Class Discussion: “The Day Before the Revolution”

Just a reminder that you should make your at least one comment (just hit “reply,” either to my original post or to another comment on it) by Sunday (3/16).

Then go back/read through all comments and extend the conversation by making at least two more comments (of course, more are always welcome!) in response by Tuesday (3/18). 

The goal is to have some good virtual discussions here to help you think critically about this short story. Therefore, your comments need not be very long: for example, you can provide a quote/citation and a few sentences of explanation of how/why it functions in the context of some larger issue/question (or you can raise questions, complicate issues, extend discussions, analyze a character, or setting, etc.).

Class Discussion: “The Machine Stops”

Just a reminder that you should make your at least one comment (just hit “reply,” either to my original post or to another comment on it) by Sunday (3/16).

Then go back/read through all comments and extend the conversation by making at least two more comments (of course, more are always welcome!) in response by Tuesday (3/18). 

The goal is to have some good virtual discussions here to help you think critically about this short story. Therefore, your comments need not be very long: for example, you can provide a quote/citation and a few sentences of explanation of how/why it functions in the context of some larger issue/question (or you can raise questions, complicate issues, extend discussions, analyze a character, or setting, etc.).

Bernard’s Newfound Popularity

I couldn’t help but notice Bernard’s new popularity throughout these chapters. There were also new actions and a new attitude shown by Bernard. You might even say he has actually become like everyone else.

I definitely noticed his new attitude when he was boasting away to Helmholtz. In the text it states ” Helmholtz listened to his boasting a in a silence so gloomily disapproving that Bernard was offended” (Huxley Pg.145). We see that Helmholtz is disapproving Bernard’s actions. Why is he disapproving now when they were actually two very good friends in the beginning?

Then we see the path Bernard has started to take. He has become a popular man because of John “The Savage”. Everyone now sees Bernard as this greater because of the savage. He was being sought out by the most important people. As it also states in the text ” At the same time, he genuinely liked being a success and having all the girls he wanted” (Huxley Pg.145). This is definitely a change in Bernard’s attitude as we see he now enjoys being with more than one person.

People do say nothing lasts forever and it seemed that way for Bernard’s newfound popularity. Soon enough Bernard was going to be the same way he was before. You may call it normal but it would be different it would set him apart from everyone else. Bernard was so afraid to go back to his old ways he begged the savage to come out for his dinner.

Bernard says to the savage ” Won’t you come to please me?” (Huxley Pg. 158). Almost as if he gave himself an importance in the savages life. Maybe all the popularity was going to his head and he thought he would do this just to please him. John chooses not to go and everyone is left to think that Bernard is a joke. At the end of the dinner we see that Bernard takes a soma.

We see that Bernard starts going back to his old ways. He doesn’t get noticed by people anymore and no one sees him as this greater being for having brung the savage to the civilized world. He’s just Bernard again. Bernard goes back to Helmholtz to ask him for his friendship again after their disagreement. In the text it says ” Helmholtz gave it; and gave it without a reproach, without a comment, as though he had forgotten that there had ever been a quarrel” (Huxley Pg.164).

We also see in this chapter Bernard becoming jealous. He becomes jealous of the relation ship that is starting to form between Helmholtz and John. They both seem to really get along especially when it comes to writing. John tells Helmholtz parts of Shakespeare’s plays. This allows for Helmholtz to come up with ideas. Not exactly the one he wants to come up with but it’s helping.

Bernard was starting to take vengeance on Helmholtz and John because of their connection. He would interrupt them. As it states in the text ” In the course of their next two or three meetings he frequently repeated this little act of vengeance” (Huxley Pg.167). Interrupting them as they would speak saying things such as orgy porgy. This did annoy Helmholtz. To the point he threatened to kick him out. I wonder now what’s going to happen with their friendship.

Clashing of of Two Worlds

Reading chapter 10-13 of “Brave New World” you could see all the changes that are happening through out the story and the clashing of values that are happening. The changes many of the characters are going through such as the director whom is shown to be very prideful for his work as leading the World state but suddenly shown in shame with a blink of an eye (138). and Bernard who in a way over through the director by bringing Linda and John back to world state to reveal his doings of fathering a child. With this he rises to fame and is shown to slowly absorbing his fame that he is receiving by using john. He is shown to even be desperate for attention by even begging john to go in chapter 12. He even says the phrases of “Just to please me”, “won’t you come to please me”, and “but what should we do”(158). He went from not believing in using soma to almost taking numerous amounts of it to escape from reality. He is constantly shown getting ahead of himself. His character is slowly changing from the loner he once was for his individuality to just like all the people of World State with the concepts of how they should live. I think he is slowly losing himself of what he truly believe in as an individual.

As we read we also see a role reverse in Lenina starting to like John. She is constantly shown trying to advance on him and trying to seduce him but rejected due to the difference in values. John wants love while she still is stuck under lust but is shown to really like him. You can see how confused John is in which he battles desire and old world values such as when he brought up the idea of marriage to Lenina and his conservative view on sex. With this he is seen to constantly call her a whore and a strumpet which truly did in turns hurt Lenina due to her still not understanding the concept of love as it is an taboo to her being raised within World State (177).

These few chapters is what i think of is the climax f the book in which all the twist and turns are happening as you can see the people of World State is changing with all the plot twist of the one the was leading it turned out couldn’t even follow his own concept of what shame is. By the director trying to get rid of his threat of Bernard it actually brought him to his own end. The book is definitely getting interesting by being able to pull me in to read even more to find out to what happens to each character. The one that really catches my attention is John in how he is now stuck in the conflict of 2 worlds being raised in the outside world but brought into world state you can see the things he is stuck in between. But interestingly enough he is shown to be able to stand by his values so far even with the allure of Lenina.

 

The Soma Addiction

In these next chapters soma plays a major role because the people of the World’s State always want to escape every situation that is negative or enhance a situation like sex. Soma is like a temporary holiday that depends on how many grammes that they take. The more the grammes of the soma the longer the holiday but taking a lot of it could cause the holiday to be permanent and they might not wake up. Linda is an example of what soma does to the people of the World state who stop taking soma for years and then comes back to the World state and tries to make up for all the years from withdrawal.

When the Director resigns after being humiliated by Linda, Bernard and John, Linda seems that the only thing she cares about is soma and how much she can get it. Linda went to Dr. Shaw and got about 20 grammes of soma per day because of the years she spent raising John in Malpais. The doctor also states that Linda may not last through either the coming days or how long she takes that soma; “Which will finish her off in a month or two, the doctor confided to Bernard. One day the Respiratory Centre will be paralyzed. No more breathing. Finished. And a good thing too. But we can’t”.(pg.143) John is the only that really cares about Linda because that is his mother and the people in the World’s state do not see Linda as the Beta that she is, but as a Savage.

Lenina is becoming very reliable like Linda was on soma because she was just like Lenina when she was in the World’s state. Lenina mainly uses soma for sexual encounters or when she was in Malpais just seeing how the people lived she could not take it and just took a few grammes of soma. When Lenina was talking to Fanny about liking John and how soma would brighter her day by the World’s State soma motto:”Hug me till you drug me, honey; Kiss me till I’m in a coma: Hug me, honey, snuggly bunny; Love’s as good as soma.” Lenina’s soma addiction backfired on her when she tried to talk to John which she deeply likes because before meeting John one day she took some soma to calm her nerves and let her loosen up but she loosened up too much. John pushed her away and called her a whore because he didn’t know she took soma or I think it brought back flashbacks of his mother sleeping with men because that’s the way they grew up in the World’s state. Hopefully this soma drug can go away, because it seems like it is ruining everyone’s lives instead of making it better.

The Start of Lenina’s Downfall?

In the few chapters we read this week, I feel that Lenina’s character got more complex. She seems to have some emotional issues and believes that taking all that soma is going to cure her. Seems as if almost every single time something emotionally stressful pops up she takes a decent amount of soma. In example, in chapter 12 when John is supposed to come down to this concert, Lenina got very depressed over it and went to bed. She then states “ I’d better take a couple grammes of soma” (Huxley, 163).  There are many other points in the novel where she had taken soma to calm her nerves.

Lenina and Bernard also seem to have a new social status of some sorts as being known to take back the savages from the reservation. Lenina being a beta, finds herself in the company of some very good company. “By a number of important people, The Resident World Controller’s second security, the Ford Chief Justice, and the Deputy-Governor of the bank of Europe”. By how she talks abou them, they seem to be very important political figures. I imagine them to hold the same social status as maybe Senators and Congressmen. She now has this image in her head that she is this important person in society.

Even though Lenina seems important at this point in the book, there is one character that doesn’t see her as someone of significance. This character is John. Lenina tries multiple times to get with him. However, John constantly rejects her. The society has conditioned their citizens to have the mentality that if you desire someone, you can have them. John was raised in the reservation so he does not hold the same values as Lenina. Even after being rejected multiple times, Lenina still tries to get with John. Even after a few dates, John still rejects her. Lenina also shows some emotion toward John. “In a few minutes, I shall be seeing him, talking to him, telling him (for she had come with her mind made up) that I like him – more than anybody I’ve ever known.” Earlier in the book, she was criticizing Benard for having these emotional feelings. Now she is being a hypocrite and having these emotional feelings of her own. I believe that this is actually more deeper than Bernards because she was almost about to act on it. I thought a while about why she would have these types of feelings. I somewhat think that maybe because John has a different mindset than the rest of society, she is attracted to him in the sense that he won’t find it repulsive that she thinks like that.

The World State conditions people that they belong to one another. John rejecting her is the exact opposite of that and Lenina’s mind does not know how to cope with this. I think that all of these new feelings are starting to overwhelm her. Her mindset is now being all screwed up between her newly founded social status and John rejecting her time after time again. The World State has trained everyone to take soma when they are feeling stressed or having strange thoughts. Lenina is having all of these stresses and emotions that she never felt before and the only way she knows how to cope with them is through having a lot of soma. I have a feeling this is going to catch up to her very quickly

 

Bernard’s lost ways and Lenina’s new found love

These chapters were really the turning point of the book and probably the most intense part. The big secret is finally revealed and some characters go through some changes. It seems to me that the Director uses fear to get what he wants but the intention of using fear is not actually mentioned. The Director gathers the workers at the factory to make a public announcement of him banishing Bernard to Iceland. We can see him using fear in a way and of him exerting his power in chapter 10 on page 137, he says, “It is better than one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Murder kills only the individual and after all, what is an individual? We can make a new one with the greatest ease, as many as we like.” To me this shows that he is not hesitant to kill off any of the people to create new ones to more benefit the World State. It’s kind of his way of saying, you mess up and I’ll have you gone.

After the Director is shamed by Bernard, revealing his son to the factory, he finds new fame and kind of a new identity for himself. Although he was of upper class, he was not noticed as much. After he became John’s official guardian, he suddenly becomes popular and this fame gets into his head and the way I see it, makes him lose his ways. At first it seems like Bernard’s only intention with John was to expose the Director but now he is just using him as a tool to make him popular. I also say he is losing his way and that the fame is getting to his head is because he is ignoring what he cherished as a person before, his purity and justice he had.

In page 145 we can see a example of him and Hemholtz talking and Helmholtz hints at Bernard that he is losing his way. It says, “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. Helmholtz listened to his boasting in a silence so gloomily disapproving that Bernard was offended. You’re envious Bernard says. Helmholtz shook his head. I’m rather sad, that’s all.” Helmholtz realizes his change of ways and is disappointed of him. Back then in the earlier chapters, the idea of being with more than one women or man was absurd to him and disgusted him.

I also found this part of the book interesting because we kind of see a change in Lenina. She was never really satisfied with one man and always had multiple relationships. With John however, it is completely different. She feels that he is the only one that can distract her and to me it seems that the more he rejects her, the more she wants him, kind of how a player is in real life. On page 157, we see that Lenina is not used to his rejection and is so torn by this, that she has to take soma to relieve herself. It says, “Drying her eyes, Lenina walked across the roof to the lift, On her way down to the twenty seventh floor she pulled out her soma bottle. One gramme, she decided, would not be enough.”

Brave New World Response #5

After reading these four chapters, I was more interested in the story. At the beginning of the book, I wasn’t so fond of it. But now I guess it got a little easier to understand, and I’m enjoying it.

In chapter 10 I found it ironic how the Director was going to fire Bernard and send him away to exile because of his weird actions. When all along the director was the one that committed something that their people were completely against. He made someone a mother, something that their people were foreign to. Being parents was laughed at among their people. Instead of him firing Bernard, he quit because of his embarrassment and his disloyal ways to what his people stand for.

One thing that caught my attention within these four chapters was the relationship between Lenina and John. Lenina seems to have strong feelings for John. In chapter 13 Lenina is talking to her friend Franny. She states “but he’s the one I want” (pg.171). Franny then says “Don’t think about him….take soma” (pg.171). “I do…But in the intervals I still like him. I shall always like him” (pg.171) states Lenina. But she is not alone. John seems to have feelings for her as well. Although, they are both unsure if the other likes them back as well. In this chapter Lenina goes to see John to confess how much she likes him. She takes half a gramme of soma upon arriving at John’s room. When she arrives, he seems to not look happy to see her. It’s because he was expecting someone else. Nevertheless he is happy, because now he can confess his love for her. Lenina tries to kiss John, but instead he starts talking about proving his worth to her. By this he wants to bring her the skin of a mountain lion. Lenina is confused to why he is acting this way. He’s pretty much telling her he would do anything to show her how much he loves her. He starts talking about marriage, how where he’s from people get married. “For always. They make a promise to live together for always” (pg.174) stated John. At this point Lenina is horrified by the idea. But she still likes him, and continues to throw herself on him. At this point Lenina is trying to seduce him by taking off her clothes and trying to touch on him. Now John is the one that’s horrified. He’s confused at her weird actions, so he calls her a whore. Obviously Lenina and John come from different worlds. Where certain things are acceptable, and others aren’t. For Lenina, in her world if you like someone you then express it through sex. For John, in his world if you like someone you prove your worth then you get married. That why when they would try to “seduce” each other, the other was confused to why they would take that kind of action.

I found it funny that when Bernard finally started to get a good reputation, he allowed it to go to his head. He bragged about how many women he had within a week. He didn’t think much of his new found popularity. He thought that being John’s “guardian” would help his popularity stay afloat. But in the end, John was behind the reason why his popularity didn’t last long.

Star thoughts

In the book brave new world Bernard was about to be cast out of town just as this was happening he bring Linda back from the savage world and to find out he father a son with her when John came in and start to call the director father he was lost for word (1) because he was not expecting to see Linda or John. What crazy the whole time I was reading I thought that they were in love , now that the director has left Bernard has taking over his ego has sky rocket ,he thinks that he the man , but all long the god mustafa mond wanted him gone as well he jus don’t know it. This is because he didn’t keep his word about the visitor seeing the savage now everyone is looking at him different. Now when bernard is giving Ms. Kenate a tour he start to find her attractive he even goes as far as trying to make a date with her , to me he sounds like the director when he was telling his story about his sex life. This whole world is really twisted and what seem to me is that anyone who want to be happy or have some type of love for someone else they are sent to Iceland. Now Linda is starting to have feeling for John but at tha same time she thinks he gay or something because he won’t look at her or even try to make a move like tha other man i the story. My question is if they were to get together what will happen to her because John is proclaimed as a savage as well i also think that Linda is get addicted to the soma because every time something goes wrong this is her outlet. These few chapter has made a big twist in the read cus at first I was not sure what was going on but now it seem if u don’t want to follow the rules then being cast out of town and sent to the other world to make example for other

Linda Taking Soma and her Appearance (chap.11)

In this chapter the first thing that caught my attention was the description of Linda appearance. They spoke about her as being ugly and no one wanted to see her. To me it look like no one wanted to be around Linda/see her because she was fat and old. The text says “Finally-and this was by far the strongest reason for people’s not wanting to see poor Linda – there was her appearance.” The text over exaggerate that Linda made people sick when seeing her. They explain as if she was really bad looking. In the text it says this about Linda, “you simply couldn’t look at her without feeling sick, yes, positively sick. I guess the people at the World State did not want to see her no where in sight because Linda appearance changed since she was living in the Savage reservation for a few weeks, months or years. Linda used to live in the World State but got left behind there when visiting and ended up living at the Savage Reservation. Linda is now returning to the World State society and that description of her is basically telling us that she is dirty, old looking and fat compare to the usual World State citizens who are clean, not fat, and don’t smell as bad as Linda. As discuss in class, Linda once used to be the Director lover the woman he loved so much. A sentence quote that shows proof that Linda was returning to the World State, a place where she once used to live says “The return to civilization was for her the return to soma.” The quote means that Linda is returning to a place where they use the drug call soma that help make you happy and take away your bad emotions/thoughts and since now she is back, she can also take the soma if she wants because unlike the Savage Reservation where she used to live did not have the soma to help benefit her emotions and make her not feel pain.

 

In the Savage Reservation there was pain to be felt because they did not have any drug or advance technology to help you take that pain away. The World State had the drug soma for you to get rid of pain. Linda returning to the World State from the Reservation meant there was no more pain and suffering to be felt because of the powerful drug called soma. Here is a quote from the text stating that this is true, “The return to civilization was for her to  return to soma, was the possibility of lying in bed and taking holiday after holiday, without ever having to come back to a headache or a fit of vomiting.” This quote is saying that Linda would not have to worry another day about getting headaches or vomiting again because she is back.

 

This chapter talks about Linda taking a lot of soma but it is bad for her and also good for her at the same time. It is good for because you don’t get to see her upset and screaming mad all the time as told from the doctor name Dr. Shaw. He said these words from the book to John who was objecting for her to not take so much soma, “Well, of course, if you prefer to have her screaming mad all the time.” The soma helps her from not yelling but also is damaging her internally. It is bad because it can kill you in a overdose form. I am not sure exactly what it does to your body but I do know it will lead to death if too much is used.

 

I am sure that Linda was very happy to return back to the World State because there was no pain and suffering. She probably didn’t want to feel pain in the Reservation anymore but she could not find her way out so she had to stay there. Linda finally got the chance to leave with Lenina when Lenina was visiting the Savage Reservation with Bernard. There was a part in the book where Linda was happy to see a civilized face meaning someone from outside the Savage that was from the World State who are considered to be civilized. The civilized face was Lenina.