...a. The brave new world that Aldous Huxley creates overtly deviates from today’s world. However, disturbing correlations between our world and his do exist. The idea of synthesizing all human life in a lab represents a more apparent distinction of Huxley’s world. His society even denounces natural birth as something almost unnatural. Huxley illustrates his society's disgust with natural birth when Lenina, a main character and denizen of the new world, visits a Native American Reservation. The warden of the reservation tells her that, “. . .in the Reservation, children still are born, yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem. . .” (Huxley 102). His society also prevents its people from aging, “[They] keep their internal secretions artificially balanced at a youthful equilibrium,” which emulates another difference of the new world (Huxley 111). One...
Words: 468 - Pages: 2
...Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, uses allusion to demonstrate that people will go to extreme measures to protect their loved ones. As Lenina and Henry tour the reservation, they witness a rather appalling religious ritual where an eighteen year old boy, only covered by “a white Cotten breach cloth,” is whipped until he collapses. According to John, he does so “For the sake of the pueblo–to make the rain come and the corn grow. And to please Pookong and Jesus” (125). The boy is an allusion or reference to Jesus of Christianity during the scourging of the pillars in his crucifixion. The boy, who also physically resembles Jesus in his nakedness, withstands being whipped seven times before he collapses. The boy endures extreme agony...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...“Community. Stability. Identity.” These three words are the foundation of the dystopian world created by author Aldous Huxley in his novel Brave New World. In this novel, Huxley creates a society known as the World State in which individuals are created and designed to play a specific role in society. Much of the way the society is built reflects the philosophy of Karl Marx. Huxley creates this new world to ironically mirror the ideas of Marxism in how it can ensure social stability. Or can it? Brave New World was written in 1932 during a time with no economic stability or security and after the Industrial Revolution where most of the workforce consisted of cheap labor within factories. It was a time where wealth was distributed only to those...
Words: 729 - Pages: 3
...In chapter eleven of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, one of the main characters, John the Savage finally gets to visit London after being raised on the Reservation; only to be disappointed by the lack of individuality. John’s initial reaction of London before leaving the reservation is of praise: “O brave new world” (121); however, after viewing the internal employee workings of a small London factory John also says “O brave new world…” (139) but following his statement he vomits. This event highlights and foreshadows the importance of John as a character to show the bad in a supposedly utopian society, and relates to the novel’s overall theme of oppression of individual differences. A close analysis of the incident and the details used by Huxley to describe this event reveals that John’s “violent retching” (139) reaction to the Brave New world indicates the individuality of John allowing Huxley through this character to draw attention to the downfalls of the Utopian society....
Words: 521 - Pages: 3
...These have proved both advantageous and detrimental to society as a whole. Technology has helped connect the world and help make everybody happier. However, at what cost? When does technology cease to be beneficial and begin its destruction? Technology has led to the illusion of multitasking, the chronic and widespread abuse of prescription drugs, and the downfall of society as a whole through virtual realities. The article “Why the modern world is bad for your brain”, by Daniel J Levitin shines light on many of the societal norms in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. “Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can...
Words: 887 - Pages: 4
...Literature test, as well as in your college English classes. Summer Reading: Bulfinch, Thomas The Age of Fable: Stories of Gods and Heroes^^ Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor* Hamilton, Edith Mythology^^ Shakespeare, William MacBeth Optional: Cotterell, Arthur & Storm, Rachel The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Mythology# These books should all be available at your local library or bookstore (you may also order online). *If you do not already own a copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, you should get a copy. We will be referring to it throughout the year as we dissect and discuss literary works. ^^I have provided .PDF copies of these works through Edmodo. Please do NOT print copies of these works. #This book is a great resource to have for college, particularly if you are going to be an English major. To help you retain the content of the summer reading, annotate each work thoroughly and take analytical notes using whatever method works best for you. There will be a summer reading test at the start of the school year based on the Mythological Allusion list provided for you as well as on the plot and characterization found within MacBeth (it will be...
Words: 1254 - Pages: 6
...An ideal world is usually characterised as a place of perfection, a place where there is limited conflict and violence, less control from governments and higher organisational and corporate powers and where the environment reflects the residents carefree and untroubled nature. Utopias represent the ideal life, where individuals can escape from their real life, and envisage what it would be like to live in this perfect world. Aldous Huxley, although representing an ideal world in Brave New World (1932), displays the adverse connotations of creating ideal worlds, with relation to problems of post World War I period. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change within himself and society, which also...
Words: 545 - Pages: 3
...Dystopia, We by Evgeniy Zamiatin and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, these influences are crucial for the development, the understanding in the context of the period, and the impact on the literary field. In this essay we will try to analyze the social, historical and cultural context of both novels,...
Words: 1961 - Pages: 8
...In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley it becomes clear that John, a man apart of the “savage” culture, is not only an outsider in his own community but also the civilized World State he is later brought to. John is unique from anyone else Bernard has ever encountered, he lived in a community with Indians where he has many different cultural experiences, although Lenina and Bernard are frightened by what they see, Bernard is also intrigued by John and wants to bring him and his mother back to the World State. This will only cause more confusion for John who is trying to find someplace that he belongs. Finding your place in the world is important, and the only way to do so is to communicate and find your people, to understand where you come from...
Words: 415 - Pages: 2
...science, John’s passion for religion and Bernard’s attraction to pain and emotion. Bernard and Helmholtz leave for an island fit for unorthodox individuals, while John runs away to live a pure and wholesome life, to his standards. He finds an old lighthouse and begins to live the simplistic lifestyle he believes that he deserves, where his days mostly consist of religious practices and self torture in attempts to clean himself from the experiences he encountered in the civilized world. What he didn’t know was that he was being filmed and when the ‘feelie’ of his behavior is released, intrigued and stupefied spectators rush to the Savage’s door to inquire about his peculiar ways. John gets swept up in the frenzy and ends up with soma in his system. When he wakes the next morning he recognises what he had done and he decides that the only way to redeem himself is to end his own...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...thoughtful plays he produced. Having the character appear more down-to-earth, it is obvious that the producers intended to depict him as a man of the people rather than simply a roundabout aristocrat. Nevertheless, certain parallels are drawn to the present-day by having the famous author almost possess rockstar-status among folks, forcing him to handle similar situations, like constantly attempting to maintain his good reputation by creating new plays on a weekly basis. The episode also contains references to the numerous debates concerning Shakespeare’s controversial sexuality. At one point, he subsequently flirts with the title character of the show, at which the Doctor hastily observes, "Fifty-seven academics just punched the air", referring to the polemic disputations concerning this subject. Shakespeare is likewise seen romancing with the female protagonist, Martha, for whom he ultimately composes Sonnet 18, calling her his "Dark Lady" – a reference to the enigmatic feminine character in his Sonnets. Besides this, there are several other allusions to Shakespeare's writings. Examples of this include the fact that the whole episode centres around the play Love's Labour's Won – a possible sequel to another one of Shakespeare’s works, Love’s Labour’s Lost, which has never actually been found. Also, when...
Words: 663 - Pages: 3
...different ways. W. Schmidt’s theory asserts that marriage began as monogamy and decayed into polygamy later on. The opposite thesis of this theory is that of J.J. Bachofen. Bachofen argued that marriage began as a random selection of a partner subsequently leading to polygamy and group marriages. From group marriages, marriage moved to monogamy. These two views show the two different poles of understanding about the origin of marriage: as either monogamous or polygamous. On the other hand, Köstenberger and Jones argue that placing too much premium on the freedom of man has led to a decay in the understanding of marriage. They state that “many hail the decline of the biblical-traditional model of marriage and the family and its replacement by new competing moralities as major progress.” This paper will focus on monogamy as the ideal example of marriage from creation. Also, the paper will make a case for monogamy, which is a union of one man and woman, by citing and explaining passages from the Bible. Monogamy from Creation The fact that Adam was a single individual and a single woman, Eve was made for him (Genesis 2:22-23) to begin the first ever marriage is evidence that God intended marriage to be monogamous....
Words: 1805 - Pages: 8
...Fortunately for humanity, there were some special souls that realized society was wrong way before everyone else did. One of these special souls is an author by the name of Mark Twain, who used satire and moral critique to make fun of race relations and new American culture hypocrisies. Mark Twain was a social critic who observed a society filled with bigotry and racism, even after the abolition of slavery. Twain lived in a time when there were two very separate and also very different belief systems. The first is a world where every man is equal and every person is entitled to his or her freedom. The second, and sadly more common, is the exact opposite of the first. In this system you were looked at as either a legit civilized member of society or on the contrary, a savage. This belief is what Mark Twain boldly opposed and attacks in his story, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story, Mark Twain uses satire and moral critique to make fun of the racial, religious, and social hypocrisies present in the characters and their resulting actions. As we all know, race relations have been a huge factor in the foundation of New America. Slaves were brought over by the hundred thousands to work and serve in the new world. Even to this day, tension is...
Words: 1729 - Pages: 7
...Eng 201 September 7, 2012 Analysis of Christian and Pagan Themes in Beowulf The heroic poem, Beowulf, written circa ninth century after the Common Era (C. E.), presents a bloody chronicle of a king’s role in the violence and tumultuous Germanic tribes shortly after the Roman Empire’s expulsion from the low countries of Northwestern Europe. Evolving from oral narrative’s, Beowulf’s origins, while traceable to a general place and time in history, remains obscure, and comes to modern readers through a manuscript written around the year one thousand C. E.. Written in the language of the Anglo-Saxons, Beowulf, namesake for the title, defeats three monsters, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and finally after many years of ruling his lands, a dragon. While fictional, the author weaves the main plot centering on defeating these vicious adversaries with a mixture of both pagan and Christian customs. Beowulf illustrates numerous biblical references and Christian influences, while simultaneously reflecting a core of Germanic pagan customs. Christianity and its religious elements, alongside, pagan customs and practices, play a fundamental role in the heroic poem, Beowulf’s narrative. Grendel, the monster that terrorizes Hrothgar’s great Hall of the Hart, traces his lineage back to Cain, one of the two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain commits the first murder according to Christian teachings, slaying his brother, Abel (The Holy Bible, Genesis 4-8). Grendel sprang from, “Cain’s clan, whom...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...“Balboa” a short story by Sabina Murray AS YOU READ Pay special attention to descriptions of Balboa's relations with the Indians and the Spaniards. Write down any questions you generate during reading. Vasco Núñez de Balboa ascends the mountain alone. His one thousand Indians and two hundred Spaniards wait at the foot of the mountain, as if they are the Israelites and Balboa alone is off to speak with God. Balboa knows that from this peak he will be able to see the western water, what he has already decided to name the South Sea. He takes a musket with him. The Spaniards have been warned that if they follow, he will use it, because discovery is a tricky matter and he wants no competition. The day is September 25, 1513. Balboa ascends slowly. His musket is heavy and he would have gladly left it down below, but he doesn’t trust his countrymen any more than he trusts the sullen Indians. So he bears the weight. But the musket is nothing. He is dragging the mantle[1] of civilization up the pristine slopes, over the mud, over the leaves that cast as much shade as a parasol[2] but with none of the charm. Balboa is that divining line[3] between the modern and the primitive. As he moves, the shadow of Spain moves with him. Balboa steps cautiously into a muddy stream and watches with fascination as his boot sinks and sinks. He will have to find another way. Upstream he sees an outcropping of rock. Maybe he can cross there. He tells himself that there is no hurry, but years...
Words: 2947 - Pages: 12
