Brave New World is like nothing I’ve ever read before. It is hard for me to comprehend what living under the extreme circumstances described in the book would really be like. I mean it is even more sick and twisted than the world we live in today. Also, the sudden shift in points of view, or the quick jumps from idea to idea on every line made the book confusing and hard to read.
One thing I would like to talk about is how life is taken for granted. Not really that it is taken for granted so much, but really how a person’s individuality is of no importance at all. Sure, it talks about how people are identified in groups, “Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines! You really know where you are. For the first time in history. Community, Identity, Stability.” In the novel, people are mass produced on an assembly line and then biologically engineered to have characteristics predestined by the government. Really, the government might as well just create robots to do jobs around the world. The entire process of an assembly line creating people, a life without family or personal choice completely goes against my beliefs. I believe that everyone is made in God’s image. In Genesis 1:27 the bible says, “So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. It is not any human’s job to control life in the way described in the book. Life should be something special, something that comes from a man and a woman. Increased productivity is supposedly the reason the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre controls life the way they do? In reality I think all the process does is takes away the meaning of life. Having a world where humans can’t really think or make decisions for themselves because of “hypnopaedia” is completely unrealistic and wrong. Teaching moral education this way is corrupting and unethical.
So basically I think this book is pretty much crazy and has some views I think couldn’t (well definitely shouldn’t) ever happen. The controversial ideas provide a lot to write about, and I actually find it pretty easy. I’m looking forward to continuing reading and discussing the rest of this Brave New World.
This definitely is not like anything I have read before either. I thought 1984 was twisted, but it really does not compare to this book. It seems so weird, but it is fun to read. I am constantly waiting for the next sick twist. It did get confusing towards the end of chapter three, with all of the hopping around from different points of view; I hope we go over it in class. It seems like there were three different points of view, but I am not certain. We share very strong beliefs that contradict this book. It is sick to think a thing like assembly line babies will, or could, ever happen. I do not think God would allow it, but we do live in a very radical, liberal age. I also wonder what image the people in Brave New World are made in. Of course, God has nothing to do with their society, so who decides what they look like. It’s a strange book for sure. I agree completely that the meaning of life is obliterated. The way the government works in the book, I think that is their goal in a way. That way people do not have an itch to experience life. Education should never be taught through hynopædia although sometimes I wish I could put on a helmet and absorb knowledge quickly and easily. Anways just thought I would stop by and see what you had to say; good stuff, as usual.
ReplyDeleteGood post! I completely agree that this stuff can never be allowed to happen. I like how you said life should come from two people, a man and a woman, not a machine. Also, how you asked if productivity is really such a good thing. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteAndrea