"A public example," he was saying. "In this room, because it contains more high-caste workers than any other in the Centre. I have told him to meet me here at half-past two." - Brave New World, page 147.
What I found to be the most interesting about this chapter was the hypocrisy shown by the Director. The only reason the Director planned to humiliate Bernard in front of everyone and banish him to Iceland was because he was afraid that Bernard would eventually reveal his secret for having feelings for the girl (Linda) whom he lost on his trip at the Reservation. The hypocrisy is shown when he publically humiliates Bernard in an attemp to save himself from being publically humiliated. The only reason the D.H.C. is unable to actually banish Bernard is because Bernard exposes his true faults. Morally, the Director can no longer punish Bernard because he, too, has faults that are against societal beliefs.
Another important fact I find to be notable is how the people react when they see Linda and John. They are utterly horrified and shrink away at the sight of Linda. I believe this is a sign that she will never be accepted back into the community completely, especially since having a child is one of the worst social mishaps one could exhibit. The people then burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight of John on his knees naming the D.H.C. his father. This shows that John who is young and handsome will be accepted into society but more as a curiosity whom people want to learn more about.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Situations of Power
"I ventured to think," stammered Bernard, "that your fordship might find the matter of sufficient scientific interest..." - Brave New World, page 141.
Chapter 9 was a very short chapter. I thought to myself, why so short of a chapter? What was the point? Then I got to thinking and realized that this chapter showed both Bernard and John in very extreme situations of power. Bernard has the great opportunity of bringing back two people who have been living on the Reservation for quite some time. Mustapha Mond thought it would be scientifically sufficient to see how these people behaved once brought back to the real world. Although, I cannot help but wonder if the real motive behind Bernard's bringing of the savages back home is to get back at the Director. This would completely humiliate the D.H.C. who is the father of John. On the other hand, John is put in a situation where he finds Lenina in a soma holiday. He reaches out to touch her and maybe even unzip her clothes but realizes the horror in his thoughts and thinks better.
The difference in the reactions to the situations of power between the two men are incredible. Bernard uses this power to his advantage, showing himself as a shameless opportunist, whereas John thinks better of the situation and is able to control himself. I believe that this will come back to haunt Bernard. Nothing good comes from using others for personal gain and in the end, Bernard will probably regret his actions.
Chapter 9 was a very short chapter. I thought to myself, why so short of a chapter? What was the point? Then I got to thinking and realized that this chapter showed both Bernard and John in very extreme situations of power. Bernard has the great opportunity of bringing back two people who have been living on the Reservation for quite some time. Mustapha Mond thought it would be scientifically sufficient to see how these people behaved once brought back to the real world. Although, I cannot help but wonder if the real motive behind Bernard's bringing of the savages back home is to get back at the Director. This would completely humiliate the D.H.C. who is the father of John. On the other hand, John is put in a situation where he finds Lenina in a soma holiday. He reaches out to touch her and maybe even unzip her clothes but realizes the horror in his thoughts and thinks better.
The difference in the reactions to the situations of power between the two men are incredible. Bernard uses this power to his advantage, showing himself as a shameless opportunist, whereas John thinks better of the situation and is able to control himself. I believe that this will come back to haunt Bernard. Nothing good comes from using others for personal gain and in the end, Bernard will probably regret his actions.
Oh Brave New World!
"Oh brave new world," he repeated. "Oh brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once." - Brave New World, page 139
![]()
Now I get it! This is the reason behind the title of the Huxley's novel. When John states, "Oh brave new world," he is referencing Miranda's speech in the Shakespearean play The Tempest. Miranda, after seeing men for the first time in her entire life, says these same words. The irony behind it is that she is not seeing men acting civilized but rather drunken men staggering off the wreckage of their boat. As the reader, one can only believe that what John finds in this new world will only disappoint him. He believes it will be something more special than it truly is.
The last sentence of the chapter is of Bernard telling John, " And, anyhow, hadn't you better wait till you actually see the new world?" This is a sort of foreshadowing that puts emphasis on the idea that John really has no idea what he is in for. Things are going to be very different from what he expected and John is going to be astonished at what he will find in the new world.
Now I get it! This is the reason behind the title of the Huxley's novel. When John states, "Oh brave new world," he is referencing Miranda's speech in the Shakespearean play The Tempest. Miranda, after seeing men for the first time in her entire life, says these same words. The irony behind it is that she is not seeing men acting civilized but rather drunken men staggering off the wreckage of their boat. As the reader, one can only believe that what John finds in this new world will only disappoint him. He believes it will be something more special than it truly is. More Simmilarities!
"Alone, always alone," the young man was saying. The words awoke a plaintive echo in Bernard's mind. - Brave New World, page 137.
![]()
Wow! There are so many simmilarities I am finding between the people in this novel! Although Lenina and Linda seem to be mirror images of eachother, Bernard and John are definitely not. They are merely similar in the obstacles they face as well as the feelings they have. Bernard and John both express their feelings of being alone. They both feel as though they don't fit in, mostly as a cause of how they look and appear. It will be interesting to see how the two act in the rest of the novel. We will see how similar they truly are.
Something else I found interesting in this chapter was John's reaction to and association with the reality of sex. Early on in life, John has associated sex with the absense of his mother, fear, humiliation, and of course, the reason behind the beating of him and his mother by the other women of the Reservation. He has learned to find sex repulsive, despite his attraction to Lenina. Huxley is demonstrating that all people are prone to powerful suggestion. It does not matter whether one is tagged as "civilized" or "uncivilized," certain things can condition one to behave in certain ways starting very early on.
Wow! There are so many simmilarities I am finding between the people in this novel! Although Lenina and Linda seem to be mirror images of eachother, Bernard and John are definitely not. They are merely similar in the obstacles they face as well as the feelings they have. Bernard and John both express their feelings of being alone. They both feel as though they don't fit in, mostly as a cause of how they look and appear. It will be interesting to see how the two act in the rest of the novel. We will see how similar they truly are.Something else I found interesting in this chapter was John's reaction to and association with the reality of sex. Early on in life, John has associated sex with the absense of his mother, fear, humiliation, and of course, the reason behind the beating of him and his mother by the other women of the Reservation. He has learned to find sex repulsive, despite his attraction to Lenina. Huxley is demonstrating that all people are prone to powerful suggestion. It does not matter whether one is tagged as "civilized" or "uncivilized," certain things can condition one to behave in certain ways starting very early on.
Mirror-Doubles?
"Oh, my dear, my dear." The torrent of words flowed sobbingly. "If you knew how glad - after all these years! A civilized face. Yes, and civilized clothes. Because I thought I should never see a piece of real acetate silk again." - Brave New World, page 119.
In this chapter, Lenina meets a woman named Linda who has been trapped on the Reservation, forced to learn its ways and customs. Linda openly expresses her hatred for this place and can remember everything about the "Other Place."I could not help but notice during this chapter that Lenina and Linda seem to be mirror-doubles of each other. Their names are even incredibly similar. Lenina complains during this entire chapter leading up to the meeting of Linda of how aweful the reservation is. She wishes she could have some soma and wishes they could just leave repeating over and over again, "I don't like it." Linda later reiterates the awefulness of the Reservation explaining how she has suffered. There was no soma for her to take so she had to resort to mescal which is probably the equivalent to alcohol from our time. Also, Linda's fate, to become a mother, is so unspeakable that Lenina shudders at just the thought of it. This is almost like what could have been for Lenina. Lenina sees Linda as how she might have turned out in different circumstances.
Dreams, Feelings, and Emotions
"I actually dream about it sometimes," the Director went on in a low voice. "Dream of being woken up by that peal of thunder and finding her gone; dream of searching and searching for her under the trees." He lapsed into the silence of reminiscence. - Brave New World, page 97.
This chapter was especially interesting to me. The one man who seems to believe with all his heart that there should be no feelings of love what so ever and preaches vigorously that "every one belongs to every one else" has showed some remorse for a woman and comes almost to the point of admitting that he loved her! This would be a total social sin and coming from the Director would make it even more shocking! Anyhow, realizing that he has exposed too much of himself to Bernard, the Director reacts by shifting the conversation around and focusing more on Bernard's social mistakes and mishaps. We later find out that the Director is on the verge of actually banishing him to Iceland. Bernard experiences in this chapter his first real intense feelings of emotion. It is almost too much for him to handle the idea of being sent to Iceland. Soma is his answer to fixing the problem which, again, proves to the reader that his rebellion was merely shallow and cowardly. When a huge problem comes his way, Bernard cannot face the facts and resorts to the actions any human of this time would resort to. Bernard likes to talk the talk but he most certainly cannot walk the walk.
This chapter was especially interesting to me. The one man who seems to believe with all his heart that there should be no feelings of love what so ever and preaches vigorously that "every one belongs to every one else" has showed some remorse for a woman and comes almost to the point of admitting that he loved her! This would be a total social sin and coming from the Director would make it even more shocking! Anyhow, realizing that he has exposed too much of himself to Bernard, the Director reacts by shifting the conversation around and focusing more on Bernard's social mistakes and mishaps. We later find out that the Director is on the verge of actually banishing him to Iceland. Bernard experiences in this chapter his first real intense feelings of emotion. It is almost too much for him to handle the idea of being sent to Iceland. Soma is his answer to fixing the problem which, again, proves to the reader that his rebellion was merely shallow and cowardly. When a huge problem comes his way, Bernard cannot face the facts and resorts to the actions any human of this time would resort to. Bernard likes to talk the talk but he most certainly cannot walk the walk.
Alliteration and the Night Sky
"Lenina remembered her first shock of fear and surprise; her speculations through half a wakeful hour; and then, under the influence of those endless repetitions, the gradual soothing of her mind, the soothing, the smoothing, the stealthy creeping of sleep..." - Brave New World, page 74.
This alliteration jumped out at me as soon as I read it. The repetition of the s's has more of a harsh feeling to them than if it were any other consonant being used. It reminds the reader of a snake with its hissing sound and therefore gives out a negative connotation. But the other part to this alliteration is the negative diction being used. Words like "creeping" and "endless" are sprinkled throughout. Could this be more than the writer's disaproval of technology and how it interferes with the peacefulness of sleep? Could this also be Lenina's inner-self feeling animosity towards the conditioning and technology used against her and the others as children?
![]()
Later on in this same chapter, Huxley describes a scene where Lenina and Henry are completely unaware of the night sky and the stars because of all the artificial light being created by signs and electricity. When I read this I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, this is just like our world, today!!" People living in the city have no clue of what the night sky truly looks like and one can really only see this beautiful spectacle by traveling to the country side or somewhere far away from the bright lights. Maybe we are in a way heading towards this new future that Huxley describes. Hopefully it won't have to come to all of this mind conditioning and what they seem to believe is pure happiness.
This alliteration jumped out at me as soon as I read it. The repetition of the s's has more of a harsh feeling to them than if it were any other consonant being used. It reminds the reader of a snake with its hissing sound and therefore gives out a negative connotation. But the other part to this alliteration is the negative diction being used. Words like "creeping" and "endless" are sprinkled throughout. Could this be more than the writer's disaproval of technology and how it interferes with the peacefulness of sleep? Could this also be Lenina's inner-self feeling animosity towards the conditioning and technology used against her and the others as children?
Later on in this same chapter, Huxley describes a scene where Lenina and Henry are completely unaware of the night sky and the stars because of all the artificial light being created by signs and electricity. When I read this I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, this is just like our world, today!!" People living in the city have no clue of what the night sky truly looks like and one can really only see this beautiful spectacle by traveling to the country side or somewhere far away from the bright lights. Maybe we are in a way heading towards this new future that Huxley describes. Hopefully it won't have to come to all of this mind conditioning and what they seem to believe is pure happiness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)