Brave New World
QTPC #4
Quotation- “Pain’s a delusion.” “Oh, is it?” asked the Savage and, picking up a think hazel switch, strode forward. (page251) I thought this quote was funny because it showed how much of a savage John really is to the people in the civilized world.
Talking Point- Huxley refers to the civilized people as different types of insects by using John. At first, the workers at the centre were referred to as bees buzzing and humming in the hive (page 147). Then, John says the “ward was maggoty” (page 201) when the loads of twins came in during his visit with his mother. Later on when John is remembering his mother’s death, he sees the boys “swarming like lice” around. It almost seems like Huxley doesn’t like the people in the society he created and this is his way of venting about them.
Connection- On page 207, the boys in the ward are given a chocolate eclair after Linda’s death. This reminded me of my visits to the doctor. No matter what I’d always get a sticker after my appointment which was given to the kids to make them feel better. If I got a shot while there, I’d get a sticker and my mom would take me to Flavor Freeze to get ice cream. The treat was supposed to make me feel better after getting a shot.
QTPC #3
Quotation- “Buzz, buzz! the hive was humming, busily, joyfully. Blithe was the singing of the young girls over their test tubes, the Predestinators whistled as they worked, and in the Decanting Room what glorious jokes were cracked above the empty bottles!” (page 147)
I thought this quote is perfect for explaining the way the Centre works. Everyone works on their own tasks busily like little worker bees.
Talking Point- At the beginning of the book, Bernard thought that women shouldn’t be viewed as meat and that sex was something special. He didn’t want to do it on the first date (page 93) because he wants it to be passionate. Now that Bernard is popular because of the savage, he has lots of girls (page 156). Also, he keeps flirting with a lot of girls and invites the freemartins to his house parties where the savage will be. For example, Bernard invites Fanny to go out (page 156) and he invites the Head Mistress to his party (page 161).
Connection- John the savage reminds me of Mimi from the movie Jungle 2 Jungle. Both characters’ mothers were adopted by a tribal group when they were pregnant and the boys were raised amongst the tribes (116-118). In the movie, Tim Allen’s character brings Mimi back to the city like Bernard brought John back to civilization. Both boys don’t understand the new society they’re living in because of all of the technology.
QTPC #2
Quotation- “This at least hasn’t changed, the way men caress good cars.” (The Handmaid’s Tale page 17) I thought this comment was funny because men nowadays are obsessed with their cars. They want to have fast, expensive cars to show off.
Talking Point- A lot of the Utopias in literature seem to be advanced in technology. In Brave New World, people are created in tubes, they are able to fly around in planes, and they use hypnopædia to brainwash people. Looking Backward was written in 1888 and they used credit cards and had online shopping that delivered using underground tubes. Foundation and Star Trek are both set in outer space. 1984 uses telescreens throughout the city to monitor everyone. The Machine Stops is about people’s lives being run by a machine. All of the books use technology to run the Utopia.
Connection- In Brave New World, Gammas are considered stupid and wear green (page 27). They do semi-thoughtful jobs that aren’t as important as the Alphas’ jobs. This is similar to the Guardians of Faith in The Handmaid’s Tale. The Guardians of Faith are soldiers who wear green uniforms. They aren’t real soldiers and are used for “menial functions” (page 20). Also, the Econowives, women of the poorer men, wear green. This color seems to be one of unimportance.
QTPC #1
Quotation- “Books and loud noises, flowers and electric shocks- already in the infant mind these couples were compromisingly linked; and after two hundred repetitions of the same or a similar lesson would be wedded indissolubly.” (page 21-22)
I could not believe that the society was teaching babies to not like flowers and books which are supposed to be fun to a little kid not terrifying.
Talking Point- This book, written in the 1930’s, gives women the image of being a piece of meat. For example Bernard says to himself “Like meat, like so much meat’ (page 53). That concept is popular in the 21st century because of movie producers and Hollywood. People see on TV, in magazines, and movies that women are an object that you possess causing women to think they are meat and men to think they can have any women they want when they want.
Connection- In Brave New World, the society enforces sexual intercourse with numerous amounts of people (page 40- Everyone belongs to everyone else.). The idea of sex is wonderful and something you can’t live without. Even in movies and TV shows, they put on the image that sex is important and if you aren’t having sex than you aren’t normal. The societies don’t bother with the consequences of having multiple partners. Also, both in the book and in movies, people are starting to have sex at younger and younger ages (page 31).
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