In this quotation from Mustapha Mond: "Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment." the reader is given the uncomfortable feeling of something slightly off. There is an unsettling quality in the words of the Resident Controller of Western Europe, yet that does not stop him from being absolutely correct about how the value system of Brave New World. This is a world which runs on "Community, Identity, and Stability"; everyone has their own place in the world, Alpha pluses at the top and Epsilon minuses at the bottom; and all work and are treated according to their position. And in this world of pleasure run a muck, the only ones who can lead it are the ones not prey to the pleasures; with their goal of maintaining a unified and controlled society.
Humanity is now under the control of the government and manipulated for their own means. The word "family" is nonexistent in the sense that we have today. "Mother" and "father" are considered "smutty" words. To be a "parent" is to be an outcast. Monogamy is even a foreigner experience than parenthood, and is in fact has disappeared. It is considered normal and appropriate to "'Have somebody else from time to time...'" as opposed to staying with the same person the entire course of a relationship. People are encouraged to act impulsively and that "'Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness: it depends on the force of the current, the height and strength of the barrier. The unchecked stream flows smoothly down its appointed channels into a calm well-being.'" Feeling is almost nonexistent, as the D.H.C. stated, "No pains been spared to make your lives emotionally easy-to preserve you, so far as that is possible, from having emotions at all." It is a place that is driven by desire and pleasure and in this way this world's people are trapped.
Hi Addy! I liked reading this blog; you made some interesting points that made me think about Brave New World in a different light than I had previously thought. I liked how in the beginning, you set up the novel's society and the caste system within it (it was a nice refresher, being that sometimes reading these blogs can get repetetive). As always, I enjoyed reading how fluidly your thoughts flowed, especially with the insertion of textual evidence. You are talented in that regard. :) However, I would've liked to see you analyze what's going on a little bit more. At the end of your blog, you say these people are "trapped;" expand on that idea. What does that do to them as a society? how is the overall goal of "Community, Identity, and Stability" able to be implemented because of that? Just a few questions for you to think about. Overall, a great blog post as usual! :)
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