When I first began reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the first few chapters were very confusing. I couldn't really figure out what was going on with the factory situation. I couldn't believe how their society functioned. The way they would make humans or how they would torture children to hate books or flowers. It was horrifying to see this was the way that their society functioned. Everyone in their society was brainwashed because from when they are born they were tortured to hate certain things.
This sort of reminded me of Farenheit 451 because they would burn books so people could not learn about the past. It is very similar to the society in Brave New World. I thought that the soma was very interesting. How they would take this substance that would make them feel better. These people were almost like robots. They didn't have feelings or never questioned the society because they were brainwashed from the start. They never thought of how life was different in the past. It's crazy to think of a society like this. It's horrifying.
-Benjamin Sanchez
I definitely felt the same way that you did when I first began reading the novel: horrified. However, as I kept reading, my feelings changed.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed almost genius how they avoided every aspect of our society that leads to any negative emotions. For example, their practice of promiscuity to prevent complicated relationships.
The World State's prioritization of pure happiness over everything else seems shallow at times, but also admirable.
I am most definitely not saying that you are wrong, because I would not want to live in that society knowing what I would be missing. However, as I thought more deeply about the novel, my feelings of horror toward it changed.
I completely agree with your intake on Brave New World! After the first four chapters, you start to understand their lifestyle, beliefs, and how things are so different compared to how we live right now. I also found it interesting how on both Fahrenheit 451 and BNW, the people think books were useless and they’re never allowed to read. In BNW, the people don’t exactly burn the books but they use them to demonstrate to the youth that they're no good to society and they must avoid them. Since there are no books in that time period, they play audios while the kids are asleep because the audio repeats itself that way they can remember everything they're being told.
ReplyDeleteSlowly but surely, books are now starting to become less valuable due to technology getting more and more advanced. Now in today’s society, there are so many alternative to buying a book. For instance, instead of buying a book at a book store, you can simply buy and read the same book on your phone, Kindle, etc. or if you’re feeling extra lazy, you can simply buy an audio of someone reading the book. I can definitely see books disappearing in the future and audios being our source of learning. Obviously right now, we think it’s impossible to learn anything without a book but no one can really tell what sacrifices we have to make in the future.
I agree, the first few chapters were rather confusing to me, though overtime I became aware of the concept it was displaying. Although, I can see how there society horrified you but I honestly see it as clever. When you mentioned that the babies were being tormented to flowers and books, I found it clever because as babies our minds aren't conscious with our surroundings. Our minds start to take in things little by little so if they over go the procedure of being tormented, they'll see it as pain and will see it as a negative influence. It's good to endure with something younger so later on you'll be fond of it.
ReplyDeleteI should have been more clear on my post because these were my first impressions of the book a couple chapters into it. Now that I've finished the book, I can see what you three are saying. You begin to understand their lifestyle and just like Annika said, they avoided everything that could lead to negative emotions. While I still believe some things in their society are horrible, I understand now more about their way of living. However I wouldn't like to live in a society that functions this way.
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