Lenina is a very bad girl.
No, she isn't overly promiscuous.It isn't that at all. In fact, she doesn't meet the promiscuity standards set by the world state. Because it is abnormal for any one girl to stay with any one man for too long a time. And it is especially odd for this girl to be uninterested in any other man. And it is incredibly strange for this same girl to wish to do this at such a young age. Because, as we all know:
Everyone belongs to everyone else.
ANYWAY, in order to avoid suspicion from the government that watches her on a daily basis while she works, she decides to seek out a second lover. His name is Bernard.
And Bernard is also a very bad man.
The only difference: No one knows it.
Unlike Lenina, Bernard doesn't wish to be promiscuous whatsoever. And unlike everyone else in the world state, he sees the commercialization of sex as absolutely disgusting. People are treated as meat, and even after his long hours of conditioning and hypnopaedia, his free thinking allows him a dangerous ability to oppose the government. His intelligence is what keeps him safe, and allows him to strategically keep his opposition under control as well as his temprament. He is very small for an Alpha. He is also a stark contrast in comparison to Henry.
Henry is a good man.
Perfect, actually.
Unlike BOTH Lenina and Bernard, Henry has no free thinking abilities whatsoever that come out in either chapter 5 OR 6. And if I had to make an educated guess, I would predict that he would show no further thinking throughout the rest of the book. Instead of being shockingly monogamous like Lenina, he takes other girls out frequently in between his outings with her. The couple often goes out to do world state approved outings, such as dates at clubs offering the delicious soma as well as synthetic music machines. mmmmm... gotta love those synthetic music machines. Not to mention the soma. They listen to music about soma and drink soma while talking about soma and not aging from the wonderful soma.
Now, off to a place without soma.
*GASP*
Yes, WITHOUT soma.
For a girl as dependant on soma as Lenina, Bernard takes a chance and invites her on holiday to a savage reservation. The savage reservation is apparently situated in North America, and there is absolutely NO soma allowed. The natives live without soma and do things like mending clothes and bearing children. For Lenina, there are only two options. She could go to the lovely savage reservation with the interesting alpha, Bernard, or she could undergo serious government suspicion and travel to the painfully old fashioned North Pole hotel with Henry (again.)
Or she could go on soma vacation.
What a Brave New World.
Conclusion: No witty conclusion today. Try again later.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
My Life as a Delta
So how would I describe Brave New World?
An absolutely captivating and intriguing work of literature.
I know this because a) I've heard all these wonderful things from people who have actually finished reading the work, and b) It's the first book in a long time which I have the motivation to look for after losing it.
So guess what?
I found it!
Onward, to chapters three and four!
According to Aldous Huxley, the world as we know it will be gone after the time of Henry Ford. No more countries, just seven World States. Some traditionally thought of futuristic apparatuses will come into production, such as trans-Atlantic rockets. Alcohol dissapears, and instead soma comes into production. It's a wonder drug. Like drinking a vial of alcohol and tripping all night, then waking up in the morning refreshed for another day of work with the rest of your caste system. Erotic play will be accepted and encouraged in children... Say what?!
Yes, children and adults will all be encouraged to participate in erotic play and to give into their desires. Because, according to His Fordship, one cannot be happy when they are denying themselves exactly what they want. Like hypnopaedia suggests unto littluns, "Everyone belongs to everyone else."
Child rearing centers will pop up, staffed by Betas who must wear blue at all times. The Deltas will work the desk jobs that don't require too much... thinking. The Gammas, one of the largest social castes, will work roads, railways, and most forms of public service as well as manufacturing jobs of all types. The Alphas will try as hard as possible to oversee things and to not use the free thinking skills that they've been conditioned to have. And the Epsilons... oh dear, those Epsilons will do everything else. They'll be the absolute idiots of society, yet the other castes couldn't do anything without their help. Frankly, those Epsilons just can't stop loving the fact that they're Epsilons.
Why?
Well, in a perfectly sterilized and proper world, everyone will love what they're doing. The Alphas love being the best, and the Epsilons love being looked after. So I've concluded that if I were living in the world state, I would most likely be happiest as a...
Delta.
It would seem it's a low rank to rate one's self, but it makes perfect sense. First of all, it seems like this is the bourgeoisie of the world state. These middle castes have the least supervision of all, since they have the least risk of attempting to rebel against the current policies. They have the ability to go on living their lives happily and not knowing any way but the way they are conditioned to think: exactly as the well-intentioned government intends. Of course, no one wants to be the idiot of society, such as the Epsilons, yet they get protection from all other castes. Yet having the ability to think freely yet being forced to conform to the highly regarded government as an Alpha would be a fairly miserable way to live a life. A Beta works in the government centers all the time, because what on earth would the Fordship do if these second-rate castes began to think freely? They surely wouldn't handle it as well as an intelligent Alpha. So they're kept under watch daily at their jobs conditioning more fetuses to think just like they do. Lenina is one of these Betas, and she's managed to stick with her conditioning over most of her sheltered life. Though under scrutiny for staying in one relationship for too long (because, of course, it's improper to become attached to one person only. everyone belongs to everyone, as they say in the world state) her conformity in every other aspect of her life causes her to stay relatively quiet and without suspicion.
Bernard Marx, however, is a completely different case.
Conclusion: The US economy, the Iraq war, and the high prices of Starbucks coffee could be resolved if our world leaders/CEO's just took a gram of soma.
An absolutely captivating and intriguing work of literature.
I know this because a) I've heard all these wonderful things from people who have actually finished reading the work, and b) It's the first book in a long time which I have the motivation to look for after losing it.
So guess what?
I found it!
Onward, to chapters three and four!
According to Aldous Huxley, the world as we know it will be gone after the time of Henry Ford. No more countries, just seven World States. Some traditionally thought of futuristic apparatuses will come into production, such as trans-Atlantic rockets. Alcohol dissapears, and instead soma comes into production. It's a wonder drug. Like drinking a vial of alcohol and tripping all night, then waking up in the morning refreshed for another day of work with the rest of your caste system. Erotic play will be accepted and encouraged in children... Say what?!
Yes, children and adults will all be encouraged to participate in erotic play and to give into their desires. Because, according to His Fordship, one cannot be happy when they are denying themselves exactly what they want. Like hypnopaedia suggests unto littluns, "Everyone belongs to everyone else."
Child rearing centers will pop up, staffed by Betas who must wear blue at all times. The Deltas will work the desk jobs that don't require too much... thinking. The Gammas, one of the largest social castes, will work roads, railways, and most forms of public service as well as manufacturing jobs of all types. The Alphas will try as hard as possible to oversee things and to not use the free thinking skills that they've been conditioned to have. And the Epsilons... oh dear, those Epsilons will do everything else. They'll be the absolute idiots of society, yet the other castes couldn't do anything without their help. Frankly, those Epsilons just can't stop loving the fact that they're Epsilons.
Why?
Well, in a perfectly sterilized and proper world, everyone will love what they're doing. The Alphas love being the best, and the Epsilons love being looked after. So I've concluded that if I were living in the world state, I would most likely be happiest as a...
Delta.
It would seem it's a low rank to rate one's self, but it makes perfect sense. First of all, it seems like this is the bourgeoisie of the world state. These middle castes have the least supervision of all, since they have the least risk of attempting to rebel against the current policies. They have the ability to go on living their lives happily and not knowing any way but the way they are conditioned to think: exactly as the well-intentioned government intends. Of course, no one wants to be the idiot of society, such as the Epsilons, yet they get protection from all other castes. Yet having the ability to think freely yet being forced to conform to the highly regarded government as an Alpha would be a fairly miserable way to live a life. A Beta works in the government centers all the time, because what on earth would the Fordship do if these second-rate castes began to think freely? They surely wouldn't handle it as well as an intelligent Alpha. So they're kept under watch daily at their jobs conditioning more fetuses to think just like they do. Lenina is one of these Betas, and she's managed to stick with her conditioning over most of her sheltered life. Though under scrutiny for staying in one relationship for too long (because, of course, it's improper to become attached to one person only. everyone belongs to everyone, as they say in the world state) her conformity in every other aspect of her life causes her to stay relatively quiet and without suspicion.
Bernard Marx, however, is a completely different case.
Conclusion: The US economy, the Iraq war, and the high prices of Starbucks coffee could be resolved if our world leaders/CEO's just took a gram of soma.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
What I Learned About Test Tube Babies
Okay, folks.
Get ready for test tube babies.
Kids as we know them... made in factories. Identical twins? Forget about it. We'll have sets of 8, 22, 54, even 96 human beings, all looking almost... well, identical. They'll be cultured, conditioned, labeled, and even put into what would be their very own middle school clique before leaving the womb (excuse me, tube) and as soon as they become those cute, living, breathing, crying, pooping babies we love, they'll start to be conditioned to love every moment of their lives as we knew they were pre-determined to be.
At least according to Aldous Huxley.
I'm no enemy of genetic engineering, but this futuristic, and seemingly hypothetical situation involving a completely genetically engineered world are at best, propaganda. If scientists want to create living cells from other cells, fantastic. They can grow hearts, livers, kidneys. Just don't grow the next generation just yet, doctor. Not only would my manufacturing process be terribly out-of-date, but we're not exactly ready for something like this at this point in history. Let the stubborn few of society catch up to the idea of global warming, start teaching evolution in ALL the schools, then start creating kids back in the lab.
The idea of a predestined social class, however, is far from new. The status quo just got more preset through any test tube baby's 17 years of conditioning. Not only are they put into a social caste, but they love it! Hypnopaedia (real word, who knows!?) is a useful tool in this future society. Like hypnotism, except it's legal for the government to perform it on kids while they sleep. The Epsilons are the morons of society, followed by the much smarter Deltas, Gammas, Betas, then the highly regarded Alphas. The Alphas sit at the top of the pyramid looking down at all others, but this is not a bad thing after hypnopaedia. The Gammas are stoked they're smarter than Deltas, and absolutely delighted that they don't have to work as hard as the Alphas. The Epsilons are as happy as their little minds can be to be surrounded by intelligent people who treat them like just another part of society and who are there to protect them from any bad to come. See? It's perfectly legit... just different. Maybe the US will give it a try. But before teaching them to be happy with being an Alpha or a Gamma, lets teach our kids about the dinosaurs.
Get ready for test tube babies.
Kids as we know them... made in factories. Identical twins? Forget about it. We'll have sets of 8, 22, 54, even 96 human beings, all looking almost... well, identical. They'll be cultured, conditioned, labeled, and even put into what would be their very own middle school clique before leaving the womb (excuse me, tube) and as soon as they become those cute, living, breathing, crying, pooping babies we love, they'll start to be conditioned to love every moment of their lives as we knew they were pre-determined to be.
At least according to Aldous Huxley.
I'm no enemy of genetic engineering, but this futuristic, and seemingly hypothetical situation involving a completely genetically engineered world are at best, propaganda. If scientists want to create living cells from other cells, fantastic. They can grow hearts, livers, kidneys. Just don't grow the next generation just yet, doctor. Not only would my manufacturing process be terribly out-of-date, but we're not exactly ready for something like this at this point in history. Let the stubborn few of society catch up to the idea of global warming, start teaching evolution in ALL the schools, then start creating kids back in the lab.
The idea of a predestined social class, however, is far from new. The status quo just got more preset through any test tube baby's 17 years of conditioning. Not only are they put into a social caste, but they love it! Hypnopaedia (real word, who knows!?) is a useful tool in this future society. Like hypnotism, except it's legal for the government to perform it on kids while they sleep. The Epsilons are the morons of society, followed by the much smarter Deltas, Gammas, Betas, then the highly regarded Alphas. The Alphas sit at the top of the pyramid looking down at all others, but this is not a bad thing after hypnopaedia. The Gammas are stoked they're smarter than Deltas, and absolutely delighted that they don't have to work as hard as the Alphas. The Epsilons are as happy as their little minds can be to be surrounded by intelligent people who treat them like just another part of society and who are there to protect them from any bad to come. See? It's perfectly legit... just different. Maybe the US will give it a try. But before teaching them to be happy with being an Alpha or a Gamma, lets teach our kids about the dinosaurs.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Foxy Skeletons and Other Things That Fall on Cars
Alas, right when I was convinced that the secrets to the universe were held within the pages of the owners' manual for a '97 Saturn...
the world came crashing down on Chuck's windshield.
In a figurative sense, of course. Once again, under a series of events labeled "Things That Aren't True at All," Chuck tells us of things that may or may not have happened. In fact, this final chapter of Chuck Klosterman IV seems to have the most plausible events of all three sections. The first of which being titled "Things that Are True" and involves the legendary Bono picking up street kids in his Maserati, and the second of which being called "Things That Might Be True" and involving hypothetical average Joe death matches.
The third starts off with some nightly unmentionables and moves on to some mundane info on his workplace. He then makes his way to a chinese buffet and runs into another shady friend named Ricky Rumble. Yes, Ricky Rumble. This man is not as shady as one would think, because he asks Chuck an oddly specific and seemingly wholesome favor upon his entry to the restaurant. Sir Rumble gives Chuck the explicit instructions to pick up his sister in Cincinatti, and as Chuck in his good willingness had already said yes, he accepts this task. Unfortunately for Chuck, Ricky's sister is a hyper-sensitive bookwormish-type exotic dancer. And she will be in Chuck's car for several hours. So while Chuck is agonizing over what is soon to be a terribly long car ride on the way to pick up Miss Rumble, it hits him.
Literally.
A fox, in the figurative sense, happened to make a crash landing on Chuck's '97 saturn. This fox being an incredibly gorgeous woman with straight black hair and a cocktail dress. The manual for such a vehicle apparently doesn't contain a section on what happens to a car when a corpse crashes into it. It even causes some damage to the motor vehicle, who knew? The shocks on the car can't handle the force, and the car crushes itself into whatever cement it may be driving on. And corpses bounce. Like a bouncy ball flying out of a helicopter, if that bouncy ball had the outer shell of human skin and the shape of a foxy skeleton.
?
So what does one do when a former heartbreaker does happen to decide to land on a car such as that of Chuck's? He got out of his vehicle to sit on the side of the road, noting how gorgeous the girl who fell from the sky is despite her every bone having been pulverized by the hood of his car. She must've fallen from a helicopter, Chuck finally decides. And the first thing a journalist can think of in a crisis is "How great of an article would this be?" So This is what Chuck does. He decides to abandon Mrs Rumble and ride home to enjoy a night of chinese take-out and continue with his routine life of watching MTV before waking up to another vapid day at work.
Here's to hoping these are "Things That Are Not True"
Conclusion: Silly reader, the best analogies are implausible.
the world came crashing down on Chuck's windshield.
In a figurative sense, of course. Once again, under a series of events labeled "Things That Aren't True at All," Chuck tells us of things that may or may not have happened. In fact, this final chapter of Chuck Klosterman IV seems to have the most plausible events of all three sections. The first of which being titled "Things that Are True" and involves the legendary Bono picking up street kids in his Maserati, and the second of which being called "Things That Might Be True" and involving hypothetical average Joe death matches.
The third starts off with some nightly unmentionables and moves on to some mundane info on his workplace. He then makes his way to a chinese buffet and runs into another shady friend named Ricky Rumble. Yes, Ricky Rumble. This man is not as shady as one would think, because he asks Chuck an oddly specific and seemingly wholesome favor upon his entry to the restaurant. Sir Rumble gives Chuck the explicit instructions to pick up his sister in Cincinatti, and as Chuck in his good willingness had already said yes, he accepts this task. Unfortunately for Chuck, Ricky's sister is a hyper-sensitive bookwormish-type exotic dancer. And she will be in Chuck's car for several hours. So while Chuck is agonizing over what is soon to be a terribly long car ride on the way to pick up Miss Rumble, it hits him.
Literally.
A fox, in the figurative sense, happened to make a crash landing on Chuck's '97 saturn. This fox being an incredibly gorgeous woman with straight black hair and a cocktail dress. The manual for such a vehicle apparently doesn't contain a section on what happens to a car when a corpse crashes into it. It even causes some damage to the motor vehicle, who knew? The shocks on the car can't handle the force, and the car crushes itself into whatever cement it may be driving on. And corpses bounce. Like a bouncy ball flying out of a helicopter, if that bouncy ball had the outer shell of human skin and the shape of a foxy skeleton.
?
So what does one do when a former heartbreaker does happen to decide to land on a car such as that of Chuck's? He got out of his vehicle to sit on the side of the road, noting how gorgeous the girl who fell from the sky is despite her every bone having been pulverized by the hood of his car. She must've fallen from a helicopter, Chuck finally decides. And the first thing a journalist can think of in a crisis is "How great of an article would this be?" So This is what Chuck does. He decides to abandon Mrs Rumble and ride home to enjoy a night of chinese take-out and continue with his routine life of watching MTV before waking up to another vapid day at work.
Here's to hoping these are "Things That Are Not True"
Conclusion: Silly reader, the best analogies are implausible.
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