Brave New World - Thirteen

"'The Savage,' wrote Bernard, 'refuses to take soma, and seems much distressed because the woman Linda, his m-----, remains permanently on holiday.  It is worthy of note that, in spite of his m-----'s senility and the extreme repulsiveness of her appearance, the savage frequently goes to see her and appears to be much attracted to her- an interesting example of the way in which early conditioning can be made to modify and even run counter to natural impulses'" (pg 160-61).

This chapter did not possess any striking examples of literary terms, so I suppose I will just write a reflection on the strange plot twist that the chapter gave me.  Contrary to previous chapters, Bernard is now overwhelmingly popular, the Director is gone, Linda is drugged, John is beloved, and Lenina is in a lover's wreck, which made for a very confusing reading experience.  Like chapter three, I noticed that Huxley broke up the plot into defined sections through page breaks.  He probably thought that this would help to ease the reading, but it really just made it very jumpy for me.

I chose the above quote because I felt that it truly defined this chapter as a whole on the basis that it contributes the most to the dramatic rising actions facing our characters.  It would appear as though all the death talk is foreshadowing Linda's impending death, but since John was not trained like the others, he may struggle with her passing.  "The Savage" (John) appears to be a celebrity in the Hatchery- I guess this would compare to if Big Foot enrolled in Roncalli?  Bernard also faces this inflated status for having brought John to the new world.  I feel like the most prominent irony in this situation is the different levels of Savages in this novel.  Linda is a Savage who was forced into seclusion and complete embarrassment, yet John was beloved and even asked to make love with Lenina.  I feel as though this distinction between John and Linda as Savages is a key factor in the upcoming plot.  Wow, I just realized that when Monda said, "He won't find another Savage to help him out a second time," it could support my theory that there are distinctions in the types of Savages for which the new world is looking.

Brave New World - Twelve

"Buzz, buzz! the hive was humming, busily, joyfully" (pg 147).

This metaphor clearly compares the Hatchery to a bee hive.  It makes sense, because in a bee hive, everyone does the work for a soul purpose - to grow the colony.  In this twisted reality, the "queen bee" seems to be the director.  He (okay, king bee?) seems to oversee all of reproduction that takes place in the Hatchery.  Not only this, but all the workers (drone bees) appear to not even put up a fight for what is supposed to happen.  Ultimately, everything revolves around Tomakin.  For example, he had the final say in the possibility of excommunicating Bernard Marx.  This totalitarian government (if you can call it that) seems to only work because of the intensive brain washing which every "baby" undertakes, but is evidently not 100 percent effective.  Even further supporting the bee hive symbolism is the caste structure of the Hatchery.  The Hatchery is clearly made up of a majority of the drone workers who have no real purpose but to do everything necessary to keep the place running.  Next up, there is a small sector composed of people who work closely with the queen king bee, but do not have all the manual labor of the drones.  Lastly, there is the king bee who controls the rate of growth within the hive.  I am thinking this is going to bee (It's a pun!) a nice second half to the novel!

In case you are not an expert on bees.

Brave New World - Eleven

     "'I ventured to think,' stammered Bernard, 'that your fordship might find the matter of sufficient scientific interest...'
     'Yes, I do find it of sufficient scientific interest,' said the deep voice.  'Bring these two individuals back to London with you' (pg 141)."

 This dialogue seems to be a nice time to portray Bernard Marx as dynamic character since it shows a new, more confident side of Marx (the nature of the proposal, that is, not the way he stammers it); however, since I have not seen the repercussions of the situation, I cannot say that with certainty.  Marx wants to bring John and Linda back to the "Other World" for what seemed to be just a random act of kindness, but this quote from Marx seems to contradict previous assumptions.  It appears as though the true motive of bringing John and Linda to London is to psycho-analyze two of the more sane of the savages.  Also, it may allow them to conclude the faults that were found within Linda.  This seems completely uncharacteristic of Bernard Marx's presumed dislike of many of the Hatchery's bizarre ethics, but I suppose being under the spotlight may have made him feel the pressure of doing something to prove his loyalty.

This dialogue also seems to show a synecdoche (Mozilla just told me "synecdoche" should be spelled "Indochinese") when Huxley portray Mustapha Mond through merely his "deep voice."  I figure this could be sort of a symbol of change in Marx.  Portraying someone through simply an overbearing presence seems to be a common theme for people speaking with Bernard, but this time, Marx did not back down or "blush."  The overall mood of the diction surrounding Bernard seems to show some emotional changes in him, but I would not be shocked if I just read way to far into that nice and short chapter.

Brave New World - Ten (Double Digits!)

"'Alone, always alone,' the young man (John) was saying.
      The words awoke a plaintive echo in Bernard's mind.  Alone, alone... 'So am I,' said, on a gush of confidingness.  'Terribly alone'" (pg 137).

While Bernard had always felt like an outcast, I feel like this is the moment (an epiphany, if you will) where Bernard actually realized the extent to which he had distanced himself from the rest of his Other World. This chapter was very confusing on my head because of the flashbacks and chronic use of pronouns, but from what I understand, Bernard and John seem to be paralleled throughout this chapter.  The ongoing feelings of being different (Bernard's height and John's background) seem to flow in the very blood which proves they are humans (I had started considering robots).  In the above dialogue, John reveals his main personality trait which is his self doubt and sense of solitude.  In an epiphany, Bernard, possibly accidentally, shows reveals his similar emotions.  The lack of self worth radiating from Bernard unleashed, tricking Bernard into thinking it a good idea to try to allow John and Linda to return to what John calls "a brave new world."  Okay, even with my second grade reading skills, I can conclude that John's words were important there (seeing as that is the title of the novel).  I am really hoping that an actual plot will start now because as of now, I only see a depressed man faced with a multitude of internal and external conflicts.  It appears to me that I may have actually made a connection!  Possibly, the external conflicts (discrimination) had distracted Bernard from his internal conflicts (loneliness), thus leading to his epiphany when he found someone like him.

I have had this song stuck in my head all day, and my last comment brought it back up.

Brave New World - Nine

"She shuddered.  It was worse than the old man.  So fat.  And all the lines in her face, the flabbiness, the wrinkles.  And the sagging cheeks, with those purplish blotches.  And the red veins on her nose, with bloodshot eyes.  And that neck- that neck; and the blanket she wore over her head- ragged and filthy.  And under the brown sack-shaped tunic those enormous breasts, the bulge of the stomach, the hips" (pg 119).

Well if chapter seven was not a direct attack on the ethics of this twisted world, then I do not know what is going on in this book anymore.  This direct characterization of Linda- a Beta who is now a savage- shows what happens to a person who is so highly trained in a specific area,  who is then told to do something else.  She even says at the conclusion of the chapter, "I mean, when a child asks you how a helicopter works or who made the world- well, what are you to answer if you're a Beta and have always worked in the Fertilization Room?  What are you to answer?"  Linda seems to have the conflicting values of living in a perfect society sprinkled with the logistics of living among the savages.  This wisdom Linda received as a result of her dramatic experiences could allow her to play a key roll in the destruction of this world- so maybe they will not destroy the world, but what a twist that would be!  In the end, this chapter really reflects the disastrous results of some of the values instilled into the minds of the workers at the hatchery.  Good thing she was not trained to hate nature.  She would probably have gone mad by now, unless she had gotten past the fear and figured out the training like Bernard seems to have.

Brave New World - Eight

"'We give them transfusion of young blood.  We keep their metabolism permanently stimulated.  So, of course, they don't look like that.  Partly,' he added, 'because most of them die long before they reach this old creature's age.  Youth almost unimpaired till sixty, and then, crack! the end' (pg 111).

The irony of the logic used in this messed up world continues to astound me in chapter seven.  At a young age, all the embryos are conditioned to be able to fend off disease.  Ironically, I do not believe the majority of those diseases even exist in the real world, though they do outside the safety of the Hatchery.  Still, it seems a bit strange that a society would find it necessary to immunize everybody if they will never be exposed to it.  Also, the idea of keeping someone young (do I smell a similarity to that random epic we read sophomore year; Ulysses maybe?) , when they will have a lower life expectancy than the savages of New Mexico.  I think that the irony of this situation may best be described by some of the "Community Code of Ethics" - assuming they have them in a Constitution that is.  This is a world that lives by the logic that "ending is better than mending."  Maybe this continues here because they will precondition the body to ward off disease, but if they are unable to fight it off, then they will die.  No treatments will be applied to help mend the dying person.  How this relates to anything in the story is still beyond me, but I think that this trip to New Mexico with the diseased savages could possibly put the "stability" of the glassed world in jeopardy.

"Contagious diseases for 2000, Alex."

Brave New World - Seven (I think?)

"In the end she persuaded him to swallow four tablets of soma.  Five minutes later roots and fruits were abolished; the flower of the present rosily blossomed" (pg 104).

Okay, so I realize soma is a symbol for something because of its reoccurrances (that might not be a word) and clear use of making the person who takes it forgetful of their life's recent troubles.  For Bernard Marx - who I will now bravely call not only a main character, but maybe even a dynamic character - he takes it because of his inability to see eye-to-eye (that is not just a short joke) with the rest of this alter-reality Huxley has concocted.  For this reason, I believe that soma is the equivilent to, dare I say, illegal drugs in our times.  It is taken by the gramme, which I noticed is found in this world's word "programme," though any plausible reasons for this would just result in coincidence.

Soma appears to be a miracle, over-the-counter drug which somehow changes the thought processes of its victim into believing what the other person declares to be, in fact, true.  I would go out on a limb has to say that soma is the safety precaution enacted by the world leaders.  It may appear to have good reasons of existence; however, I feel comfortable saying that its main use is as last resort should previous attempts to brainwash the minds of the followers backwire - as is the case with Bernard Marx.  Basically, I hypothecize that these magic pills create the illusion that "everybody's happy nowadays" and that "a gramme is better than a damn," which actually just started to make sense to me!  Okay, so now that my paranoid mind has assumed that this novel pleades for world dominance over easily manipulated minds, I will show a quick video that I see being a nice connection to what is happening with the soma - a symbol of just how easy it is to fake or force human emotions, which also plays into the satirical tone of the novel.

Let me just say, I feel like I actually understand something in a book for once and will be very sad on my birthday if I find out that I was actually wrong.

Skip to 11:30 through 12:30 for my connection to the current plot line.

Brave New World - Six

"The group was now complete, the solidarity circle perfect and without flaw.  Man, woman, man, in a ring of endless alternation round the table.  Twelve of them ready to be made one, waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their separate identities in a larger being" (pg 80).

In an apostrophe to Ford, twelve humans from the society ask for unity.  Ford is like their version of God, and this "ring of endless alternation" seems to be what reminds me of a ritual calling for the spirits with some old lady in a really long dress - all that is missing seems to be a glass ball to see through.  Another small detail is that they make the sign of the T, which represents our version of the Sign of the Cross, only is used to represent the Ford T Model - which is when this societies time system became effective.  The ritual is very feasible with the chants, dancing, and prayer leading up to the tangible feeling of an out-of-this-world spirit.  This could allude to the Last Supper, where the twelve (possibly conveying the Twelve Apostles) followers pass the cup.  Ironically, one is doubtful.  Bernard Marx could still become the Judas of the story who undoubtedly ends the cycle of the caste system.  Marx is further portrayed in this ceremony as a blushing fool who is not fully convinced on the necessity of the World's ethics and values.  The personality traits so far displayed in Marx (e.g. doubtful, timid, and judgmental) seem to characterize him as an outcast who could very likely be a foil characer, but I cannot tell with whom yet.  If I had to guess (I like to predict things as you may be able to tell), Henry Foster would be his opposite since he seems so confident and he also is very active in the science and manufacturing of the embyos.

Brave New World - Five

"Contact with members of the lower castes always reminded him painfully of this physical inadequacy.  'I am I, and wish I wasn't;' his self-consciousness was acute and distressing.  Each time he found himself looking on the level, instead of downward, into a Delta's face, he felt humiliated" (pg 64).

This stream of conciousness late chapter four seems to well characterize Bernard Marx.  From his previous appearances in the plot, it seems as though Bernard Marx could be one of the predicted individuals who will ultimately rise against the world ethics.  He is an Alpha (or possibly Beta?), but his physical stature has left him not feeling the power this title entails.  This feeling of a lack of power is exemplified by his colleague Helmholtz Watson who has had many lovers recently.  Also, Watson has the ability to speak to others which Marx apparently lacks.

Further imploring the realm of allusions sprinkled throughout the novel, Bernard Marx seems to be a clear clink to philosopher Karl Marx.  According to the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Karl Marx believed "that human beings are essentially productive, in that they must produce their means of subsistence in order to satisfy their material needs."  This further confirms the possibility of a link between Karl and Bernard Marx, because Bernard's principles would show that he does not the robotic nature of the world he lives.  They also both seemed to have outlandish theories which were unaccepted by the mainstream public, though in the case of Brave New World, I do not really believe those creations have any real thinking process, but I really cannot tell for certain.

Brave New World - Four

"'We always throw away old clothes.  Ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending, ending is better...'" (pg 49).

Chapter three was kind of long, slightly confusing, and very tiring - probably should have looked to see how long the chapter was before I decided I wanted to walk on the treadmill for this chapter along with chapter two for four miles total.  This aphorism (though possibly antithesis) seems to portray the overall feeling from the collage of short saying scattered at the end of chapter three.  I can only feel like these are all being repeated to the children asleep while we read them, but I cannot actually piece together the actual meaning of all the phrases, though I assume Huxley will at some point reveal to us this message in its entirety.  This whole plot is clearly after destruction of several world super powers such as the French, Germans, and Polish.  Chapter three's second half seems to depict for the reader the past of the British empire with talks on Parliament and other legal documents that had survived - yet another reason they do not want the Delta's to read, I suppose.  It sounded as though there had been a war a  few centuries preceding the current time period.  This war could have been the reason for this seeming proverb of ending versus mending.  Great Britain possibly had to face the question of whether to mend its relationship with the pre-mentioned cultures or end them and go on with their own world of community, identity, and stability.  Hopefully this theme of ending versus mending becomes a recurring thought because I feel like it makes a fun plot twist for the prototypes versus true humans.  Unfortunately, I do not see this becoming a theme, but how cool would that be?  Ultimately, the stark contrast of the two phenomenons of ending a life or mending a wound could become the balance needed to keep this roofed world in harmony - and truly peaceful.

Brave New World - Three

"Our Ford - or Our Freud, as, for some inscrutable reason, he chose to call himself whenever he spoke of psychological matter - Our Freud had been the first to reveal the appalling dangers of family life" (pg 39).

Here, Huxley (whom I recently learned was the author, not the main character... I think) alerts the reader about what to expect.  Ford is the origin of A.F. which is what they use instead of A.D. for years.  Freud, on the other hand, is a famous psychologist who is most well known for his theory of infantile sexuality.  This chapter discusses the pros of "erotic play" in childhood - I am quoting the book on this.  This slightly confused me since the true humans (or so I think) are manufacturing the babies anyways.  After some research into the Freud Theory of Infantile Sexuality, I actually think I have realized the reason behind this allusion.  According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on Freud, without the proper progression of discovering oneself at a young age, the human, or in this case "human," mind can suffer from a multitude of mental illness's such as hysteria or obsessive concerns.  These problems could force the former progress to become fundamentally useless as the prototypes begin to stray from unity and stability.

Note: Sigmond Freud is not the same person as Sigfried and Roy; I had to ask my brother for clarification.

Note 2:  All the information on Freudism is from the above link.

Brave New World - Two

"'The principle of sleep-teaching, or hypnopædia, had been discovered.' The D.H.C. made an impressive pause" (pg 25).

This chapter basically described the two horrific methods of teaching practiced by this, for lack of a better term - people manufacturing plant.

In one sense, they repeatedly set up the "babies" to fail.  By doing so, they are basically forcing this group of youngsters to hate whatever they are being exposed to - in this case, books and flowers.  Short term goals are obviously to make the fear the object in question, but long term, this repetitive nature could easily backfire.  What if, when one of these adventurous "people" go out into the country see a book, he does not get zapped?  Will he just assume he somehow glitched the system and is now free to read, or will he rebel against his evil overlords and reserve his position as king in advance?  Okay, maybe I am over-exaggerating, but this seems prone to many backfires.

The other form of teaching is also through repetition, but this form is subconcious.  While the babies sleep, their pillows send them messages which are aimed to make them believe certain notions as being true - basically implanting the caste system into their malleable brains.  Now, this idea may sound good on paper, but I have tried sleeping on my textbooks, and it does not work (not really, but I have heard it does not work).  Also, some people sleep very heavy and would no doubt not get the memo that they were supposed to have received.

Brave New World - One

"One egg, one embryo, one adult - normality.  But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide... Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before.  Progress" (pg 6).

The parallelism and understatement early in Brave New World really express the importance of this distorted realities ethics.  Not only are they manufacturing humans, but they are even predestining every embryo to what its future occupation should be.  The "progress" has been unfolding for the past years, but through scientific break throughs, this process seems to be yielding greater results.  A perfect reality of "community, identity, and stability" and unravelling as the world found ways to make one person develop nearly one hundred copies of themselves.  The parallelism emphasizes the progress which the researchers are uncovering.  It also focuses in on the unity of separation.  While Bokanovsky's Process seems to be working in the present, it will be interesting to see the further implications of the current actions and seeming lack of precautions.  The unity of parallelisms and understatement seem to contrast the feelings that the characters in the book have of control over the situation with the shock in my mind that they actually think this scheme will be successful.

Remember when cloning sheep was all the rage?