Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

It is rant time for Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Up until the last chapter of this novel I thought the book was great. Midway through when Bernard's life went downhill, I began to see this book was not what I thought it would be. Then once John had the discussion with the Controller, I began to have new hopes for this novel. Sadly, once John hit the island, I began to experience confusion. I do not understand the relevance of John, "picking[ing] up the whip and [then he] began hitting himself again" (Huxley 248). I understand that punishment and forgiveness from God involves inflicting pain on oneself in John's religion. What I do not understand is why he does this multiple times and the civilized people freak out. That is literally the main point of the last chapter. I find it to be extremely random. I also do not understand why he hangs himself after he wakes up in the morning. Did he whip himself or Lenina? I thought that he whipped himself, so I do not understand why he would just decide to kill himself for something he had already done before. If I were to come up with any explanation for this I would have to guess that he might have hanged himself because he did as the crowd instructed him? This ending angered me a great deal, and caused me to think poorly of the novel.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

Soon after Bernard is escorted out of the room in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the Helmholtz and John learn that even the Controller was almost banished. Rather than being banished, the Controller was given a position on the Controllers' Council. The reader then learns that in order to be banished or placed on the Controllers' Council, an individual must be one who challenges society. Helmholtz is then asked where he would like to be banished and he responds, "'I should like a thoroughly bad climate... I believe one would right better if the climate were bad" (Huxley 229). Rather than throwing a fit about being banished, Helmholtz embraces the opportunity. This scene shows that Helmholtz and Bernard are foil characters. Helmholtz has developed since the beginning of the book because he challenged society and pursued. Bernard, rather, had similar thoughts, but digressed once he brought John to the civilized world and was treated like a celebrity. Helmholtz is accepting of his differences and wishes to be able to express his individual thoughts, whereas Bernard wants to be accepted by the rest of society. These two both took what society taught, and allowed it to consume their life, but in radical manners.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

After the riot in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Bernard, John, and Helmholtz are sent to meet with the Controller. John and the Controller begin to have an intellectual discussion, and the reader learns more about the banning of old books. In the middle of this conversation, the Controller mentions that Bernard and Helmholtz will be isolated on an island. After hearing of this punishment, Bernard begins to beg and plea saying, "'I tell you, it's their fault,' he sobbed. 'And not to Iceland. Oh please, your fordship, please...'" (Huxley 226). This scene shows Bernard completely betraying the only friends he has ever possessed. Bernard's motivation for this betrayal is that he does not want to be isolated on an island from society. He thinks that being sent away from the rest of the civilized world will be an embarrassment. Bernard is so distraught with the negative aspects of being sent away, that he selfishly attempts to abandon his friends. After Bernard's life had began a spinning spiral down, he finally could not take another punishment. I believe the overall motivation of this betrayal is because Bernard has finally hit rock bottom.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 4

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a novel about the governments control over the civilized population. The government accomplishes this in many ways, including manipulating embryos, repetition of rules and regulations, and allowing sex to be a main form of entertainment. The population becomes addicted to following specific habits and acting a certain way, so any actions abnormal are blasphemy. In this section, the reader may observe that the population is also addicted to soma when the Deltas thought, "Deprivation of soma -- appalling thought!" (Huxley 210). This scene where the Deltas become overly aggravated about the soma being thrown away is a perfect example of the government control. Since the government expects specific behavior and traditions, this change in schedule caused an uproar. The government chose to use a drug to control the population, which led to a massive riot. The civilized people have an addiction that must be fed, and only the government can feed that desire. By making this drug a necessity to the society, the government is better able to regulate the happiness of the population. Soma helps the reader to better understand the theme of government control.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 2

Before Bernard and Lenina embark on their holiday in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, they are given an informational lecture by an Alpha-Minus. Lenina decided to take advantage of this time as a reason to take soma. As a result, Lenina was no longer paying attention to the information presented, and at the same time Bernard was worrying about a situation back in Civilization. During this talk, the Warden repeated warnings such as, "'There is no escape from a Savage Reservation'" (Huxley, 102). When I first read this passage, it was soon after being informed that the D.H.C. had lost a lover in the Savage Reservation. With this knowledge, and the constant warning from the Alpha-Minus, I assumed this scene was foreshadowing of a tragic event that would take place on the Reservation. I later found out I was not correct about this, but rather Bernard and Lenina found the forgotten lover of the D.H.C. Furthermore, the repetitive warning foreshadowed these two vacationers discovering a fellow civilized human; Bernard later goes against this belief and is able to get Linda off the Reservation.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 2

Back in the Civilized World, there is a scene in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley where the D.H.C. is meeting with Henry Foster. These two men are walking through one of the many well organized buildings that the D.H.C. describes as, "'This hive of industry'" (Huxley, 146). Later the activity in this building is, "Buzz, buzz! the hive was humming, busily, joyfully" (Huxley, 147). Through the use of this metaphor and example of onomatopoeia, respectively, the reader can get a further understanding of the controlled routine. The activity is described as a busy business that is constantly at work. By comparing the industry to a hive at work, the speaker is showing that the routine is well organized. Like a bee hive, where there are prefect formed cells and each bee has its own specific job, the government has trained the population to work in a similar fashion. Each person learns their social job, and sticks comfortably to their task. These two literary techniques also continue the idea of comparing the people of this society to animals, or in this instance insects. The population has been conditioned to follow specific rules that were ingrained into them at a young age, almost like the instinct of a wild animal.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Section 2

Bernard and Lenina take a holiday in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and begin to learn about the Savage lifestyle. After ironically finding Linda, the D.H.C.'s past lover, and her son, John, Bernard begins to inquire about the Savage's way of life. John begins to tell Bernard everything about his life since his first memories. When explaining the Savage traditions of becoming a man, John painfully recollects, "This time the man struck [me], pulled [my] hair. 'Not for you, white-hair!' 'Not for the son of the she-dog!'" (Huxley, 136). This anecdote shows the persecution of an outsider in the Savage society. Both the criticism toward Bernard, and the persecution of John demonstrate parallel themes in the drastically dynamic societies. Both of these character's have aspects, whether it is physical or mental, that differ from their designated society, and both societies make them outcasts. This parallelism further confirms that whether a society is controlled by the government or not, humans have natural tendencies. This parallelism helps contribute to the important  theme of human nature that is displayed through multiple aspects of the novel.