also would make life so much worst if this extreme look of the future actually came true. True happiness should be for you, a human being, to find it. Not some soft voice you hear repeatedly as you sleep telling you your likes and dislikes.
Characters:
We have met a few characters in this novel but I think most of the characters seems content with the setting and world. The key word is most, Bernard Marx; one of the main characters seems to see things a little differently. Physically he is not up to par with the other men he compares himself to and that can affect the feeling he has towards the world and how he seems different to the people of the world too. A rumor that has been going around is they put to much alcohol while his conditioning. He seems to steer away from communal events and spends time alone with himself. In this future world, it is extremely strange to stay alone, they do not see the point and the scientists see the potential of thinking to much when you are alone. He does not like how the women are as “meat” either. This character shows a potential disturbance of this new, stable, happy world.
Helmholtz Watson might see where Marx is coming from also. Lenina is one girl who is liked by the men of the book and is the one that Marx confines in. Lenina is different that Watson in the way of understanding Marx. She gets upset if he talks anything that has anything to do with thinking or the feeling of wanting something more that Marx has. She is one of the many brainwashed people that just like the way it is.
Setting
A huge part of the modern world today is the choices that one has to make. Like in Brave New World the characters in the book do not make their own choices about their life. Who they are and what they do are decided before they are even “born”. Imagine being shocked as a toddler whenever you looked or touched books or flowers. With the restriction on reading it reflects how African Americans were treated as slaves with the many restrictions. As they regulate birth with science and along with many other joys, they are numbing the people. The whole first chapter is about the developing of an egg and how science has been able to mechanically delete birth through humans. They go in and alter each fertilized egg and I think the Huxley spends so much time on this because this could be our future. The option whether to have your unborn child’s eyes be blue or green, for them to be small or tall, and even skinny or fat, is all in the near future. I think that Huxley is trying to say let nature run its course and not fret over the little details of life but concentrate on the aspects that bring one happiness
Characters
Although the characters do respond to their corrupt world, I wouldn’t expect them to. They don’t know any better or different. They are not suppose to think or have opinions so how are they to respond to their corrupt world. However the ones that tend to refuse the soma, Bernard, are able to think clearly and formulate questions that go beyond their peers understanding and knowledge. I feel like Bernard would be someone from out present time and culture and put in their time and culture, he is aware that the world is flawed but not quite sure how to go about fixing it.
Setting
Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, has created a world that is anything but perfect. Science, technology, and the good of the community are the focal points of this World State. Embryos, developed by scientists, are created to serve a purpose in this world. Their jobs are decided for them in order to fit into a particular social class in which they are destined. There is no choice for anyone. This world was created to be suffer-free, and it lacks some of the most important characteristics of the world in which we live in. Life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, three essential aspects of our world today in which people are rightfully given, are absent within this future world. Emotion, family, and relationships are also important components of our world that are lacking in theirs. Without emotion there is no suffering.
Characters
Most of the characters in the novel Brave New World are comfortable with the way they live only because they don’t know any different. They were brought into this so called “perfect” world where mistakes are not made and consequences are not given, which doesn’t give the people anything to learn from. Bernard Marx is the only character who voices his opinions about the world. Because he feels inadequate and self conscious of his height, his outlook on the world in which he lives is different from the people around him. He despises the way women are treated like dog toys and the way they are talked about so explicitly. Bernard also looks down upon soma, a drug that takes other characters’ minds to a place more perfect than the world they live in already. Bernard refuses to take this drug because people become oblivious to everything. Lenina, on the other hand, accepts the world she lives in. She abuses soma frequently and indulges herself in sexual acts. When Bernard and Lenina begin seeing each other, he begins to open her eyes and help her see the flaws of the world she lives in.
SETTING
I find many things flawed with the world that Aldous Huxley has produced in his novel A Brave New World. Many of the flaws he has created relate back to our modern world. An aspect from this book that is most related to our modern world would have to be the use of Soma. In the book the pill suppresses all the humans’ abilities to think on their own. But the thing is the people think they are taking happy pills. Soma is like what we know today as and anti-depressant. The difference is the people that are taking anti-depressants today know exactly what the pill is and what they are taking it for. Just after reading the first chapter I hated the idea of science stepping in and controlling everything about being born. I think it’s wrong and weird and it’s completely unnatural. It seems like so many things could go wrong and turn there world upside down because they are trying to control everything about human behavior and it is bound to blow up in their faces.
CHARACTERS
The characters that we have met so far in the book have responded to their surroundings, not all of them seeing the flaws most just conforming to the world. Bernard Marx seems to be the only one that sees flaws. He acts out against them because he is different then everyone else. He is small and not perfect so it allows him to view the world he lives in for what it is really worth. He is the only one that questions Soma and he becomes reluctant to take it. Everyone else doesn’t question their world they just go along with it.
Brave New World
Setting
Aldous Huxley places his book Brave New World in a backwards futuristic mechanical world where there is no choice or chance. Huxley wrote Brave New World to show what he feared might happen in the future from what he saw in his society. Though the freaky society created in Brave New World is exaggerated to an extreme there is still similarities between our current society and the harsh mechanical clock work of A.F. 632. In A.F. 632 all children are "decanted", cloned by the hundreds and raised by recordings and timers, hearing and seeing the same object or idea so many times it is permantly driven into their memories. Their entire society is based of this emotionless rearing of the children fit into their designated societal square. They call about science and technology to run their society. In 2008 A.D. there are no baby farms (yet) but people, especially Americans, certainly rely upon technology in order to function in daily life. Without technology, i wouldn't be doing this assignment. Children don't go outside to play anymore, instead they sit in front of the TV with their X Box's and talk to people in Japan while playing Halo for 8 hours; technology is very much a part of life. Biological advances are also astounding, we can't manufacture 11,000 children from one ovary but we have irradicated or cured many diseases, mapped out the human genome and we're genetically modifying food products. It'd be crazy to suggest that current society would ever morph into Huxley's world, but 2008 A.D. is scary enough.
By the year A.F. 632 all disfigurements or disfunctions of society have been weeded out to create this automated utopian culture so refined, its flawed. Imagine being a wood carver making a carving, of anything, say, a bear. And at first there is a completely untouched chunk, theres still bark on it. This is the world before civilization. The first time the sand paper touches to block of wood, it changes; its being modified, shaped. After a while its begining to resemble a bear a little; the block has become semi circular, if still harsh. Time keeps passing until the bear can be clearly seen, the claws, teeth, eyes, ears, feet. Theres still spliinters but a bear has clearly been created, it could be finished but instead, out come the tools again. More and more is taken off, there are no splinters the wood is completely smooth, but there is still room to improve, so it continues; the claws can be pointier, the nose flater, the eyes rounder. It continues until the claws have been shaved out of existance and the nose is so flat it blends with the face, the wood is so fine and so stressed from all the modifying it breaks, crumbles. The sculptor was so intent on making it perfect, he destroyed it; much like the World Controllers in Brave New World.
Everything in their society has a place, a square where it belongs, including the people. The children come off an assembly line, the workers move by large alarms; technology governs the people.
Brave new world
characters
The people of Aldous Huxley's futuristic mechanical society are all identical twins. Literally and figuratively. They have all been "decanted" (artificially born) by a process very similar to building a car on an assembly line. They even call the building the "Central London Hatchery and conditioning Centre", any of the emotion concerning child rearing is ancient history by 632 A.F. The People are as detached from emotions as is imaginable, or rather, they are so far detached it is unimaginable to still be human. Their interactions are so, casual. Monogomy is unheard of, theres no religion and God has been replaced with Ford. The Children are subjected to to recordings as soon as possible, recordings that are repeated so many times, they are Always remembered.
The recordings vary from child to child depending on predestined social status ranging from bottom Epsilon to top Alpha. An individuals social standing is picked before their "decanting" and enforced withdecreased or increase oxygen flow and other small tricks. The classes are then subjected to different tests and recordings for what each should like to do. Also they are turned on an off to certain activities and colors because of their class or becuase it will benefit the government (they're encourgaged to like activities requiring transportation to take advantage of the cities systems and to give back money). They are taugh to associate with colors and images, appearances and pain.
They all live under a code "Community, Identity, Stability"; it is this code that creates the utopian lifestyle they all enjoy.
Fanny Crowe, Benito, Foster, and the D.H.C all completely embrace their society and life. They go to work everyday, then after work play a round of Obstacle Golf and hook up with someone new. This was the norm for them, and they found no problems with their lives.
Lenina Crowe is a normal Alpha girl but she did go against the current a little when she confessed to wanted a monogomous relationship with Foster when in their society, "Everyone belongs to everyone else". She is convinced however that her desire is wrong and society is correct
Bernardo Marx does not fit into the utopian society, his physical disfigurement reflects, or causes his internal rejection of his cultural beliefs. He sees the society as crooked as it is, he sees the flaws in Lenina's actions, despite her behavior and mindset being simple what is expected of her as a girl in their society. He does seem to want to fit in though, so if he wasnt physically disfigured, to the point where he doesnt fit in since so much of their society has been brainwashed to appearances, he might not feel as differently as he does.
Helmholtz Watson is also an outcast but differently than Bernardo. Helmholtz is exceptional and he is bored. He recognizes that there is something wrong in his life despite being adored by all, yet he does not really know what it is. He felt that there was something missing in his life even though he he was doing everything that he is supposed to be for his class and job. His true nature had been suppressed and Helmholtz sort of knows this, as a reader this is obvious.
Some of how these characters act, though extreme is a representation of the direction in which culture has gone. The media and all other outlets are desensitising the youth to violence and sexuality. In Brave New World the children play sex games and this seems shocking, but in today's society there are pregnant 12 year olds. Huxley's perception of the future is not totally crazy.
Dysopian Novel. responding to someone else's comments.
I agree with Kathi's comment. Brave new world shares common traits with the modern world. Yet it's society is much different. I too belive that the dangerous Huxley shows us are justified. Magazines, tv shows, clothing stores they all sell belive in selling sex. you may have heard of the term "sex sells" well sadly in our generation this term is far too true. Brave new world just opens the readers us and shows us what the world could turn out like one day if we dont stop and enjoy the simple less promiscuous things in life.
Response
Dan Aloisio
I am glad that no one found the world created by Huxley to be tempting. Pretty much each evaluation of the novel, including my own, was that it exaggerated negative parts of society. We may not be conditioned by hypnopaedia, but as Alisha said, we “sit in front of the TV with X Box's and talk to people in Japan while playing Halo for 8 hours.” Everyone seemed to agree on this idea of mindlessness that is present in our society, but not to the extent that it is in Brave New World. Everyone was also alarmed at the novel’s super-drug soma. Soma, I now realize, is a perfect miniature of the corruption in the society itself. Soma, like the society, seems perfect in many ways, but is intrinsically wrong and oppressive.
I would like to challenge the notion that all the elements of society in Brave New World are negative. In being extremely optimistic in viewing the dystopia, one could say that the world is a testament to the power of human organization. The world certainly was free from warfare and hunger. The world state was certainly advanced scientifically and technologically. People had leisure time (although, as Mond says, too much of this is negative). Even the most sexually insatiable in our society would be content with the availability of sexual pleasure in the Huxley’s world. In contrast, Malpais (“bad country”) is filled with violence and alcoholism, with strong feelings and strong hatreds. Compared to this world, London may seem attractive.
Though I stick to the notion that the civilization in Brave New World is not completely flawed, there is no doubt that it is not a true utopia. Its problems are disgusting and revolting in myriad ways. If one wishes to reflect on these, one can simply view any student’s response to the novel. My point is simply that the world created by Huxley is not simply and completely bad, because it is very easy to be dismayed and dismiss it as such. This dismissal is not conducive of further thought.
I agree with Jessica's view of everyone having a purpose, but it seems like this world has no purpose. There is no compassion, no love, no emotions, as she pointed out, so is there really life? Erin's comments on free will prove to be true, as real happiness can only be achieved through a real consious. The world of the people in this novel could easily occur, as people seek control in their lives in order to achieve happiness. People fear the nothingness, but control in the world has allowed them to become disposable. They are not remembered, and in essence, this becomes the nothingness. All of those who responded pointed out the control, and it proves evident that this is the cause of the novel's world. The only people that benefit from this are the world controllers, who achieve personal happiness and order. People are easier to control when they are happy, especially when life is disposable.
I really like the imagery, "a future as sterile as techonology", good call Kathi, it creates an image of cool uncaring detachedness that correctly captures the feeling of Brave New World while punning on the way children are created in Brave New World. Everything so cooly planned out and automated to the point where Linda could not answer any of the big questions for her son because she had always taken it for truth and never really thought about it. That was what i found to be the major flaw in Huxley's utopian society, no one thought about anything, life was planned out for them. There is no oppertunity for creativeness or deep intellectually endevours, art or any of the outlets i can not imagine life without, everything is thought for them. Those who do think like Brenard and Helmotlz are troubled by their society. I would hazard a guess that Huxley is saying as long as there is free thought there will always be dissidents and unhappiness and all the negatives of society misffiting to the Utopian style civilization.
As Alisha and Kathi both said, the imagery was very powerful in this book. Near the beggining of the book when they are touring the factory I was very disturbed by how they were reacting to the environment. The man giving the tour says "You can't really do any useful intellectual conditioning till the foetuses have lost their tails. Follow me." But the director won't let them and the man giving the tour replies with "'At least one glance at the Decanting Room,' he pleaded". This whole part is almost like a little boy at a zoo and his father won't let him see the elephants because they will miss the train home. The imagery in this book is very powerful and makes it exponentially more scary and real.
After reading some other people's responses, each of my classmates seems to be in general agreement that the depicition of Aldous Huxley's envisioned world is both frightening and unappealing. As Molly pointed out, this "brave new world" is taken to far-fetched extremes, augmenting several facets of modern life.
She continues her point by mentioning that "there is no choice within this world; everything is decided for one, and individualism is lost." This motif is woven through the entirety of the work, pitting the rogue individual against the very society it is supposed to be a part of.
Erin V. brings up that the government's defense for creating their impassive and passionless society is to prevent "bad" emotions, such as suffering. Although it is difficult for the characters of the novel (decanted and conditioned to believing deep-rooted propaganda) to see suffering as useful and necessary, I'm sure each of these readers of "Brave New World" could reflect on the personal growth in character from bad experiences. As long as humankind continues to recognize that humane progression is more important that mechanical efficiency, I do not believe we are at risk of falling to a "Brave New World."
Characters: the second time around
Our current culture, our society is a a culmination of all the people. A blend of what every unique individual has to offer. When our high school guidance counselors come to talk to us as juniors we keep hearing "You've got to go to college and work hard to stand out from the competition". We are told to think, and read and learn. In Brave New World the people are conditioned for just the opposite; they never need to think, or learn or read and everyone is identical.
It seems the management in Huxley's utopian society has thought of everything; they even have a place to send those who dont fit in. Even they realize that nothing can be truly perfect which is what Huxley is conveying with the end of this novel; a truly utopian society is impossible. The biggest flaw of civilization is within the individual, the impulse to break rules, commit murder, stage revolutions; all that is wrong with society is with the people, the individual. So how does one go about fixing civilization then? In the case of Brave New World Huxley realizes this and sees the obvious solution; fix the people. The way in which he does this seems cold and inhumane, but logically its a viable solution. Sticking with this scientific motif, consider this, everything action has a reaction and in every action reaction sequence, every chemical reaction, something is transfered, but not all of it, theres always that tiny bit of heat lost to the universe as entropy. Theres always some that will slip through not matter how hard one tries, just as there will always be flaws and thought as long as there are people. Robots, thats a different story.
In Brave New World Bernard and Hemloltz and John are the individuals who slipped through the cracks.
It seems as though the World Controls thought of this as well, for they had somewhere all prepared to send those who did not fit in or did not respond to the conditioning. Bernard, who has been left out all his life because of physical disformities wants only that to fit in. He is a superficial symbol of a flaw, in the way that he wants to fit in so badly. In the begining it seems as though there might be more to him, but Bernard only wants to be a normal member of society. He does not fully understand John and uses him to get popularity, his popularity is also superficial. Bernard does everything normal citizens do when he is feeling popular; he is promiscuous. He forgets all of his early doubts and feelings of monogomy. Bernard is a physical example where as Helmoltz has everything and wants more. He truly is unhappy with the way the society is functioning and not just as with Bernard only unhappy with the way society is functioning towards him. Bernard realizing the world is flawed still only wants to fit in, i am not convinced that Bernard even really realized their world was flawed beyond it being unfair to him. Helmoltz finding the world was flawed, reacted very cooly and wanted only to stand out; he rebelled, but he also understood what he was up against. John, a man Bernard found living among Indian Savages on the reservation and brought back with is mother (to be a mother in this society is unheard of elsewhere than on the reservation, course she was pregnant first, another little glitch) to save Bernards job. Linda his mother realized her world was flawed when she became pregnant. She drowned herself in alcohol and upon returning to her "civilization" put herself into a permanent soma dream. When she realized the world was flawed, she wanted only relief and escape from it, ultimately, indirectly cutting short her own life. John is confused by this "Brave New World". He is also repulsed by many of their customs, mostly the promiscuousness of it all. John is the character that as a reader, one can most identify with as he is a total outsider looking on their world, raised most similarly to being raised in 2007. John worships Lenina and when he realizes that she is flawed he gets upset. She does seem to have monogomous feelings towards John, but she cannot change who she is and sees no reason too; she sees nothing wrong with the feelie film she took John too as that is what civilization has told her is acceptable. She is just like everyone else. She accepts her life. John is repulsed by this and he is repulsed with himself for being tempted with this life.(It is the same repulsion the reader feels when first reading about decanting and the raising of children.) Immediatly following this upon seeing those 2 uncaring twin boys in his mothers hospital room (he realizes their whole society is flawed as well at this point) and he goes crazy. He reverts to literature and religion as his saving grace. John contrasts Helmoltz's coolness. When eventually he can find no solace, he takes his own life. He can see no way to change the society around him nor can he change himself and apparently this was too much for him.
Comment…
I agree with Kayla’s statement that even today people are born, to a certain degree, into a social class. It is easier for children to be successful when they grow up in fairly functional families; it is also an advantage to have a family that is financially secure. But is their world truly flawed? Is what is being done to the people in the story just another step in overall human advancement, is this world such a bad one. What makes it so bad? Is the world illustrated in Brave New World actually corrupt, or is it our own moral standpoint that makes it appear corrupt? The Brave New World in which the people work for the betterment of the whole seems very communistic, Huxley is warning the world about how bad communism can be, he even names one of his characters Marx. Carl Marx did not spell out the exact definition of communism, just as Barnard does not say he is completely unhappy with his world. Is individuality really lost, if one has no notion of what individuality is, it is truly lost? This is parallel to innocence; do you have to think about innocence to loose it? I like Molly’s comment, “Awareness of self destroys the machine; it is soma that destroys self.” This quote seems to ring true, but I think that there is more to the destruction of the self than soma. Soma maintains the depression of the idea of self.
i forgot a very important character: the Controller Mustapha Mond. He realizes the world is flawed, accepts it and uses it to his advantage. He sees his own ability to think as a plus and acts on it to move himself up. He knows that the world is flawed, but instead of going crazy and killing himself, he accepts and even seems to enjoy it, though he does hang on to the old works of literature, the Bible and Shakespeare; Philosphical thinking and good literature are a hard thing to get rid of. He is the person denying these arts to all the citizens, yet he cannot give them up.
Speaking of Shakespeare, since we are reading Hamlet at the same time as this book I noticed many references and quotes from Hamlet, pg. 193 "suspicion condensed into a too, too solid certainty". I guess Huxley interpreted the line to be "too too solid" and not sullied, which is an interesting choice as we have discussed the implications of these words and this line and its meaning in Hamlet's soliloquoy. pg. 238 "Whether 'tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them" John says this to the controller saying he does neither and it is too easy to just get rid of trouble, its not fair to rob the people of a true expirience. pg. 244 "He spent the hours on his knees praying, now to that Heaven from which the guilty Claudius had begged forgiveness"
pg. 254 "Sleep. Perchance to dream...For in that sleep of death, what dreams" This gives the reader a foreshadowing of Johns suicide, providing the reader has read Hamlet.
These references link the 2 books and made me as I was reading Brave New World think about actions and inactions, thinking, the postives and negatives, in this novel and how each relates as they are major themes in Hamlet and Hamlet is constantly questioning the right course regarding these.
I agree with the statement made by bryanna. She said that the people are being made like we manufacture coca cola or any other goods. To me this was one of the things in the novel that caught me off gaurd. They way that humans are being made in a labrotory and are being programmed to be who they are. There is no such thing as establishing your individuality it is already given to you. What if you are not happy with the person you have been programmed to be? What if that is not who you want to be? People should be allowed to be the ones that decide their individuality not being programmed to be a certian way.
aErin Stockman
May 14, 2007
Setting: II
Upon finishing the novel I have discovered many more new aspects of exaggerated modern life such as the usage of the press for propaganda. Our modern newspapers contain plenty of propaganda, but not to the extent that is shown in Brave New World. In the story a council that even has the word propaganda in the title controls every aspect of what is published. This extreme press control is another technique the world controllers use to maintain the people’s conditioning, or their state of brainwash. Another personified aspect of our modern society illustrated in the novel is the usage of sexuality as entertainment; in Brave New World the people attend feelies, movies that enable the watcher to feel the emotions of the characters in the film. In the end of the novel the idea of violence as entertainment is also evident. The people gather to watch John suffer, finding his self punishment hilarious much like students today gather to watch a fight. We as advanced mammals have primeval instinct for sex and violence, but it we also have highly evolved brains that enable us to enjoy other emotions. We can experience more than animals, part of what makes the novel so unsettling is that advanced human emotions such as sadness and true happiness have been eliminated
In the novel the impact of religion on society is discussed when Mond, the world controller, talks to John the savage. The civilization in the novel has its own religion, a religion that dictates what the people may do. Mustapha Mond does not believe in a god in the same way many modern humans do, because of this he is able to discuss religion from an outsiders perspective with little offence to John. Adlous Huxley shows the ups and downs of religion through his character Mond. Because the religion of Mond’s world seems so wrong the critique shows the disadvantages of allowing religion to control society. Free thinkers are needed. The critique in story on religion was well worded, it was clear that Mond did not find religion terrible but he just thought society could live without it. “They say that it is a fear of death and of what comes after death that makes men turn to religion…” This is one of the best explanations for religion I have ever read.
Death is another subject mentioned in this novel. In the story people do not live in fear of death, they seem have no emotion at all when it comes to death. When people die today we may try to hide our emotions, but this story shows how wrong this lack of emotion towards death can be. We use anti-depressants to shirk away emotion; they use soma the thought and emotion suppressant. The children are given gifts and chocolate in reward for seeing death, not as sympathy for a death. Modern humans have come to see sadness and death as a natural part of life. This critique is another good point for modern man, although we may fear or hate death it is wrong to ignore its consequences; those who are dieing should not be ignored.
Religion is a way to deal with death; I do not believe that people should not be allowed to practice a non-violent religion. Mond is wrong to devoid the people from the basic ideas of intelligent religious philosophers. Humans also need experience with other types of emotion besides animal instinct; we grow as individuals and as a society when we can understand what others are feeling. Although we may not enjoy feelings of sadness, we grow stronger when we have experienced a type of sadness.
Characters: II
Although the plot deviates away from the character Bernard Marx he is still a cause of the upheavals within his society. It is Bernard that decides to visit the reservation and bring John the savage back to Bernard’s brave new world.
Towards the conclusion of the novel Bernard is brave to the end and sides with John when he freaks and tries to explain the evils of soma. When John steps into the plot the story favors his view and Bernard’s eminent downfall is made obvious. Bernard goes from a rebellious chap who is quiet eager to break the rules and be shipped off to an island to a wimp who begs for mercy from Mond. Bernard suffers, “the slings and arrows,” at first and then realizes his mistake and is unable to rectify his position.
Mustapha Mond is another character that sees the corruption in his world yet he continues to keep the world going as he has arranged it. A hint that shows that Mond sees that his world is corrupt is when he admits that he is never happy, he believes that his sacrifice of happiness is better for the world; he feeds society a false scene of happiness. Mond also enjoys the writing of Shakespeare; he is a very intelligent character and seems to have learned from Shakespeare. He keeps the world corrupt by denying the world of Shakespeare and the world of other imaginative authors. Mond agrees that islands are happy places where smart exiled individuals live, he would enjoy living on an island, Mond sees that his way is not the best.
Helmhotz Watson, like Alexander Grand Bell’s Watson and Sherlock Homes’ Watson follows Bernard’s lead at first. He is a writer and sees how wrong it is to deprive the public of certain literary ideas. He rebels against society by writing a poem about solitude, an idea not encouraged. Unlike Bernard who cowers when he is faced with actual disciplining Watson embraces his punishment of exile to the Falkland Islands, he is not afraid of the unknown or of punishment.
Lenina at first rebels, she is attracted to John at first, he is different. As a result of Lenina’s experiences with John she becomes very popular, but like Bernard this fame does not last. For a while Lenina is conscience of what John is trying to explain to her about the cruelness of her world, but she cannot shake her old habits. Lenina’s lust for John causes John to be violent and Lenina realizes that she did not understand John as well as she thought and goes back to the numbness of soma.
The most rebellious character is John. John cannot find a place in any society. He is not ethnically an Indian and is therefore rejected, he has not been conditioned to the world outside of the reservation so he cannot understand and is very disturbed by what is considered normal. John rejects Lenina’s passion leaving himself and others troubled and confused. John begins to reject happiness that is associated with both cultures, he punishes himself mentally and physically for thinking like the people from the two worlds he was never fully able to understand.
Setting Part One
The similarities between Brave New World and the modern world are so likely to happen that it is eerie. It takes a truly exceptional human being to choose the right path instead of the happy one, and the shift to a reality that is happy instead of real is likely to occur. Character cannot be formed when a human is not fully conscious, therefore the people are disposable and happy to serve the single cell of social order.
Aspects of the modern world are prevalent throughout the book. Television, for example, is an escape for most people from their reality, a distraction. Linda, in her senility, is mesmerized with other patients with the television. The feelies, also a source of distraction, prove to be mindless, as television is for many.
It is better to be fully aware of one’s surroundings; this is the only way that one can truly experience life. Having everything ready and controlled for one does not allow free thought, and it is only in the consciousness of the mind that one can evaluate how to live life. It is a fundamental right to have free thought, and not be conditioned about what to feel. Having people around one is everything in this world. Linda died in company, but did not die with any happiness. Being an individual with all of the choices up to oneself is the ultimate right of everyone. In the end, it is one’s only legacy, and the only way that one makes a mark on the world. No one is remembered, no one changes. Experiences are forgotten with soma and therefore there is no change in men; this makes them less like God. God does not change, but men must in order to resemble him.
Character Part Two
The characters in this world struggle with the choice of fighting their surroundings. It is a cause of pain for those who are aware of their individuality. John struggles with this, and succumbs to it at the end. Mustapha Mond has a very truthful conversation about the lie that they live. He decided to join those who fought against what was unhappiness, but what proves to be wrong. Those who are able to think fight against the ideal of fake happiness and are sent to an island to think in solitude. Solitude, the very thing that it warned against, is joy for those with free thought. It proves to be the ultimate happiness for Bernard, Helmholtz and John, who found their individuality.
John decides solitude and asserting his beliefs instead of conforming and finding love. He is so passionate that it is amazing to those that lack all desire. It proves to destroy him, because he fought so hard to find himself. Helmholtz and Bernard find a happy medium, where they can be themselves but not go insane. This is true happiness and joy
Setting
The use of the Indian reservation and a contrast to Huxley's utopian society is clever. The reservation was something more familiar to the reader; a place in the novel where the reader actually identified with the ideas of those characters living there. The way the Lenina reacted to this dirty, disgusting place compared to her clean, precise home made me as reader, realize for the first time how ridiculous their society is. It enforces the mechanicalism and absurdism of the "Brave New World" Society and brings in something familiar to the reader. Also by introducing John as fresh set of eyes, the reader can reevaluate the civilization from another angle and allows from the characters like Lenina and the Controller to react to John and answer questions the reader might have had as John is as skeptical of their lifestyle as i was when i started to read about babies being made on an assembly line. After reading about half of this book i had gotten used to the idea and characters actions, but John and the other Indians bring the reader out of Huxley's world and back to skeptical reality without ever really leaving the book. It is an ingenious way to approach the situation; Huxley can use John to critize their utopian society directly.
It does seem to be the prefect system though. If one were to create a utopian society, this would be exactly how one would do so. The World Controllers have thought of everything, even what to do with the dissidents: ship them off to hidden islands where they cannot affect the rest of the civilian population.
Huxley also uses Brave New World to criticize religion. Religion is a huge aspect of modern history and has been the cause of many wars and disagreements and hate. Religion also has many positive points too it promotes love nad gtood will and charity. Since the begining of history conflicting religions have caused wars, death and destruction: the crusades,the holocaust and WWII, and religious terrorists. So Huxley saw this as a major flaw in society, so he removed it from his utopian civilization, for better or worse. Religion also gives hope to poor and destitute peoples, people like Mother Theresea give their lives to helping others and there is the hope of a better life after. It also elievates the fear of death, and enforces moral descisions in this life so as to be happy in the next. No matter what religion it is, all religions share a core in moral values.
So if theres no religion will the people fear death? Well the world controllers thought of that too. By conditioning the young to view death as normal and natural and good, then no will be fear it.
What else causes violence and hate? Discrimination based on ethnicity, and race. So the World Controllers removed that as well, making everyone pretty much identical and giving everyone a specific place in social standing. Social standing causes uprising if the low are not happy, so they brainwash everyone to like their standing.
So what makes people rise up against oppressive rulers? Thought and consciousness. Knowing what is right and what everyone deserves. Reading and philosophical discussion anything that sparks an emotion in a large group leading to unsatisfaction and finally rebellion. Can't have that. So take away literature and art anything that can evoke powerful emotion. Brainwash the people into not knowing they are missing it.
So what makes people happy? Sex. so give them sex and they will be happy.
Take away religion, and race and there will be no hate, take away thought and there will be no resistance. Perfect. It seems as though they did a very efficient job making the setting of this utopian society exactly as they wanted it to be.
Dan Aloisio
Settings Round 2
Something is certainly rotten in Aldous Huxley’s imagined state. As I mentioned in my previous response, the major flaw is the assumption that happiness is the primary objective in life. If one believes this assumption to be valid, then one would be in agreement with Mustapha Mond and would view Huxley’s society favorably. One would concede the loss of freedom, family, friendship, religion, adversity, and discomfort for the sake of mindless, easy, cheap happiness. One, however, would be directly at odds with the views of John and me personally. This line of thinking would view Huxley’s dystopia as infinitely “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.”
Happiness, the flawed goal of life in the society of Brave New World, is achieved through ignorance and the use of soma, a drug that makes people happy with no physical side effects. The ignorance of which I speak is incredible; most members of the society only have knowledge of their own vocation and sleep-conditioned ideals. The happiness of the people makes them complacent, and they easily comply with the strict but indirect regulations of life. Where most totalitarian regimes force one option when others are available, members of the society in Brave New World only know of the options the government presents.
In the latter half of the novel, I also became familiar with Malpais (“bad country”). This setting serves as a foil for the world state. The people of Malpais are illiterate and violent. They are also ditheistic and have a loose tribal structure. In Malpais, mescal, or alcohol, replaces soma as a means of making people happy. However, mescal is more temporary, so it cannot be the panacea for all discomfort. Notably, Malpais does not seem to be a functioning culture. The religion, emotion, and adversity is crippling to the society. Here, everything that can provide fulfillment is present, but the people are unhappy and unfulfilled.
The novel is constructed in a way that obligates the reader to choose between the world of London, the civilized world state, and the savage land of Malpais. On one hand, people are happy in the civilization, though oppressed in so many ways. On the other, Malpais provides opportunity despite its violence. Personally, I favor Malpais because I would rather have to fight for fulfillment and other means of success than be given cheap happiness.
In many ways, the civilization is not exaggerated from, but rather present in the modern world. True, people may not have a miracle drug and the class system is not so regulated or rigid, but there still exists the option for an existence in a Brave New World-like setting. Happiness is not a difficult thing to achieve in our society. One could simply watch television, drink beers, maybe even do drugs and be happy. However, this person is likely unfulfilled in many ways.
Dan Aloisio
Characters Round 2
In the latter half of the novel, John, the protagonist, is introduced. John is unique in that he grew up in Malpais, but had exposure to the civilized world through Linda, his mother, while growing up. John can also read, and frequently quotes works of Shakespeare, one of two books to which he had access as a child. John shares a common link with Bernard and Helmholtz in that they are all outsiders. Partly for this reason, John agrees to go with Bernard to civilization. Once there, John is disgusted, and eventually leaves to live in the woods by himself, but is continually bothered by civilized people. Finally, John lashes out, and caught in the heat of the moment, undergoes a “long-drawn frenzy of sensuality.” When he remembers these actions upon waking, he commits suicide. In these ways, John responds to the corruption of the society by first suffering the slings and arrows, then taking arms against a sea of troubles, and finally his quietus makes with a bare bodkin.
Bernard does not actually see the flaws in his world. At first, he is an outsider, which makes him critical of the world. However, when he becomes the intermediary between the public and John the Savage, he is welcomed into and empowered by the same society that formerly shunned him. As a result, he is happy with the world, though he still criticizes it to demonstrate his own power. In this way, Bernard is not actually a response to Brave New World. Bernard would likely complain when shunned from any society, at any place in any time. Lenina also disregards the society’s flaws, but is more ignorant and more accepting than is Bernard. Lenina is not shunned and is therefore not at all critical of the world. However, when exposed to other means of fulfillment (love with John), Lenina realizes the limitations of happiness by itself and becomes profoundly upset. She acts on her feelings for John, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Mustapha Mond is the bowman in Hamlet’s analogy. Mond is completely aware of the society in its flaws and strengths. Mond chooses to exploit the easiness of happiness. He even sees himself as a martyr of sorts, making the world happy selflessly, which may provide him with some sort of fulfillment, which he is ironically depriving his constituents of.
It is revealing to transplant the characters in Brave New World into modern society. If living in the world today, Bernard Marx would likely be complaining for being an outsider; I picture him inside some cubicle. Lenina might be a popular girl, content in her ignorance, until she finds love, which she uses to define her life from that point forward. Helmholtz Watson would be a man that is successfully advancing through his career, loving every second of it. I see Mond as a politician, exploiting his constituents, but believing that he is correct in his ways. John is a hard person to place, but I would imagine him as an introverted person, silently working his way up in some career, in some ways the shy version of Watson.
Characters II
In the second half of Brave New World a new important character (and some would say the main protagonist) is introduced, John the Savage. John is from New Mexico and was born normal and believes in normal things that we believe in. He is the son of Linda, whom she claims to have gotten pregnant from the Director in the past. Linda was once part of the World State but after getting pregnant she was sent to Malpais and grew up savage. When they take John to the “Brave New World” as he calls it, he is very uninterested by it all. What he doesn’t like is the soma, just like Bernard. Bernard and John are actually very alike in they are both outcasts in where they live, and they don’t enjoy the benefits of their societies. They are even both very fond of Lenina, which is also a very strange contrast. John dislikes much of the World State he has been brought to. He doesn’t like the soma, or how people don’t know about God and they are forced to be comfortable in their daily lives. But he still is madly in love with Lenina, even though she represents all of the things the World puts out. She takes the drug every time she is even a little bit sad, and takes full advantage of the society’s views on sexual relations and herself being an Alpha and fitting in. Her whole persona seems to go against John’s views and life, but he still loves her with undying amounts of passion.
Later in the book John tries to “save” a hospital full of Delta people by throwing away the soma, or as he refers to it “that horrible poison.” He succeeds in getting rid of it, but the police come and take him, Bernard and Helmholtz into custody. This is where John and Mustapha have their “final resolution” of the book. Mustapha representing the “Brave New World” and everything that is good with it and why people should follow his way of life. And John represents why the “Brave New World” is flawed and needs to be ended. Examples of this are right from the beginning of their “battle” (you could call it). The Controller says that knowing about old books such as “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet” is a bad thing because people should not be attracted to old things, they should be attracted to new things which is why they keep people youthful and attractive. But John disagrees by saying old things are also just as or more beautiful than new things. Soon Mustapha tells Bernard that he is going to Iceland and Bernard freaks out. However Mustapha thinks that he will like it more than the world he lives in at the moment because it is more fitting for Bernard. There are tons of people like him who are not satisfied with the World State and are independent thinkers. After this episode John and Mustapha have a conversation about religion and God. God has been taken out of peoples lives and John believes that it is natural to believe in God. But Mustapha counters that remark with “you might as well ask if it’s natural to do up one’s trousers with a zipper.” Once again they are fighting with their knowledge of the worlds they were brought up in to see who’s world is indeed the right one and who is at fault. The conflict between the two is ended with John saying he would much rather have all the uncomfortable hardships that come with religion and normal life than to live in the world that Mustapha has created.
The book concludes with John and him trying to live in London but without the benefits of the World State. He sees Lenina one day walking with Henry and goes after her. He chases her down and jumps on her with everyone around him chanting “orgy-porgy”. The world he has been living in has drove him to and over the brink of insanity and he does something he regrets doing to the woman he loved. When the reporters come to ask him questions the next day he has already hung himself in his house. This shows that he really represents the modern world we know, because he feels emotions like guilt and hatred and can not deal with them in the soma way, but instead ends his life.
Setting II
The World State in Brave New World is extraordinarily flawed. John the Savage brings this up many times in his final scene’s with Mustapha Mond, the Controller for the Hatchery. For one thing the World State is built upon things that are artificial. Soma is not a cure for pain, it just relieves the pain. The people who live in this world are so addicted to the stuff (except for Bernard) that if they become even slightly unhappy they have to take the drug. Things of this nature are definitely flawed because having emotion is a natural thing for humans to do. Essentially what the World State has done is turned everyone into robots; they can’t reproduce, they are always happy, they have different classes and jobs based on how they were created in the hatchery.
Some people have made a connection between this book and the modern world with the modern controversial topic of stem cell research. The act of taking the cells that are in your body which originally create the different parts of your body, and holding them in reserve so that in case you needed them later down the road because of some injury or accident, they could create a new brain or spine or leg or whatever need be created. In some ways it is almost the same sort of thing that is happening in Brave New World. People do not want to live with the flaws that humans can have and want to create a perfect world. Of course Brave New World is an extreme of that idea in that emotions are controlled, ideas are the same for everybody, beliefs are shared by all. There are no wars or conflicts because the world is ruled by one person. The modern conflict of wether to research into the field of stem cells is essentially playing god, the exact thing that is attempted by Mustapha in the World State.
The setting in Brave New world shows similarties to the modern world. Huxley has created a world that is similar to our's but yet very different. The setting is corrupt because humans are no longer able to plan out their own lives or the fate of their future. Scientists do that for them. The people in the world are brainwashed from day one. Some characters in Brave New World happily expect their lives. But others want to change it and are not happy with the life they are given. Bernard is a perfect example of a character who stuggules with the setting and the society he grows up in. He is not content with the world he is in. Bernard to the other characters is viewed as a outcast or even a freak. Overall the setting makes the characters have flawed lives, they may think their lives are perfect but they are far from it compared to to the modern world we know today. If the setting allowed the characters lives more freedom then their world would be less corrupt.
The World State in Brave New World is full of flaws. We become more aware of these after we see a contrast to the World State, the New Mexico Savage Restoration. It is introduced when Bernard takes a trip there at about 100 pages into the book. Life there is similar to life now, full of religion, art, and true happiness. There is no soma there, people learn to deal with their problems, not just make them dissapear. Also there we meet another main character, John. John is the only main character to have not grown up in the twisted society of the World State. Because of this, we are better able to see the flaws of the world. Bernard almost fades completely from the novel and John takes over the role of the main character in the second half of the book. Through his eyes we are better able to understand the problems with scoiety and it's flaws, such as soma, or lack of literature. We are able to see that the sacrifices we make for this New World are not worth the few benefits that society offers.
John takes over the role of being the main charcter in the second half of the novel Brave New World. He is very different from bernard. Where as Bernard "suffers" from society and it's flaws and does not act on it, John does take action. It is clear that John understands the problems with the current society. He even acts upon those feelings, for example when he throws the boxes of soma out the window shouting "Freedom". Towards the end of the novel, when John meets with the world controller, we get our best view of John as a person. While Mond defends and explains his views on social stability and sacrifices, John in turn defends his beliefs. He tirelessly defends art, science, religion, and true happiness. But Mond does not budge on his beliefs claiming that all the sacrifices are essentially to creating a stable society. Mond sentences Bernard to an island, and everyone leaves. It is in this last chapter we see what the world does to people. John kills himself when learning of the true horro of the world around him. He cannot live a flase life.
Setting Part 2-
In the second part of the novel “A Brave New World” Aldous Huxley shoes us another view of the world that he has created. Bernard takes Lenina to a reservation where the “savages” live and practice the old ways that are not civilized. Lenina describes this place as dirty and filthy. The two places are contrasted greatly between the people and the way they are run. The other place is run strictly by the civilization and a strict order. Technology and science have ruined the human kind race and has made them robots of society. The reservation is run on tradition which the “civilized people do not understand. When the savage goes to the other place in London we see how the people react to the disturbance of their perfect world. With a couple of words about freedom turns a whole room into chaos. Everything goes out of balance and none of the adults are sure of what to do. We find that this way of living was created after the nine years war because people were tired of war and were looking for order. In today’s world we are always looking for a solution that will make everything run smoother. Could this reference be a hint to us that if we keep looking for order this novel will be our future?
Characters Part 2-
In the beginning of the book the reader sees how almost everyone abides by the rules and civilization that is set up for this age in time. Towards the end of the novel we see the true feelings of objection to this way of living. One sees a complete flip in the way that Bernard looks at things. He soon finds acceptance in the world he is living in, and soon lives by the strict ways of Ford. He forgets about all the objections that he once had. Linda, who was trapped in the reservation for many years, strives for the return to her clean sterile place with civilized people. She continually explains to her son how great and wonderful it is there. Linda try to give him reading material and condition him herself. Her son, John seems like he wants nothing to do with this and rather live like the other savages. Once in the civilized world he finds everything wrong with it and tries to persuade people to take back their freedoms. He causes a complete uproar and ends up talking to Mustapha Mond. Both characters have the same feelings about everything. Mustapha tells John that they can’t show the people the beauty of the old things because they wouldn’t understand and it would create chaos. The civilized people are better without it, and the world runs better with no knowledge of the beautiful things in life. One is also learns that there are a great deal that have objections to the way this civilization is run. These people are sent to islands around the world where they can practice what they believe. In these islands they are not living exactly by the teachings of Ford. In the novel, there are character that see nothing wrong with the world that they are living in, and then there are others who see that things are run to robotically.
Setting II
After completing Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, it is clear that the characters who executed this future World State have done it with the intentions of creating a utopia, where we as readers can only see such a place as a dystopia. To us, this world has a remarkable amount of flaws, where most of the characters in the novel see nothing wrong with the world in which they live. With the motto “Community, Identity, and Stability”, the controllers of this world focus only on the artificial parts of life. Feelies are the only way that characters are able to feel emotion, where it’s not even their own emotions; it is the emotion of the characters in the film. The characters rely on soma to cure them from anything and everything. Religion, art, and literature are unspoken words in this future world and the ideas of marriage, family, and love are considered outrageous. The characters are molded into something that they have no choice in being. Therefore, they can not come to a realization that their World State is severely flawed. Hopefully the world in which we live will become the world that Aldous Huxley predicted.
Characters II
In Brave New World, most characters were disenchanted. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John the “Savage” were let down by their own actions. Throughout the novel, these characters discovered new things about themselves and recognized that the World State in which they live wasn’t a utopia after all. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John fought for acknowledgment. They were the only ones who expressed their disappointment with the World State. Bernard, a character who believed he is too small and weak to be considered an Alpha, felt like there was a void in his life. He wished he could be like Helmholtz, who was completely content with himself. Helmholtz indulged himself in literature to express himself in a world didn’t allow any form of thinking. When John was brought back to the Brave New World, he was the only one able to voice his own opinions and condemn the World State because he had been reading Shakespeare. To him, the society was appalling. Since he was against soma, he tried to throw it away to save a hospital full of Deltas. John was sexually attracted to Lenina, but he never pursued anything with her; he actually rejected her because he wanted more than just sex, something other men would never do. Bernard changed when John came back. He began to sleep around and used John so he could become popular. Bernard became a hypocrite; he did things he was completely against in the beginning of the novel. Other characters, like Lenina, did everything they could to so they didn’t have to face the truth about their own lives. Lenina abused soma, which made her become unconscious of her own life and decisions. Although Lenina did gain more knowledge about human nature as the novel progressed, she never changed her ways. Unfortunately, at the end of the novel, John buckled to Lenina and her seductive ways, which he regretted the next day. As a result, John ended his own life because he couldn’t believe he let himself surrender to World State he hated.
In the last line of my setting paragraph, I meant to say that "hopefully the world in which we live will not become the world that Aldous Huxley predicted." Woops.
First half:
In the novel, "Brave New World" written by Aldous Huxley, there is an altered world in which the people live. To me, it seems almost an exaggerated communist society. People have little to no free will. Everything is pre-determined for them. Their job, and lifestyle is all determined by the governement before birth.
The Government uses something called Soma, which is a drug that deters one from free thought. They are taught that they are feeling happy, but in all truth, their mind is just being neutralized, and becoming accepting of whatever the government tells you to do.
Essentially, this book just takes negative things in the world today, and amplifies them.
The 'Main' Characters seem to be Bernard Marx, his off and on girlfriend Lenina, the world leader "Mustapha Mond", and Bernard's friend writer, Helmholtz Watson
Bernard is the only character that we are introduced to early on who recognizes the flaws, and acts against them in this 'exaggerated world'. He is told that the world is supposed to be perfect, but yet he feels inadequate. Bernard values his ability to freely think, and quickly recognizes what the Soma does to him. He feels empty without the Soma, but still finds pleasure when not under the influence.
Setting
A new and teriffying world was created by the author of Brave New World,Aldous Huxley.Huxley takes the love, life,liberty, and the pruisuit of happiness that our society campaighns to achieve and is instilled as prefection and replaces it with science, technology, and false happiness as the new forum of prefection. A world created with ovaries that have been scientifically created to produce embyos that are altered to create people to fit a certain occupation and persona. He created a world where people do not get sick and emotion is something from the past. Although Huxley's interpetation of the world in the future is greatly exaggerated there are many aspects of life that the author forcasts that can be acurate to the world that we live in today. The drug soma which closley resembles the hundreds of drugs out on the market today that supress's peoples emotions, actions, and lifestyle. Soma the name of the drug used in A Breave New World is a drug that makes everyone feel "happy". You substitute the activities that can actualy make a person happy with a drug then does rhe work for you. Achieving prefection is flawed and corrupt. Huxley replaced individualism with distinction. The description of factories is well decribed in the first few pages. It apears cold and lightless. A terrifying glimpse into a future world.
Classmates have had many well developed concerns with the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Most of us believe that the scientifically altered people is a bit of an extreme to an upcoming future. Yet many of us also see that what Huxley wrote also resembles us a world now. As Tyler said is seems to him to be an "exaggerated communist society" which is kind of accurate. A communist country is believed to be utopian but corruption by people has made it extremely corrupted. As Kathi said, this world is sterile and twists morals and standards. Most see the comparisons and contrasts in this novel. Hopefully opening up our eyes about a path that we will pass.
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