Wednesday, May 1, 2013

BNW 7-12

5 comments:

  1. To Zach B’s comment: I believe that Bernard wanted to embarrass the Director in order to gain revenge for the Directors cruelty toward him. I think that Bernard’s embodiment of all the people who said horrible things about was centered into the Director, the person by whom he was created abnormal. As a result of this mistake that Bernard must wear with him every day he feels that the Director must feel his pain in order to gain any decrease in loathing for himself.

    To Colton’s comment: I believe that John is not going to want to be condition to fit into a society that he will feel is corrupt. He had desired more than anything to be a part of the society into which he was born and as a result like the savages he will feel that the society from which his mother comes is horrific. He will feel very uncomfortable in these new surrounding because of the morals and lessons he had adapted from the people he was raised by on the reservation. I don’t believe he could be conditioned to think any other way but the way he was raised.

    To Jon J’s comment: I see many connections to our society in Brave New World specifically those on sextuality and education. I believe that in many ways our society today conditions its people to think, act, and be a certain way without any regards to individuality. The effects of which are shown to the extreme in Brave New World with the hypno-conditioning. I also see connections to sextuality in our society as well as theirs in how lightly they treat sextual subjects. I believe that as times goes on each generation is becoming more and more open to sex as a custom resulting in a desensitization to the subject. If this should continue to the extreme case our society would then be no different for theirs.

    What do you think will happen to the friendship between John and the people from the DHC?

    Will John’s mother be able to live or will she die? What would be the ramifications if she did?

    Will John chose to put himself in a society that is as corrupt as this one?

    Will John be able to change any of the DCH peoples thinking?

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  2. Colton: I don't think that John will really be a able to adapt and become conditioned the way that the rest of the society is. He's been raised in a way that is much more similar to our society, and I don't think any of us would have a very easy time adapting to this society.

    Jon: I don't think that Bernard will have a very easy time changing the society he lives in. He is only one person, and even if he had Helmholtz with him, it would take more than just the two of them to change everything. They can be different, but if everyone else is content with their lives, they won't want to change.

    Jenny: I think part of what Huxley was satirizing, particularly at the time of writing, was the beginning of the sexual revolution. It was the beginning of the 1930s, and in the 1920s, drug use and premarital sex were more common than they had been before. I think Huxley was satirizing that.

    Why doesn't Bernard take more of a chance on trying to change people's minds and change his society?

    Will Linda be able to cope with her return to the Worlds State, or will she just wither away?

    DO you think John will stay in London, or will he return to the reservation?

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  3. Colton: I agree with you that soma is not a gateway drug, because it is the only drug seen in this society. I think it is the equivalent of a somewhat hard drug which people have been conditioned to use in the society. They use it to make them feel good, and this was conditioned in the society to keep the people occupied.

    Zach B: I disagree because I think the knowledge John acquired on the reservation will help him survive in the other society after he adjusts a few things and learns the differences between the two.

    Brooke: I agree that John is very different than the rest of the World State's Society and her will not fit in. He needs to adjust and adapt, which may be hard if he cannot get used to the odd ways of the new society.

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  4. Do you think that people ever naturally go against their conditioning?

    What ways do you think John will adjust and adapt to the ways of the World State?

    Will John get sucked into the ways of the World State, or will he fight and try to change their ways?

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  5. To Colton N's comment: Yes I think the reason Bernard is more curious and aware of the situations around him being wrong is because his lacking use of soma. It seems that all the others that use soma just go about their lives however they are told to and never change things up or try anything new; they just do the same old thing every day. Bernard, however, is not handicapped by soma and is able to see the wrongdoings around him.

    To Jon J: Yes, I think at some point Bernard will try to change the society. IF he succeeds or fails? I think he will fail because he is the only one whose thinking process is not interfered with by soma and unless he can get many many more people to stop taking soma, the ruling order will be too powerful for him to take along alone.

    To Brooke in response it Colton N: I agree completely. John seems to be the only reasonable one in the books and if he was an outcast in the New World, I don;t think there is any way he will fit in on the reservation. He is too different to the society and he would have to go against his entire foundation of beliefs in order to fit in at the reservation.

    Why do you think different characters in the book are able to be conditioned easily or not at all?

    Do you predict john being a hero?

    Do you think Bernard has any regrets about bring John and Linda back to London?

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