BNW ESSAY DRAFT

Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using
characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender,
race, class, or creed. Choose a play or novel (BRAVE NEW WORLD)
in which such a character plays a significant role, and show how that 
character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and 
moral values. 

"But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.": The Savage in chapter 17. Here the Savage explains the old world reasoning. He asserts that true life requires exposure to all things, good and evil. John one of the main characters in the novel has grown up in this way, he was raised by the savages. John is the outcast of the World State and hadn't been raised on the consumer conveyor belt that has brought the world of which he lives in close to perfection. In this conveyor belt world of one person is different they are ostracized from the general population. Not only is John an alienated character but so is Bernard Marx who is faced with this taunting society that has alienated him because of his appearance and moral values. Through this we are given an insight into a world that may be closer then we think it is.

Bernard Marx was the Alpha Plus, which pretty much defined him as short and heavy set. These characteristics alone made him inferior to society, he didn't fit in with all the other male alpha who were made to specifications of Brave New World. Bernard was a mistake and accident, when he was created the creators put alcohol in his blood surrogate thus resulting in his unusual structure of his caste level. For something such as that to happen on accident and then he is outcast-ed because of it is disgusting and wrong and make the whole Brave New World a very unwelcoming place. His simple alienation shows this society's lack of conformity and proves how don't value or embrace individuality.

When Bernard visits the Savage Reservation he is somewhat at ease and nearly feels at home even among a foreign setting. Although quickly disgusted by Bernard’s attitude as Lenina is, the reader understands that Bernard knows how much different he is from the world he had just come from and how the world he has just entered could seem more welcoming and new with fresh ideas. Lenina serves as a counterexample to the idea of Bernard’s alienation from the rest of society. She immediately begins to make crude comments about the Savages, disregarding the fact that they are just as human as she. Lenina also represents a being who feels stronger within her own caste than as a separate individual. She can't stand the fact that their could be such Savages and that they are even aloud to live on an prosper. This is where Lenina and Bernard greatly differ, the intended utopia society makes individuals need the stability and comfort of a caste in order to prosper in the new world. Bernard and the Savages obviously contradict this idea in that the Savages have no apparent social structure along with Bernard. In part because of rumors and of his own beliefs,  it seems to always be on a path to find true self and individuality.

Bernard stayed true to his morals and himself at the beginning of the novel and although these were great qualities to possess, the thought of utopia and a perfect world ostracized him. There are example through the novel such as when Bernard goes on his first date with Lenina and is offered soma, a popular and powerful drug. He rejects the offer because he wants to be himself. This was an unheard thing in society, as no one new different. Another example which he did fall for peer pressure was when he did "orgy-porgy". He finds himself lost among all of the sexual emotions. He feels a great emptiness by the time they are finished. The rest of society has been conditioned to believe the normally illegal and immoral activity is just the norm.

Through Bernard the reader is able to see the evils revealed of a society that depends on too much of the belief that that everyday aspect can be controlled. Bernard’s isolation is spawned by his disgust with immediate satisfaction, his acceptance of the Savages simply fills that hole of emptiness of trying to fit in. This alienation proves the lack of morals, acceptance, and self-pride that the world state individuals have in their society. Their assumptions that anyone unlike them is inferior is insulting and proves their ignorance, but is justified to them.

BNW Chapter 8

This chapter primarily deals with John. Bernard is asking him to recall his youngest memories.
He would find his mom sleeping with other men.
Women would attack her because she was sleeping with their men
She didn't understand and would cry because she was used to getting whomever she wanted when she wanted
Everyone would ridicule John and Linda at celebrations or just in general
Linda tries to teach John to read but he has many questions, like any child would
He questions the other place, doesn't quite understand it yet.
Bernard asks John to come back with him but he agrees only if Linda could come to.
Bernard agrees because he wants to use Linda and John like leverage against the director.
Bernard does not want to get sent away so he is formulating some sort of plan to use them.

BNW Chapter 7

Lenina sees the buildings of Malpais from a distance and condemns it as queer, along with the Indian guide who is taking them to the pueblo, or town. She complains about having to walk, and about how he smells. She is disgusted and incredulous when she sees the garbage and the flies where people are living. "Cleanliness is next to fordliness," she says, and Bernard responds sarcastically with another piece of sleep-taught wisdom, "Yes, and civilization is sterilization."  She sees an old man for the first time and wonders what is wrong with him. Bernard explains that old age is prevented outside the reservation through inoculations and the artificially constructed chemical balance of youth which scientists create. Lenina searches her pockets and discovers with horror that she left her soma in the hotel. She is horrified to see women nursing, and more horrified when Bernard is touched by its intimacy. He even goes as far as to suggest that she has missed out on a wonderful experience, having not been a mother herself. She sees a ceremony and hears drums and mistakes it for an orgy-porgy. But soon the similarity disappears, as naked painted dancing people emerge, shrieking, with snakes, and crucifixes, whipping a young man until he bleeds. Lenina begins to sob.

They meet a young man,John, in Indian dress. He seems out of place because he speaks faultless English and has straw-colored hair and white skin. He asks Bernard and Lenina if they have come from The Other Place. He tells Bernard and Lenina that he wishes it had been him who had been whipped, because he wanted to be the sacrifice to Pookong and Jesus to make rain come and corn grow. Lenina stares at him, admiring his body, and he blushes. He explains that he and his mother Linda are strangers in the Reservation, and that she had come from The Other Place before he was born, with a man who was his father. Bernard listens intently. Linda fell while walking alone and was rescued by members of Malpais. The young man tells Bernard that the man's name was Tomakin. Bernard remembers that the Director's name is Thomas.

They go to meet Linda. Lenina is beyond disgusted with the wrinkled, filthy woman. She is revolted as Linda, reeking of alcohol, embraces her and even kisses her. Linda is absolutely ecstatic to see pieces of the Other Place, and she touches Lenina's clothing and babbles, reminiscing about aspects of World State life like the buildings, the contraception, and how much she has missed the sterility of civilization. She whispers about the madness of the Malpais society: they mend, they wear hard wool, and they practice monogamy. She does not understand a society in which everyone does not belong to everyone else, that is, have sex with everyone else, and all the women have turned against her because all the men used to come and have sex with her. She complains that her son John seems more influenced by the Indian society in which he has been raised than of the society of The Other Place, which she still holds as the ideal, and indeed, only way to live.

Lit Terms Applied

I had a hard time with the lit. terms quiz this morning. I wasn't prepared to read a passage and then try and find the lit term inside of it. Then trying to figure out why the author used this lit term. It was difficult and I am reviewing my terms all week to be ready for Thursday.

BNW Chapter(5&6) Notes

Summary: Chapter 6

Lenina convinces Bernard to attend a wrestling match. He behaves gloomily the entire afternoon and, despite Lenina’s urging, refuses to take soma. During the return trip, he stops his helicopter and hovers over the Channel. She begs him to take her away from the rushing emptiness of the water after he tells her that the silence makes him feel like an individual. Eventually he takes a large dose of soma, and has sex with her.

The next day, Bernard tells Lenina that he did not really want to have sex with her the first night; he would have preferred to act like an adult instead. Then he goes to get the Director’s permission to visit the Reservation. He braces himself for the Director’s disapproval of his unusual behavior. When the Director presents the permit, he mentions that he took a trip there with a woman twenty years before. She was lost during a storm and has not been seen since. When Bernard says that he must have suffered a terrible shock, the Director immediately realizes that he has been revealing too much of his personal life. He criticizes Bernard for his antisocial behavior and threatens to exile him to Iceland if his impropriety persists. Bernard leaves the office feeling proud of being considered a rebel.

A gramme in time saves nine . . . One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments . . . Everybody’s happy nowadays . . .

Lenina and Bernard travel to the Reservation. When they present themselves to the Warden to get his signature on the permit, he launches into a long series of facts about the place. Bernard suddenly remembers that he left the scent tap on at his apartment, an oversight that could end up being extremely expensive. He endures the Warden’s seemingly endless speech and then hurries to phone Helmholtz to ask him to turn off the tap for him. Helmholtz has bad news: he tells Bernard that the Director is planning to carry out his threat of exiling him to Iceland. Bernard is no longer proud and rebellious now that the Director’s threat has become a reality. Instead, the news crushes and frightens him. Lenina persuades him to take soma.

Brave New World Reading Notes (4 & 5)

Here is a little summary of the chapters:
The world that Bernard and Lenina know is somewhat frightening. Bernard understands the artificial world he lives in and it seems as if Lenina wants to know, but because of pressure from society she holds her defiant thoughts inside. I found it interesting how Huxley constantly had a stream of different dialogue for at least five pages that kept the reader questioning themselves about who exactly was talking. By doing this I believe Huxley kept the reader involved while also creating a conflict in the beliefs between three main characters.

Here are some of literary techniques I found in the book:
Opening Statement: "Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment."
Basically he is saying that being regretful is the worst feeling to have.

He felt that regretting the work he had done on Brave New World would mean that he would have to rewrite the book and being a different person as he was when he first wrote the story he would not only get rid of the faults and flaws but also of the great parts it originally possessed. For this reason he did not let chronic remorse affect his story.

He felt the biggest defect in his story was the fact that the Savage was only offered two alternatives which were an insane life in Utopia or the life of a primitive in an Indian village.
The author feels that if he could change that detail he would give the savage a third option which would be the option of sanity!

Setting: Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (D.H.C.)
A.F. (After Ford ~Symbolism) 632 : This was the year that the story takes place in.

The italics that Huxley uses through chapter one on the story represents the ideas that are supposed to catch the readers attention. Not only that but also the ideas that the students, who are ferociously scribbling away, should/will take away from the lecture tour.

The Greek letters in the story represent the fact that individualism does not exist in this new world. The fact that all humans are categorized into Alpha, Beta, or Epsilon. These categories allow individuals to be filed along with others like a stack of papers.

The idea that the embryos where like the photographic film represents the fact that the embryos can be developed however the creator decides. So whatever mold is given to them is what the embryo will become.

On page 64, I found indirect and direct characterization of Bernard.

On page 78, there is an allusion to the clock-tower in London, but in the case of the book it is called Big Henry

On page 85, personification of Big Henry by saying the clock sung 11