Brave New World- Blog 3

1. Why is a near religion made out of Ford when all other beliefs are basically taken away?
          The basis of life in  the World State is the Ford assembly life and conformity. It's reasonable to assume that people will be aware of this and make an idol of him naturally. Any other religion would not make sense because their life revolves around ways of life that are not spiritual.

2. Why doesn't anyone in this society ever question their life?
          From the time of creation, children are taught what is and what will be in the World State. While some form of rebellion isn't necessarily completely out of the question, it is not reasonable because the people in the World State are trained how to think and what to believe, so this is just their normal.

3. Why isn't John able to handle the new society or at least return home when he can't handle it?
          I think the most logical explanation for this would be that John is completely overwhelmed by the entirely new ideas of this world. As an outsider, he can see countless flaws in the culture and has no way of changing them. Instead of returning to where he came from, John commits suicide because he sees how sad the world truly is.

Brave New World- Blog 2

1. Without Soma, would this society still be able to function without rebellion?
I don't think that the World State could exist in the same way without Soma. Soma is a drug that creates artificial happiness in place of the true happiness the World State lacks. Individual spirits seem to be strained out the babies during the decanting process in this society. Instead, people are given Soma to ease away their unhappiness. "Christianity without tears—that’s what soma is," (Huxley). Soma is the driving force of this society, so if it were to be taken away, chaos would ensue shortly thereafter.

2. How does the title tie into the rest of the story?
I think that the most obvious connection to the title is the 'new world' part of it. This is an entirely new world that Huxley has created on his own, so that is where this portion would come form. The brave portion could be an adjective, noun, or verb. If used as a verb, it could be describing John's step into this strange new world which caused him great discomfort. If meant as an adjective or noun, this could be describing John or any other member of the society who was forced to endure the strangeness and discomfort of the World State. Regardless, I think the title is making a point out of the newness of the world which the characters have to live through.

3. Why wouldn't the author want to provide everyone with a mother instead of decanting children?
The decanting process leads to a disconnect with strong emotions in children. Having a separate mother for each child would interfere with the society and equality. However, if the same mother was used for every child, this would still allow equality. The problem with this would be that it wouldn't be possible for the mother to have a strong and true relationship with each child. There would be unintentional favoritism for the children who could access their mother. Decanting prevents any problems relating to the inequality of  children.

Brave New World- Blog 1

In the Brave New World society, everyone is equal because "every one belongs to every one else" (Huxley 43). There is no defined religion to set people apart from one another and polygamy is the norm. Even from birth, children are not given an individual life. They are decanted along with innumerable siblings (also without a parent). Conflict as we know it today could not exist in this society because the conflicts we typically have are over things that simply do not exist in the Brave New World society. Relationships are open, so there is no cheating. All children are equal, so there is no judgement among peers. Happiness is created throughout the society through the use of soma, a drug. Soma the juice of life in this society and it spread happiness to all who use it. Similar to 1984, I would say that Brave New World is also a dystopian novel. Although all seems pleasant, there is no point to life in this world and nothing unique is accomplished by anyone. Without individuality, no great change in thinking or life can be made.

1984 Blog 3

In the end, I think that Big Brother has one. Winston gives up his fight against him when he finally says, "He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother," (Orwell 300). Winston may or may not have actually accomplished something in the society, but the readers will never know because of the abrupt ending of 1984. I think Winston completely gives into Big Brother in the end and assimilates into society. His attempt at rebellion was unsuccessful because it was short-lived, it wasn't wide-spread, and he was constantly being monitored. If Winston had been a Prole and hadn't been so closely watched, he could have campaigned for his cause longer and with more people. A larger number of supporters would have meant a larger issue for Big Brother to tackle. Big Brother is conquerable, but in the end Winston was unsuccessful. 

1984 Blog 2

I think that Winston is rebelling due to the fact that he knows what is going on in the world. It is his job to change history and make everything fit what it should according to Big Brother, so as a part of his job, he sees the deceitfulness of Big Brother. With this knowledge, he comes to the conclusion that there is something more or something better than his society, so he wishes to find it. I don't think that his small attempts at rebellion are a form of protest. They, essentially, go unnoticed and do not accomplish anything other than causing an increase in Winston's internal conflict. Common modern protests (such as anti-war protests) are similar in that they are against the big plans of the government. However, these protests actually draw a large amount of attention to the issue and are sometimes successful in getting across their points to important leaders. We are somewhat Orwellian today because the majority of people in society simply follow along with what their told to do by the government, but others push against the flow and point out flaws in our way of life.

1984 Blog 1

Oceania, the dystopia formed in 1984 by George Orwell, was governed by a lack of privileges. As a child, I remember my parents' primary punishment for being selfish or not sharing was that I had my privileges taken away. For example, if I wouldn't share my toys with my sisters after I was done playing with them, my parents would take the toys away so that no one would get to play with them. The general idea of this was that we couldn't fight over things we didn't have and I wouldn't become obsessed with the privileges I was given. A similar situation was created in Oceania under the control of Big Brother.  Nearly all human rights (relationships, individual style, etc.) were taken away from members of this society in hopes that it would prevent any conflict and unite everyone under Big Brother. Individual thought is considered a thought crime and straying from the ways of society is unacceptable. These laws do make everyone equal in having no rights, and they prevent any conflict because there is no motivation for any conflict. Big  Brother is able to force conformity and happiness in his society through the process of doublethink. Doublethink forces all members of the society to feel or think whatever Big Brother wants them to regardless of what they may secretly feel. The author even states the basis of the society as blatant lies:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENTH. (Orwell)