Analysis of Chapter 8

In this chapter, Huxley explores the character of John, the child born unexpectedly in the Savage Reservation. A genetic Fordian raised in Malpais, John represents the potential combination of civilization and tradition, but his life has been lonely and heartbreaking. John is the true individual Bernard sometimes longs to be, and, as Huxley makes clear here, being truly individual means living in pain. Because of his European appearance and his mother's sexual activity, John suffers rejection and humiliation at the hands of the elders of Malpais as well as his peers. Banned from initiation into manhood, John has nowhere to turn for help in his growth. An old volume of Shakespeare's plays becomes his guide to life. In the world of poetry and imagination, John's spirit expands, gaining a unique although eccentric strength and vitality.

Why is John's fate significant?

Why are stars depressing?

The stars are depressing because people are not able to see the starry nights and dream about other possibilities. "The depressing stars had travelled quite some way across the heavens. But though the separating screen of the sky-signs had now to a great extent dissolved, the two young people still retained their happy ignorance of the night" (Huxley, 88). The stars represent something that is unachievable. Something that is unobtainable. The stars represent dreams that are unreachable.

John the Savage Character Analysis

John the Savage is the only person in the brave new world born naturally of a mother. John represents human in the novel, with an identity and a family relationship that is not like any other character. Although he is the son of two upper-caste Londoners, he grows up on the Savage Reservation. John is disconnected and rejected. His only society is Shakespeare's imaginative world, a world he fills with energy and idealism. John is the true loner, the individual Bernard imagines himself at times, and his life, accordingly, is filled with confusion and pain. John represents the most important and most complex character of Brave New World, a stark contrast to Bernard, the would-be rebel. Bernard's dissatisfaction with his society expresses itself most characteristically in sullen resentment and imagined heroism, but John lives out his ideals, however unwisely. In turning aside Lenina's advances, John rejects the society's values. He acts boldly in calling the Deltas to rebellion and in throwing out the soma. Finally, he faces the powerful Mustapha Mond deliberately and intelligently and sets out on his own to create a life for himself, which ends in tragedy.

Brave New World Pinterest Board

https://www.pinterest.com/derekneidlinger/brave-new-world/

This Pinterest board was in my eyes a depiction of the novel Brave New World. This board displays shows the use of Soma, a pill they take and how it changes them completely. It also shows us what is really going on in the novel. It portrays the obliviousness of everyone in this dystopian society, how they truly no nothing about what is going on. 

The Caste System

This society is made up of the Caste system. The Caste system is irreversible. You are born into your caste and you may not change. Each caste was created differently for different purposes.

Alphas- The Alphas are the highest caste besides the Alpha plus. They do not go through the Bokanovsky's process. Bokanovsky's Process is a process of human cloning. The process is applied to fertilized human eggs in vitro, causing them to split into identical genetic copies of the original. Alphas where the color grey. Alphas do not contain any alcohol in their surrogates. Alphas maintain the highest jobs in the world state, working mostly in the labs. Alphas are the superior caste (besides the alphas pluses) so everything about them is believed to be superior. Alphas are taller than all the other castes, they are also the highest in intelligence. Except Bernard he is an exception.

Betas- The Betas are the second highest caste. Betas wear the color mulberry. They also do not go through the Bokanovsky's process and they do not contain alcohol in there blood surrogates, just like the alphas. They are allowed to interact with the Alphas and they are not looked down upon and not seen as inferior as much as the lower castes. They are similar to the alphas they just are perceived as slightly lower in all categories.

Gammas- Gammas are the third caste and are considered to be the average caste. Gammas wear the color green. Gammas went through the Bokanovsky's cloning process. They also have alcohol in the blood surrogates, but not as much as the lower castes. Having Alcohol in your blood was only for the inferior castes. Gammas also get more oxygen than the Deltas and the Epsilons.

Deltas- Deltas are the second lowest caste. Deltas wear the color khaki. Deltas go through the Bokanovsky's process. They have a lot of alcohol in the blood surrogate, but a little less than the Epsilons. The Deltas have lack of oxygen, but they get more oxygen than the Epsilons. The Deltas job are bad, but not considered to be worse than the Epsilons.

Epsilons- Epsilons are the lowest and worst caste. Epsilons wear the color black. They can not read or write. Epsilons are deprived 80% of their oxygen and have the most alcohol in their blood surrogates. Epsilons jobs are considered to be the worst that no one else wants to perform.

S.O.M.A. Poem

S.O.M.A.

Soma, Soma, I know you can see,

Everything that you do for me.

The way you make me feel inside,

Makes me feel like I never will die.

How you speak and look at us,

Shows us you’re the one to trust.

What you do brings strength to us all,

Because of you we never will fall.

Please tell me how to be you,

What you do helps me become unconfused.

Soma, Soma, I know you can feel,

What you do helps me unpeel.

How you walk,

Taught me to walk,

How you talk, how you squawk,

Helped me become unblocked.

Soma, Soma, I know you can see,

How much you’ve helped me.

                                                         

First Impression

The first three chapters of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World confused me a lot. There is a lot of background information that the author throws at the readers. He tries to describe the future of humanity with a “perfect society”. This perfect society is where babies are born without their mothers, where people’s lives are arranged before they even born, where ethical issues are considered as nothing. The readers, such as me, are drowned by all the image that the author tries to build up. In fact, these images seem to sketch out a picture of a bright, colorful life that is gloomy and hopeless. I don’t know what is in Huxley’s mind when he writes this story, but for me he tries writing what he believes is our future society. I am still undecided whether I see Brave New World as a bad or good story. I just realize that so many true things about this futuristic society that is expressed from this novel. In my opinion, the truth is hurtful to accept sometime. People seem to be scared of the truth about their life, that is their responsibility. This fear is why people try not to be aware of it. I also believe that this is the main idea that Huxley tries to tell his readers. Or is something different?

Dystopia vs Utopia

Throughout the novel, Aldous Huxley creates an image about a new world where everybody is content about their role in society and the caste they are in. For me, the civilized world that they live in would be a never ending nightmare. No one worries about their life, emotions, and about the right or wrong in the society they live in. No one has to be responsible for anyone or anything. What a dream world when there is no interconnections between people, the only way they connect is through sexual relations. Babies are born in the tube, and their life is set up through a system, a system that has already predetermined their lives. These children then grow up to fit in the position which the system give to them. This means people will live  in the world without childhood, family and decision. The world is emotionless and empty. This causes people to use soma, a drug used to satisfy themselves. In addition, people are classified by the color of clothes, height and weight; job and hobby and their intelligence. If you are not fit in the measurement of the group, you will be treated as the outsider, Bernard is an example of being an outcast because of being unable to meet the measurements of society. In my opinion, there are no perfect things, no prefect persons; and life also is also full of struggle. The world can’t be right as utopia or dystopia; it has to mixed between both. Everything has two sides, day and night; hot and cold, black and white, and right and wrong to balance out. Without the balance, life just becomes dysfunctional. Things will fall apart. Again, the perfect life in Huxley’s novel is just a formation of dystopia, which are full of problems hidden by their happy appearance.

Character Analysis of Bernard Marx

     Bernard Marx is the most important character in the first part of the book from my personal opinion. The author of Brave New World Aldous Huxley doesn’t describe him much physically in detail; just that he is thin and very small. Bernard is an Alpha, who are supposed to be bigger than the normal size. Bernard looks like a Gamma person. So, he is an outsider, because he doesn’t feel so confident as the other people, he’s never asked for dates, and the lower castes don’t sometimes obey him as they should. Lower castes at times look at him as they would look at everyone else even though he is an alpha and should be seen on a higher pedestal compared to everyone else. Everyone thinks that Bernard is an odd person. Some even said that, when he was still bottled (when he was a baby), someone accidentally poured alcohol in his blood surrogate. This is why some people believe that he is the way he is, short, strange, and different. People avoid him because of his reputation to be what they see him as being distasteful. Bernard is also a sensitive person, which is not common. He gets angry when he hears people talking down on others, like when Henry referred to Lenina as a piece of meat. Bernard is also very insecure, which is also uncommon in this world. He is insecure because he is vertically challenged unlike the other alphas who are tall. Bernard likes to be alone and think. One of Bernard's only friends is Hemholtz Watson. They are friends because they both are viewed as outcasts in society, they are deemed as different. Bernard gets very uncomfortable around girls and is shy and awkward. Although he is shy he works up the courage to ask Lenina to the savage reservation. When he returns from the reservation, he is a changed alpha. Bernard starts to become more social, participating in social events. He starts going out with tons of women because he is famous for bringing in the savage to their society.