Brave New World 20!

"Les utopies apparaissent comme bien plus realisables qu'on ne le croyait autrefois.Et nous nous trouvons actuellement devant une question bien autrement angoissante : Comment eviter leur realisation definitive?...
Les utopies sont realisables.La vie marche vers les utopies.Et peut-etre un siecle nouveau commence-t-il,un siecle ou les intellectuels et la classe cultivee reveront aux moyens d'eviter les utopies et de retourner a une societe non utopique, moins "parfaite" et plus libre." -Nicolas Berdiaeff

"Utopias appear to be more realizable than was thought in the past. And today, we face a much more anguishing question. how to avoid their definite realization? Utopias are realizable. Life progresses towards utopias. Maybe a new century is starting, a century where the intellectuals and the educated class can dream of means to avoid utopias and to to return to a non utopic society, less perfect and more free."

Aldous Huxley started his novel with this quote to set the tone of the book. I finally found my last similarity with the twisted author. This book is our nightmare. According to his quote choice, this is exactly what Huxley does not want to happen to the world. Huxley is hoping that this novel will encourage a reader to be that intellectual that stops the creation of utopias. He is begging his reader to enjoy the imperfections of life instead of fixing them. Granted, there was no need to write a book this crazy to ask for help, but I respect him for his purpose.

Brave New World 19

"Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, thefeet turned toward the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-west; then paused, and, after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. South-south-west, south, south-east,east..." pg 259

Really now? Thank you for the lesson in directions. There's just a protagonist dead, but let's end the book with directions. People will close the book not knowing how to overcome anything, but we can sure read a compass! Another thing, why didn't Huxley ever say the word dead? I mean if you can kill a character off you should atleast announce it to your reader. I mean, I am making the unfair assumption that other people finished the book. A happy ending would've been nice. The book just got more and more cynical as I read so I suppose that it's only fitting to end like this. Well, now I can say I've read a Sci-Fi book. I really didn't like it. Atleast this means it's over.

Brave New World 18

'"we-want-the whip."' pg 257

Okay, so I read to the end of the book before doing my last few blogs. But before I did, I was guessing that some soma-ed up Alphas were going to torture and kill Savage. I assumed Huxley was going to use the plot of Jesus' Passion to symbolize that the Savage was all that was good in the world, and, with his death, everyone would realize their wrong doings. Oh no, Huxley had to take his sick mind and twist the plot.

However, I still believe that the Savage stood for Religion, but not as a christlike figure. The Savage is Religion. Let's walk through the steps.

1.  Christianity initially had a large following, mainly because it was very different and the talk of the town. Dare I say, Delta Minuses and media?
2. Next, Christianity became a spectacle more than a religion. With extremists making scenes, and phonies claming to be Jesus or knowing the apocalypse is near, Christianity is mocked more than it is followed, but people still claim to be faithful so they can see what will happen next. Just like my quote.
3. This is followed by the current stage of our faith: the fake christians. These days, people act immorally, indulging in worldly pleasures, then go to church. Our own version of an orgy-porgy at the Reservation. 
4. Lastly, just as John killed himself, Religion will smolder, not from being attacked by an outside force, but because of the people in the church who can only claim to believe. The idea of salvation will no longer sound glorious in comparison to worldly happiness. Similarly to the past, indulgences will corrupt faith until the fundamentals of Christianity are replaced with fundamentals of the immoral society.

This is depressing. Yet another reason to say it: I hate this book.

Brave New World 17

"Christianity without tears—that’s what soma is." pg 238

Initially, the analogy between soma and the religion I cling to was completely disgusting. The thought of comparing salvation to a little holiday high just sounded horrendous. But then it hit me: the world already favors getting high. Think about it. Christianity brings happiness in the next life while soma (drugs) brings happiness instantly. It's much easier for anyone to turn to drugs than  to look up and just trust that someone will save you from your troubles. This whole time I've turned a blind eye to the unspoken analogy: the crazy science Centre and the real world.

As if that wasn't enough of a reality check, Huxley wrote all of this long before even my parents were born. He knew that the morality of our country was fading into the backround. He knew that somewhere down the road, it'd be frowned upon to turn to what's good and just.

Brave New World 16

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." pg 221

squalid- foul or repulsive

Ahh, all that glitters is not gold. All is normal in the book. Continuous happiness will never amount to overcoming hardships. Happiness on it's own isn't rewarding, but the work done to strive toward it is immeasurably satisfying. The people in this sick science world were never actually happy, because they never did anything for their own well- being. They don't fully know what happiness is because they know nothing of sadness. I just love themes.

In life, we live cautiously, scared to make a mistake. This way, we do no wrong and cannot be punished. By living in a state of neutrality, we never fall into the pit of despair, but also never experience the awesome wonder of a mountain top. Scared of failure, many people miss out on life's experiences.

Brave New World 15

"Linda had been a slave, Linda had died; others should live in freedom, and the world be made beautiful. A reparation, a duty. And suddenly it was luminously clear to the Savage what he must do; it was as though a shutter had been opened, a curtain drawn back." pg 210

Poor Linda. On the upside, John has a revelation that is sure to bring an abrupt plot shift and possibly (finally) the climax. It's interesting that Huxley chooses the word slave to describe Linda's place in society. All of her life, Linda thought the inhabitants of the Centre were more superior than the savages, but in all reality they were at the bottom of the totem pole of science. They had no say in anything, and, in all actuality, were superior to nothing, not even Epsilon semi morons. Alpha or Epsilon, they were all equally controlled, equally hindered throughout life.

My only question is, why did it take death for the Savage to realize he needed to change things? It's not like the world at the Centre was hidden until this point in the book.

After thought-  This reminds me of the American Revolution. Our Founding Fathers saw that the people were suffering and realized that we deserved independence and freedom. It became their duty to make a safe and beautiful environment for anyone to move to with no preference to any social class.

procrastination time!

Morgan Farnworth and I found microwaving marshmallows to be more entertaining than book projects. No offense.

Brave New World 14

"A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away."

pg 186

Stop changing all of our sayings! I strongly dislike their unoriginal adages. Doctors are welcomed  and encouraged to be regular parts in the the greek lettered creatures' lives just as apples are in my life. In other words, medicine can sure anything. Words truly honored by the drug addict. On a lighter note, what on earth is a jim-jam? I always knew them to be pajamas. I guess it's science language for lack of estrogen or illness. In my world, going to the doctor will never trump eating right. I'd rather eat ten rotten apples than go see my doctor. Such a sad world with such an odd vocabulary.

Out of curiosity, I googled jim jam (because google knows all) What was the result?

I wish my doctor kept Barney away.

Brave New World 13

"Why was that old fellow such a marvelous propaganda technician? Because he had so many insane, excruciating things to get excited about. You've got to be hurt and upset; otherwise you can't think of the really good, penetrating X-rayish phrases... who's going to get excited about a boy having a girl or not having her?" pg 185

      Apparently Helmholtz has never seen a soap opera or teenage sitcom. As absurd as it is, I agree. Too much of entertainment is based on sex. Especially at my age, we lose all sight of everything besides getting the guy/girl. It's really predictable and not exciting at all, but everyone still indulges in it. In that sense, we're boring, lack luster beings. If our greatest endeavors are teenage love affairs, we couldn't think of hard hitting works that Helmholtz longs for.
      Hold up, Shakespeare is not propoganda. I take back agreeing with that man. So much of our passionate fantasies are molded around the plots of Shakespeare's tales. Just like that, I'm back to hating all aspects of this book.

Brave New World 12

"(for 'father' was not so much obscene as- with its connotation of something at one remove from the loathsomeness and moral obliquity of child- bearing -- merely gross, a scatological rather than a pornographic impropriety)" pg 151

This syntax and diction combination is so over my head. I think I know half of those words. I find it to be humorous at this point. The quote might be the most intellectual and hurtful bash on a group of people that I have ever seen. If I were to tell my dad this he probably wouldn't get it either, but he'd understand enough to be furious with me. Yes, the mother is more visibly involved in child bearing, but fathers are by no means pornographic. Being a father entails a lot of complex emotion, but I guess these sorry excuses for people wouldn't understand that either. I'm a proud daddy's girl. My dad is a huge factor in my life, and not in a humorous aspect. I feel a strong needto find this Centre and slap every one of these people. This book cannot possibly get me any more frustrated as I am right now.

Brave New World 11

"The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately... and you will see that no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behaviour. Murder kills only the individual- and, after all, what is an individual?....We can make a new one with the greatest ease- as many as we like." pg 148

I smell foreshadowing. Bernard is destined to be my hero. Bernard has the ability to lead people out of darkness of this scientific communism and into the light of the truth. Sound familiar? Authors often make the protagonist christlike. I would not be surprised if Bernard either has a magnificent victory or horrendous downfall from his efforts to enlighten others. Because the Director has surpassed Religion in his work, I unfortunately believe Bernard will fail. It disgusts me, the amount of disrespect the Director shows for life. Apparently, Social Justice left with Religion and individuality. These people have no essence of what it is to be unique. They might as well be robots. I cannot make my self understand this faithless, unrespectful style. I've been "conditioned" to think the exact opposite: that man uses power for good, and that making the innocent suffer is injust under any circumstance because life is always to be respected and cherished. Huxley repulses me.

Brave New World 10

"'On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand, may seize

And steal immortal blessing from her lips,

Who, even in pure and vestal modesty,

Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin."'

pg144

Barf. There's one thing I disliked more than science at school, and that was Romeo and Juliet. So, as you can imagine, I am thrilled that Huxley is setting up this analogy between the Savage and Lenina and Romeo and Juliet. The timeless tale of forbidden love. Someone please gag me. Atleast it's humorous. Lenina is deffinitely not a pure or modest at all. The Savage is dellusional. I'm dellusional. I'm chuckling at the fact that Lenina probably doesn't even know what sin is. But in all reality, does anyone truly know (or care) about sinning? Has modesty and purity become a joke?





Brave New World 9

"It's supposed to have been there for hundreds of years. I expect it's true, because I looked at it, and it seemed to be full of nonsense. Uncivilized. Still, it'll be good enough for you to practise your reading on." pg 131

         Linda doesn't aprreciate Shakespeare. That's my kind of lady. But beyond that, Linda isn't even familiar with the great impact Shakespeare made. Assuming that the setting is indeed England and not England on another planet, one would think their culture was filled with Shakespeare. Entire classes are based upon the styles of William Shakespeare, who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time, is made synonymous to Dr. Seuss. That's a bit of a slap in the face.
       I can relate to Linda a lot. When I suffered through Romeo and Juliet freshman year, I thought it was all outdated garbage. I wouldn't define Shakespeare as practice reading material, but their beautiful ignorance doesn't know any better. Maybe everyone should learn to spell first, because the word is practice not practise.

....unless you procrastinate on your blogs and have to do them on

your last week of summer. Then it'll fade real fast.

Brave New World 8

"The place was queer, so was the music, so were the clothes and the goitres and the skin diseases and the old people."

Did I really just type that word for a school project? I feel like I'm going to get in trouble still even the I refuse to type it again. I almost just wanna look away or find a new topic. The word just makes me feel awkward. Because this book was written in a completely different era, I'm sure the word usage wasn't meant to evoke awkwardness in the reader, but now it does for sure. Authors wouldn't dare use that adjective in todays world. Similarly, most of the people at the Centre wouldn't dare look into the eyes of a savage because that's a whole different world for them. A world unlike anything they'd ever care to know. Funny how, through the ages, a certain degree of ignorance is bliss.

Brave New World 7

"You can't teach a rhinoceros tricks.... Some men are almost rhinoceroses; they don't respond properly to conditioning. Poor devils!" pg 88

I've heard men being compared to animals many of times, but never to a rhino. I wasn't aware that rhinoceroses couldn't be tamed. The commonly used "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" has been distorted just as the Brave New World is distorted. Oddly enough, Bernard cannot be taught to be less gentlemanly, and that is why he's frowned upon. In both worlds, however, some men just are not gonna be the popular hero. It's a rough life for Bernard, but he just isn't seen as something special and it's impossible to change him. It's convenient though, because Bernard's emotional state is just as foreign to me as the rhinoceros analogy. Poor Bernard, with emotions and (dare I say) a soul, will never know what it's like to take Lenina unless he changes from a rhinoceros to a pig.

Love is as Good as Soma

Never Let Me Go 6

"Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun,

Kiss the girls and make them One.

Boys at one with girls at peace;

Orgy-porgy gives release."

pg 84

...Really? I get that Huxley is juxtaposing this world with our World as much as he can, but must it be so sick? All of this drug and orgy talk got me to thinking, when was this book written? 1932. I was expecting the Woodstock days. However, I suppose that the agonizing days of the Vietnam War were just as depressing as The Great Depression of the thirties. Huxley, in his sick and twisted way, escapes the economic disaster by writing about the juxtaposition of disaster, which, in his mind, is apparently drugs and sex.... without emotion. I understand Huxley's fantasy to eliminate all emotion because the only emotions of the Depression were negative. Digging a little deeper, I now love the author. Huxley was born into a prominent family, but advocated  the use of psychodelics, a hallucinogen. Mix that with his pacifism (anti-war and violence) and his love for parapsycholgy (human interaction that cannot be explained by science) and right there is the premise of this book. Brave New World is a trippy book trying to eliminate all negative interactions by doing something that the real world has never thought of doing. Thank you wikipedia!



Brave New World 5

"P2O5 used to go right out of circulation every time they cremated some one. Now they recover over ninety-eight per cent of it. More than a kilo and a half per adult corpse. Which makes the best part of four hundred tons of phosporous every year from England alone." pg 78

Are you kidding me? This book is driving me crazy. The vernacular is just so scientific (which I hate) and leaves an abyss where emotion should be. For example, these people are dead, but they are not mourned. No, these people are productively cremated to create Phosphorous. I'll fuss for you because this is absurd. So not only do I not understand most of their dialogue, what I do understand sickens me. Science is not the whole world. I hope the bok changes tones soon.

Brave New World 4

"'What you need is a gramme of soma." pg 60

At this point, my best guess is that soma is a very illegal drug in our world. The motif of soma so far mentions that it takes away your pain from emotion. They also send you on trips that apparently last for days. Trips! Soma is acid. Case Closed. Anyway, the most peculiar aspect of this soma is that it's not just a few bad kids using it. This stuff is actually encouraged. My head cannot wrap around that because drugs are extremely frowned up in reality (where science does not rule the world. I would sincerely like to thank God for that, by the way). These people really believe that deleting wicked emotions from life will make pure happiness for everyone. So I'm wondering, what devastating event happened that caused the creation of soma?