Author Archives: My Name is George

The Behavior Change of Bernard and the Misdirection of Love

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Chapters 10-13 was fascinating stuff to read and visualize the scenes that were unraveling right in front me. The battle between ego, love, disconnect completely collide between Bernard’s new found meaning of life, Lenina’s lovestruck with John, and John’s discovery of how cruel and backstabbing this “perfect” civilization is. The first thing I want to talk about in my blog is the “new” Bernard and how much he’s changed from the beginning of the book. I really enjoyed how Bernard was able to throw the Director’s own history with love right back in his face and made him quit and disappear. That was freaking cool how he had Linda and John waiting behind him at the moments notice when the Director tried to put Bernard on the spot in front of everyone in the lab. I could just visualize the look of horror on the face of the Director when Linda steps in, not to mention John who calls him out to be his father in front of everyone!

Talk about not practicing what you preach. After this whole scene, Bernard goes through a major behavior change in his mood and his overall look on life.

“And I had six girls last week,” he confided to Helmholtz Watson. “One on Monday, two on Tuesday, two more on Friday, and one on Saturday. And if I’d had the time or the inclination, there were at least a dozen more who were only too anxious…”. (Huxley 145)

Bernard becomes someone of importance to everyone and the women are crawling at his feet. While Bernard getting the last laugh against the Director was cool and all, my opinion on Bernard really started to take a turn after it. He starts becoming egotistical and is so enthralled by all this attention he’s getting that his philosophy from earlier chapters is now completely gone. The “I wish were free” Bernard looks to be long gone. During this, he manages to lose a friend in Helmholtz and manages to piss off Mustapha Mond with his letter to him about John. His ignorance during the scene where he’s showing John one of the labs with Miss Keate, but was more interested in getting personal with Miss Keate than spending any time with John. I couldn’t believe how arrogant, and egotistical Bernard had become and how he’s treated John after he essentially saved him from being transferred to Iceland and publicly embarrassed in front of his peers/or brothers. Throughout this whole change of character for Bernard, the book also focuses on how Lenina has been dealing with her love life after Bernard has basically become “the man” to everyone else. This once shy, emotionless guy is no more and Lenina is struggling with her own problems.

She becomes incredibly in love with John (the salvage). It’s interesting to read how contrast their personalities are, but yet how curious they both are to experience one another. Lenina, this civilized woman who goes on a date with John the salvage, how exactly can this relationship work? On page 152, Lenina confesses her love for John to Fanny. It’s the first time where I can see how different Bernard and John’s relationships with Lenina are. Bernard with Lenina was mostly bored, soulless, and ready to move on. While John is described to have actually puppy love feelings for Lenina, something he may not have experienced while living as a salvage. Lenina may have something really special with John, but she’s in the mind state that all men are alike because they all want sex on the first night, and when she comes to realize that this “fact” isn’t entirely true, everything completely backfires on her. John isn’t like other guys she’s been with, mostly Bernard, he becomes offended after a date and leaves her hanging on the top of the roof of her apartment building, an awful familiar place for Lenina. Heartbroken, pale faced, and confused, she’s right back where she’s started and Bernard is in a much happier, sexually active place now. The tides have been turned!

Blog # 4: Brave New World (Chapters 6-9)

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Lots of progression so far between Bernard and Lenina and a lot of interesting traits that I picked up during these 4 chapters. Mostly Bernard’s introversion and his disinterest in taking a soma to calm himself down. I connected a bit more with Bernard’s introversion and the fact that he likes to be alone and more calm rather than be with a lot of people. I understood where he came from but what I didn’t understand was the way he went about things like staying in the helicopter in mid air while Lenina was feeling uncomfortable. I also found out that Lenina may or may not have some type of addiction to somas whenever she gets anxious. For example, the time she was walking in the reservation and saw the old half naked old Indian man climbing down the ladder or when Bernard was talking with the Warden. I think while she might be sweet and sometimes cautious about Bernard, she may have a dark secret about her that’s not known right now.

“”But I do,” he insisted. “It makes me feel as though…” he hesitated, searching for words with which to express himself, “as though I were more me, if you see what I mean. More on my own, no so completely a part of something else. No just a cell in the social body. Doesn’t it make you feel like that, Lenina?” (Huxley 90)

Chapters 6 through 9 had a lot of developments going on and especially a lot of great imagery but what stood out to me the most was Bernard. The part in chapter 6 when Bernard is in the Director’s office and the Director tells Bernard about the girl he went on a reservation with that had gone missing and the Director warning Bernard about transferring him to Iceland. Suddenly, Bernard’s attitude changes coming out his office as if he took great joy in hearing displeasure in others because he constantly over thinks things and likes to isolate himself.

I think Bernard is made to look selfish with the way he handles himself with Lenina. Especially when she tries to calm him and pleasure him with love, he’s just too frustrated with life and makes the worst out of situations. I think he’s taken things for granted, and being introverted will not help live his life.

Lenina, while trying to witty, caring, and loving, she seems to not welcome any type of situation where it’s real and it’s life and she handles her situation by taking somas. It’s not until chapter 7 where she’s with the young Indian man that she starts to calm down and look at things differently while not on somas. Often times Bernard tends to emotionally hurt Lenina by his attitude towards everything unless she calms him down and encourages him to take somas. Lenina and Bernard both have contrasts but both compare with each other in that both have faults and are not as perfect as they were created/or thought to be. Bernard tends to take things seriously while Lenina tries to make light of the situation. It’s an interesting dynamic between the two.

Blog # 3: Brave New World (Chapters 1-5)

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Brave New World is a book that I’m happy to read and I just could not put the book down with the limited amount of chapters I read thus far. Instantly, I was able to identify the characters and just how cruel, yet subtly brilliant the story is. I won’t go too in-depth with a summary but from the chapters I read, a group of young students (assuming aspiring scientists) go on a tour in a building called Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Building. It’s where groups of scientists experiment with fertilization of humans and embryos. The story I was instantly able to connect this with was E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” because it’s two similar passages of science gone wrong. Comparing both story and passage, it takes a very intelligent, boundary breaking, amazing concept, and turns it for the worst.

Mr. Foster and the director of the “tour” take the students around the building and show them their experiments with the embryos and the fertilization, and during this I experienced some horrible, yet amazing discoveries as the story went deeper and deeper as their tour went on. One of the parts I couldn’t believe was when the scientists experimenting with the fertilized babies in chapter 2. They tested these innocent babies just for the sake of science. Something I would always think about is scientists doing experiments and test on animals and critters. But reading on I already knew something bad was going down behind all of this. I connected the text with utopia and that’s exactly what the Director and Mr. Foster want to do. They want to create the “perfect” humans.

“We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future…” He was going to say “future World controllers” but correcting himself, said “future Directors of Hatcheries” instead”. (Huxley 23)

I didn’t know how I felt about humans being tested on this way, and not just humans, but embryos and fertilization being tested on just to create a separate specimen of human beings. It was crazy to put in perspective that somewhere out there scientists are actually doing this in real life, and it’s scary to think about what they might create in the future or worse what they may not create. The story takes place in A.F. 632 which takes place in the future beyond today’s civilization. The scientists seem to want to weed out the past crop of human civilization and create a new, “perfect” line of humans but what’s stopping them is the delays in getting their formulas right. I’m hoping they never get anything right just for the sake of creating something they’d wish they never would’ve created because this experiment can always turn their backs on the scientists. I thinking creating something way too experimentally controlled can always have it’s cons and I’m interested to keep reading what will be made of all of this. The perfect child of blonde hair and blue eyes can’t be made chemically, just like life, it’s made organically.

My “utopia”

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My “utopia”, my perfect place, my “dream world” would be something not too way over the top like flying spaceships, or robots bringing me drinks. It would be a very quiet, calm, and peaceful place where I can actually hear my thoughts, and individuals are all treated fairly, and everyone isn’t afraid of sharing their opinions about life or society without getting bad looks from others. I’m not saying I’d be living in a cube or anything like that. Of course the water would be always deep blue, the weather would be not too hot but occasionally cool, the skies would always have puffy clouds and bright blue skies, and the stars would shine the most brightest at night. My “utopia” would be a place where it would be safe to walk outside in the middle of the night without having to think about something dangerous happening to you. A place where you can go to a park and hang out for several hours without having to think about a hundred different things that run through your head constantly.

FallWithout going to in-depth into the story, but in Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, Le Guin describes this town of Omelas where the people there are having a good time, there’s a festival going on, music is blasting throughout the neighborhoods, children are having a great time, adults are relaxing and sightseeing. It sort of connects somewhat to what I envision my utopia to be. This perfect place where there’s no harm, the adults are relaxing, the children are playing amongst each other carefree, and music would be playing. In my “utopia”, money would be no issue because everyone wouldn’t have to worry about it. There would be no people living in poor conditions because everyone would be taken care of by something. Elderly people would live off their hard work after they retire, adults working don’t have to worry about a low paycheck because everyone would be paid a very decent amount of salary, and their children would be taken care of by the schools to make sure they get a great education.

What would it be like to roam around Time Square in peace & quiet?

My “utopia” is most likely a very different type of “utopia” then what I would probably read elsewhere, but I would rather have peace, a place where you can relax, be quiet, and hear your thoughts, then to think about how I would live in selfish type of manner. I think my “utopia” is this way because we live in a society today where things are very bad, the economy is down, people are getting laid off, children are being bullied through social media, and the most unimportant people in the world are getting the most attention in the news rather than the people who are out there changing the world for the better. My “utopia” would probably be a long shot from becoming reality, BUT if there’s ever a place like it, then expect me to be the first one to move out there.

Blog #2: The Machine Stops

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Extremely well written, a lot of visuals, and it made me think about what has become of society as technology begins to take over our lives. The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, touched on the concept of this so-called Machine being some kind of bigger than life thing where human beings follow the rules of “the book”, and holds some kind of biblical meaning to one of the main characters named Vashti. Her son, Kuno who is against the rules of living by boundaries is a wiser person who has been wanting to escape this “Machine”.

“You are beginning to worship the machine” (Forster 11)

The reason why this story touched me was because of the way the main character Vashti, lives an introverted life and is accustomed to buttons doing all the work in her life. Much like today in real life where now we are so accustomed to technology and devices like tablets, computers, etc. to do all our work. The text even mentions her not walking, but moving in an chair that is mechanical, which I assume is an electrical wheelchair. The humans are described as introverted, separate, and physically weak because the Machine wouldn’t allow strong humans to be produced. Something that I thought of reading the passage was studies that have been conducted on teenage kids and young adults who are under the age of 21 that are more stuck onto a chair daily and are less outdoors. Of course we aren’t bound to rules like the Machine in the text, but it’s an interesting thing that I connect to in life. Her son, Kuno wants her mother to escape the realm of the Machine and come outside of her room and into the open. She refuses, but then she takes the flight to visit Kuno to her home. She realizes that the Machine is a cruel world and that the remains of the Earth still remain during her air-ship flight. During this part they explain homelessness and how any human who would dishonor the Machine’s rules would become homelessness. Which means they would be exposed to air, in any case they would die because of it. As I kept reading, I noticed that the story was becoming less and less about Vashti’s introvertness and more of the evils of the new world she lives in. It’s a bubble of madness where they follow rules, almost a religion, and if anyone is born with anything they’re against with such as physical strength, are killed. The book in which are kept by the humans are something they deeply keep and is something compared to the bible. Each human lives in a hole in the wall surrounded by darkness and buttons that they control to do their daily work. I think this part of the text caught my attention a lot because there’s a message by the end of the text. To me it means not to let technology dominate my life. There’s much more to it and we are not to bound by the advancements of it, no matter how much it may make life easier. It’s always better to explore and enjoy the fresh air a lot more than to be glued to a computer chair or the screen of your phone.

Blog #1: Le Guin

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The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

The story hooked me from the get go. It painted a very bright picture of what a perfect society would be and then it crashes you down to give you a perspective of what reality is like. Almost waking you up from a daydream.

“Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing.” (Le Guin 4)

The part about the deformed child being hidden away from society really struck me down when reading the story. The narrator talks about the child not even being considered human to the people in Omelas. It almost gave me a feeling of the child being something of a special attraction where people would pay just to see this thing and find some form of sadist entertainment. Their world was so perfect that something considered ugly to them was not accepted, and they had hide it before their [i]perfect[/i] children see it and it burns their eyes. Through this part of the story I reflected back the beginning of the story where the narrator talks about Omelas, and this festival that’s going on, and the children playing, and he describes the adults as simple, but mature and intelligent. I put the pieces together, that not only was he visualizing, but he was telling us about his Utopia of what Omelas should be. Throughout the story he’s adding pieces to this core of fantasy that he calls Omelas. He even uses questions to ask the reader what he thinks should go where. Almost like putting together a puzzle:

“How describe the citizens of Omelas?” (Le Guin 1)
“For instance, how about technology?” (Le Guin 2)
“But what else should there be?” (Le Guin 3)
“What else, what else belongs in this joyous city?” (Le Guin 4)

I don’t know why but I found it interesting. In the end the narrator talks about men, women, and children who saw this “thing” would be so disturbed that they would walk far away from Omelas and never seen again. Le Guin uses great adjectives and a great amount of imagery to drive me in and then toward the middle of the story paint a dark picture of reality.

The Day Before the Revolution

Laia going through the pains from the loss of her husband, Taviri. Is now an elderly woman living in a home filled with others who are starting this “revolution”. Le Guin uses imagery and comparison of Laia’s past to connect to the present where she’s looking at the much younger people living in the same house as her planning out some kind of revolution. I read through the story a few times and all I kept paying attention to was her connection to her husband who passed rather than her connecting her past to the present.

“”Taviri, I have never forgotten about you!” she whispered, and the stupidity of it had brought her back to morning light and the rumpled bed. Of course she hadn’t forgotten him. These things go without saying between husband and wife.” (Le Guin 4)

She talks about a younger fair colored man named, Noi. Who makes it known she’s had sexual relationships with and has awkward conversations with, and still can’t let go of her dead husband. Her old age, and her stroke, catches up with her in the end while she’s going downstairs and still has no choice but to accept her pending death. As a sort of way of finally letting go and seeing her husband.

Hi, my name is George Disla

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It was nice to meet you all in class but right now I would like to take a moment and talk a little bit about me. My name is George, I’m currently a junior at City Tech, and majoring in Computer Information Systems (Bachelor’s degree). I’m a big sports fan and love to root for the Yankees, NY Giants, and the Knicks, also the Rangers and Redbulls but I’m not too familiar with hockey or American soccer. I love playing video games. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed having as a hobby since I was a little kid. My first ever system that I can remember having was the Sega Genesis that my brother had and playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and absolutely falling in love with the countless hours we’d spend playing on that thing. But my biggest interests has been technology and computers in general. I’ve always loved being on the computer and learning about the internal and external sides of it.

Technology!!!

Technology!!!

When I was little, before I had a computer, I would draw a sketch while I was in elementary class of my dream computer. It was nuts! Now that I’ve grown up, I’ve built two computers from the ground up all by myself, and I’m majoring in CIS so that I can make a living of being knowledgeable with computers on the external sides of it. Every college student thrives on making the most of their academic years and find a job in their fields. That’s the main goal. I want to get hired by a business and not only show my knowledge but also learn and become experienced in my field. You can’t learn everything in college until you go out there and experience the field first hand. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead!

One of my strengths as a reader is the ability to pick out a book that interests me. I’m not the biggest reader in the world so when it comes to picking out a book to read, I just go straight to the ones that pertains to my interests. If there’s a sports history book about the Yankees, or a book about the making of a certain video game — I’m there! One of my strength as a writer is having a somewhat good grammar and punctuation. I say somewhat because I don’t like to say I’m the greatest because I tend to make mistakes a lot, but I like to say that you won’t find many run-on sentences in my writing. One of my weakness as a reader is not having the greatest attention span with readings. Often, if I’m not very interested or have to sit down and read a text in a short amount of time, I become disinterested in it and sit there and just stare into the text. I’m usually not that good reading a lot of pages. But it’s something I want to work on this semester. One of my weakness as a writer is trying to start a page. A very common problem but I feel like it takes me a lot longer than anyone to start a paragraph or know when to end one. Something I enjoy about reading/writing is creating something, whether it’s creating a story or becoming so intrigued with what I’m reading that I want to read more of it. Something that I dislike about reading/writing is wasting so much time reading a few pages and making sure I understand what I’ve read, and writing something that has mistakes and doesn’t make sense.

I have a very deep background with technology. I’ve built my very first home computer when I was 16 years old. I’ve done HTML in the past and during my college years and also learned a bit of CSS and XML. I’ve spent countless hours on the computer using various programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Word, and video editing programs. I can say I become quite familiar with video editing and compression. I’ve also become familiar with database, networking, and a little bit of system administration. I’m not too fond of programming because it’s so formula heavy but it’s very interesting creating something out of nothing. I’m looking forward to learning programming in my spare time.

Prior to entering ENG 2000, I wasn’t too familiar with Utopias, Dystopias but I have heard about them before. I knew about science fiction because of movies and reading texts about science fiction. I did know that Utopia had something to do with fantasy and creating a place that is based on fiction and from your imagination. I’m currently taking ENG 2000 because it’s one of my required courses that I need to take to next to Advance writing. I haven’t taken a reading/writing course in a few semesters, and I wanted to become familiar with it again before I take advance writing next semester. My expectations for this course is to become a strong reader/writer again, I’m hoping to learn more about utopias, dystopias, and science fiction. I’ve had a few classes to read some interesting texts so far so I’m looking forward to reading a lot more interesting texts as well as free writing a lot more about my feelings on certain things. I hope you guys are as well and I’m looking forward to catching up and having a great semester!