The Brave New World takes place in the year 632 A.F. which means, After Ford (the god of the New World). Cilivization has been destroyed by a series of wars. The end of the Nine Years War brings the era of Ford. The leaders rule through dictatorship, and the society is based on a rigid caste system. The five major castes are the Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. The Alphas are elite and have superior roles, while the Epsilons are the lowest and perform menial roles. Ten Controllers hold all the power and control using science. Marriage no longer exists, and children are produced in a factory. In the beginning of the novel, students are being given a tour through the London Hatcheries, the factory children are produced in. The processes used to make children are explained to the students, who are Alphas and will one day be employeed there. Henry Foster and Lenina Crowne are employees of the center and have been spending too much time together. Lenina's friend Fanny points this out and warns her that it is against state rules to date the same person too often. So Lenina decides to date another employee named Bernard Marx, who isn't like the other people in his caste. Bernard takes Lenina on a vacation to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, where traditional values are still practiced. Before they leave, Bernard is warned by his boss, Tomakin, about his non-conformist ways and threatened with exile. While in New Mexico, Lenina and Bernard accidently meet an abandoned woman named Linda, and her son, John the Savage. Linda had traveled to the Reservation on a vacation with Tomakin years ago and was left behind. After finding out she was pregnant, she knew she couldn't return to the Utopia, so she stayed on the Reservation. After hearing Linda's story, Bernard goes to one of the Controllers and gets permission to take Linda and John back to Utopia. Tomakin meets both Linda and John, is ridiculed, and resigns from his position at the Hatcheries. Bernard no longer has to worry about being exiled. John becomes entertainment for everyone in the New World. Bernard has custody of John and loves the attention he receives because of him. However, John soon becomes unhappy because the ways of the New World repulse him. Even though John is unhappy, Lenina is extremely attracted to him, and tries unsuccessfully to seduce him. After Linda dies, John goes crazy. He tries to convert people to his way of thinking, which results in rebellion. Bernard and his friend Helmholtz Waston are blamed for the rebellion. Bernard and Helmholtz are exiled, and John is kept for experiments. He resists and tries to escape into solitude, but the citizens of Utopia still find him and watch him for entertainment. Finally, John commits suicide because of depression.
1. People in the New World believe in "sharing" each other, which explains why marriage is forbidden. How would our present day society view this belief?
2. The citizens of the New World believe life is just for their pleasure and happiness. They're conditioned to view death as just part of the life cycle, and know that another group of children could be developed in a short amount of time. The civilized people have no value for life. Do we have a deeper purpose than just living, and what do you value about life?
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2) I think every person has a purpose in life whether big or small. The people that don't really do anything with their lives and just go through the motions are not really living. It is important to have goals in life and work hard to reach them because along the way, you will make a difference in the world. I value many things in my life. I am happy to having a loving, supporting family and friends that I know will always be there to me. I value the freedoms I have, and knowing that if I work hard, I can achieve anything that I want.
1. I believe that the younger people that fear commitment would be attracted to this idea. It would be a huge thing that they could avoid but still gain all of the pleasures. However, when they grow older, i feel as if it would get tiresome and they would grow weary of their choices and stop altogether.
1. Today, although marriage isn't as 'sacred' i guess as it used to be and so many people are getting divorced nowadays, I think 'sharing' others is still looked down upon.
2. I feel that people now feel that they have a purpose and they spend their entire life trying to figure out what exactly it is. They have feelings and actually value their lives unlike these people that feel it is just a cycle.
Kelsey I completely agree that just going through the motions of life isn't really living. Although the people of the New World think they're happy, I don't think a person can be truely happy without knowing what happiness is. They've never experienced sadness or pain, so they don't really know what joy is. I think in order to truely live, a person has to experience the good AND the bad.
Even though younger people may find the idea of sharing one another as a good idea, I don't think society would except it. To be honest, I think today's society would view the citizens of the New World as promiscuous.
2. There is definently a deeper meaning and purpose to life then just being on Earth. Living means smelling the fresh air and seeing all of the natural things occur around you. Many people set goals in their life, which gives them a reason to continue living. Others live for their family members because they feel that if they were not in teir lives, that life would be boring and heart breaking. Some people live to help others. It is the best feeling knowing that you helped make oter person's life better. The main thing I value is nature and everything around you that you are unable to help occuring.
2. I think our deeper purpose is our imprint on the world and the people that live in it.
I do not believe that society accepts this belief-part of life is forming special bonds with certain individuals. Those bonds help us become individuals.
Everybody has a purpose, a vision, for their lives but we are not necessarily born knowing what that vision is. Life does not last forever so worrying and thinking about making an eternal impression is not what life is about. I feel life is about finding yourself and not making life harder for everyone else.
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