Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Reading Blog #2: Brave New World

1 How does Brave New World show the relationship between science/technology and political power?
Throughout the story, it is shown that scientific and technological advances can aid the government's power. The very beginning of the book opens up with the Director giving a tour of the 'London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre'. Even the very name of this organization connects science with the effect it can have on the government. In the hatchery the workers and scientists have developed astonishing ways to mass produce embryos. This is to the advantage of the government because they are able to monitor every development of each embryo and also of every baby/child after he/she has been decanted. Also because everyone grows up in the conditioning center, the government has complete control over what everyone believes, enjoys, and does. With the scientific ability to mass produce babies, the government has the power to condition everyone to their liking.

2. In Brave New World, what is the government's view of a good citizen?
The ideal citizen in the society of Brave New World is one who is always happy and who loves one's class. The government encourages everyone to participate in activities that will make them happier. For example, little children in the conditioning center have "Elementary Sex" which shows that from a very young age, children are taught to pleasure themselves. Also, people are given soma which relieves them of stress and gloominess. The government's stress on happiness is especially prevalent when the Director says, "this colleague of yours-- or should I anticipate and say this ex-college? -- has grossly betrayed the trust imposed in him. By his heretical views on sport and soma, by the scandalous unorthodoxy of his sexlife, by his refusal to obey the teachings of Our Ford and behave out of office hours, 'even as a little infant' he has proved himself and enemy of Society, a subverter, ladies and gentlemen, of all Order and Stability, a conspirator against Civilization itself" (Huxley 156). This shows that the government looks down on people who don't force themselves to be happy.

3. If everyone (with a few exceptions) is happy, why might this society still seem like a dystopia?
Even though most people seem pleased with their life in Brave New World, we (as readers) still view it as a dystopia because the people in the society don't actually know if they're happy or not, they're just told that they are and they force themselves to be happy. This is proved when the Savage says, "well, I'd rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here" (Huxley 184). This shows that the soma and the erotic activities don't actually make people truly happy, they just trick them into thinking they're happy. Also, in this society, the government has complete power because they condition, which is almost like brainwashing, everyone from when they're babies into believing and enjoying what the government wants them to believe or enjoy. This is horrible for us (American readers), because we grow up fearing all-controlling governments. For these reasons, the society in Brave New World seems more of a dystopia.

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