Monday, April 9, 2012

Dystopian Journal #3- Brave New World

A motif that is prevalent early in the novel but now really comes to life in this last 3rd of BNW is that of Shakespeare, especially in chapter 17 when John is talking with the Controller. It was difficult for me to understand a lot of these references because I hadn't read a lot of Shakespeare, but I think that's Huxley's point to a certain degree. I think he's trying to show that those who aren't as educated in Shakespeare in a rather educated society are already doing themselves a disfavor because we (and ultimately I) allow this BNW scenario to eventually happen because of our (and my) ignorance. Many people today would probably go see a movie, go out shopping or eat at a nice restaurant rather than sit down an read literature and John was semi-forced to do (having no other friends or options for entertainment really). But then again this motif of Shakespeare references can ultimately link back to what Huxley is saying for this chapter, and for the entirety of the novel. The World State makes everything in life quite comfy in order to have people not rebel against the state. However, this doesn't allow for the people to grow as human beings or truly be challenged. John says on page 238 "You got rid of them. (He's talking about mosquitoes in reference to a story he's just told.)Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it." By getting rid of the obstacles, everyone in the society lives this overly cushy life. Even with VPS, the citizens of the world state are still being cushioned, while losing the values which have made human society what it is today.

The Park Lane Hospital for the Dying is a new setting that helps show John how corrupt and vulgar the society really is for him and his enlightened mind. The fact that people bring in children to condition them for death, the fact that this society wants those who aren't perfect to be eradicated is repulsive to John. And the fact that everyone who works at the hospital takes soma and lives as "children" of the state is also frightening to John as he does not live in a new world of goodness, but of wickedness. This event, along with the experience with the controller, allows John to want to get out the World State and live on his own again, which may seem odd. He'd lived his whole life in isolation, and now he's choosing to be alone. I think this is significant of the author's ideals though. John would rather live in isolation as he did before because of the problems with the World State. Also, the fact that he only has two places to live- the Reservation or the World State, also drives John to a form of madness where he hurts himself. I think that the setting of the hospital and the setting of the Savage camp, and ultimately the World State as a whole and the Reservation all show as to where John fits in this new world. In either society, John is either an outsider because of the way he looks or because he doesn't follow the customs of the society/ doesn't agree with the values system. At the end of the day, John- as enlightened as he may be, is an outsider even in pursuit of what he really wants. However, what he really wants (poetry, art, God sin, real love) is all meant to be shared with another person, and because he can't have that in any setting, he is doomed for a downfall.

The language Huxley uses in this last part in BNW shows a frightening portrayal of those in pursuit of a story or money. In the last chapter as John sets up his isolationist camp, reporters from around the area begin to hear and see what's going on with John. As the reporters try to talk with him, John responds back in Zuni phrases. This language of agitation helps show how frustrated John is, but also how logical he is compared to those in the society. At one point, a reporter tries to convince John to take soma because "Pain's a delusion" (pg 251). But then when John threatens him by attempting to throw a rock at him, the reporter from the Fordian Science Monitor (clever Huxley, clever) runs back into his helicopter. I think that with this set-up in another's outrageous thinking  Huxley does show how crazy  people in the society really are. And it's only when logic comes up against them that they try to escape the pain they think doesn't exist. At the very end of the novel, after John has partaken in the orgy and has woken from his soma induced coma, the only words he utters are "Oh, my, God, my God!" (pg 259) and then in the next few paragraphs it's shown how he's killed himself. I think that this language tries to show how shocked the society must have been. In their minds, someone must be mad if they are unhappy taking soma and partaking in an orgy. However, now they see someone be ruined by this, they start running as the novel describes in the end, in scattered directions, as if this Savage has confused their paradigm of thinking. I think the language John uses and the language used to describe how John dies helps show how the people in the society are confused, and possibly disturbed by this other way of thinking.

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