Brave New World Chapter 1
1.What is the World State's Motto?
“Community, Identity, Stability.”
2.Please describe Bokanovsky's Process. Why does The Director call it the "major instrument of social stability?"
The Bokanovsky process involves the chilling of an ovum to induce meiosis. This yields many identical twins, allowing large groups of them to perform team based tasks. This collaboration is seen as a “major instrument of social stability” as it maintains consistency and efficiency.
3.Why did the doctor wish to keep the Epsilon "embryo below par?"
The doctor does this to ensure the Epsilon child does not exceed the generic Epsilon profile by being too intelligent or developed for his social caste.
4.What does Mr. Foster mean when he says: "We condition them to thrive in heat...that is the secret of happiness of virtue - liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny."? How does this connect to what is happening in Rack 10?
The conditioning makes each social caste believe they are happiest in their group and not among others. It prevents desire for movement on the social ladder and keeps all people satisfied with their place in the world. In Rack 10, the embryos are being conditioned physically to match the mental preparation, allowing them to perform their predestined jobs proficiently.
Brave New World Chapter 2
1.How do babies sent to the Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms develop an "instinctive hatred of books and flowers?" Why were Deltas exposed to such treatment?
Shock therapy is used to avert the babies to such useless things as books and flowers. Deltas were exposed to this treatment as part their conditioning; literacy is not a prerequisite of the Delta caste, and they are taught to hate flowers so they don’t make the trek to the country just to see them.
2.What is a State Conditioning Center?
State Conditioning Centers are places where children are further trained to fulfill their predestined roles in society.
3.What is hypnopaedia? Why wasn't it used for Science? What was it used for?
Hypnoaedia is the repetition of information to sleeping subjects as a means of instilling knowledge. It was used for moral education instead of scientific education because the subjects can only really spit out the repeated facts, not truly understand them; thus, the procedure was more effective for teaching moral maxims.
4.How does the Caste system work in the World State?
Embryos are predetermined to be in a caste ranging from Alpha to Gamma. Each caste has different attributes and a varying level of intelligence. Civil duties and careers are decided by the caste of the individual, which is permanent from birth/
5.What does the Director mean when he says, "Not so much like drops of water....rather, drops of liquid sealing wax."?
The information from the hypnopaedic lessons accumulates like wax as they are repeated night after night to the subjects, impregnating their brains with common thought.
Brave New World Chapter 3
In Chapter 3, we begin to learn about how the World State. Please explain how the following areas are different in the World State as compared to our world in 2010.
A) Sex, Monogamy & Romance
There is no marriage and there are no natural births. Sex is something everyone does for fun, and is seen as something healthy and normal. There are no emotions involved. In our world, the opposite is encouraged, with decency until courtship and a respectable marriage.
B) Sports
Sports are regulated by Controllers to encourage business and consistency. Sports are encouraged to promote revenue, not as something sought for fun like in our lives.
C) Entertainment
The people of the World State are entertained only by things such as Electro-Magnetic or Obstacle Golf, mindless games that provide no mental stimulation. Lenina wonders how Bernard doesn't like Obstacle Golf and would rather spend time doing something like going for a walk just to have a chat. In our world, entertainment is far broader, and different people choose to enjoy different things; whether that be something mindless like television, or something with a bit more depth such as a nice conversation with a friend.
D)Parenthood
Contraceptives prevent the consequences of the raging promiscuity. Parenthood is seen as strange and wrong, and natural births do not occur. In our world, it is of course all natural births, and whether or not the parents want to fulfill their responsibilities is up to them, but it is more often than not that parents support their child.
E) Materialism
Like sports, the people of the World State are expected to consume to create revenue. They must meet quotas in spending. Nowadays we choose our level of materialism.
F) Religion
*Religion has been abolished in the World State and is seen as a ridiculous waste of time. They treat Ford almost like a god, but any other belief besides the good of the people and power of Ford is discouraged. This is similar to the Communist states of the present day, such as China, which forbid religion and promote dedication to the country.
G) Intoxicants
Soma is used in the World State by everyone as a means of keeping everyone happy and at peace in the world. Currently, drugs and alcohol are controlled strictly and harbor repercussions, unlike soma.
Finally, to the best of your ability, provide a brief history (a paragraph) of how the World State came to be.
Many were opposed, and in the beginning democracy reigned over the caste system. In A.F. 141, the “Nine Years War” began along with a global economic collapse. The democratic people were faced with the choice of global chaos or the renunciations of their freedoms as individuals. They chose the latter. A cultural revolution like that of Mao then occurred, with the intent of an annihilation of the past.
Brave New World Chapter 4
Part 1
1.What puzzles Lenina about Bernard Marx's behavior?
She doesn’t understand why he won’t discuss plans in public with her.
2.Please provide examples of Lenina using what she learned from hypnopaedia.
She often makes comments like, “What a hideous colour khaki is,” because her hypnopaedic conditioning has taught her that her caste is the best, and that she must always be glad she is where she is in society.
3.Where are Lenina and Henry going?
They are going to play Obstacle Golf.
Part 2:
4.What makes Bernard Marx distressed? Why?
Bernard is smaller than the other men of his caste, lowering his self-esteem and often putting him at the end of cruel jokes. Obviously, this is distressing.
5.Where does Helmholtz Watson work? What is his job?
Helmholtz is a lecturer for the department of writing at the College of Emotional Engineering.
6.What does Bernard have in common with Helmholtz Watson?
Bernard and Helmholtz feel like individuals in a homogenized world. They believe their thoughts supersede those of their peers because they are different; Bernard because of his size, Helmholtz because of his superiority in every field.
7.What is troubling Helmholtz?
He is bored with his work and his productions, feeling that he wants to do something “more intense, [and] more violent.”
Brave New World Chapter 5
1.What would Michael Pollan (Remember? The Omnivore's Dilemma) say about the first paragraph in Chapter 5?
I don't recall ever reading that.
2.What do you think of Lenina's and Henry night out on the town?
The entire night seems rehearsed and preconditioned like their entire lives. They follow a routine that hundreds of other couples follow every night, spending money, dancing, having soma, and ending the night by having sex. There is nothing original to the night in any sense.
3.Why do you think Huxley uses the word "pneumatic" to refer to some female characters?
Pneumatic women would be just that: inflatable. Their heads are empty and they have no more personality or excitement than a blow up doll. The most dedicated to the morals of the state would be the most beautiful because they would have such a pneumatic mind.
4.What is Solidarity Service and what are Bernard's feelings towards it?
The Solidarity Service is a meeting of twelve people who do drugs and try to unify as one being. They are under the influence of soma and believe that the power of Ford brings them together in one mind, as the State should be. Bernard thinks these are useless gatherings and he must fake his reactions.
Brave New World Chapter 6
Part I
1.Why does Lenina think Bernard Marx "odd" - please use specific references from this chapter in your answer.
She finds him odd because he is different from any other man she has had. He wants to walk and talk with her instead of just take her on a routine date and get in her pants.
2. Please provide more lines from Lenina that she learned from hypnopedia (there are some great ones in this chapter!). Do any of them remind you of sayings that we may use - please don't use commercial jingles. i.e. "1-800-54-Giant!"
"A gramme in time saves nine" , "one cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments" , "a gramme is better than a damn" (referring to soma), "Never put off til tomorrow the fun you can have today", "when the individual feels the community reels". The first few seem very similar to the axiom "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." These little rhymes are common in our society too to promote good values or tradition, even if they are invalid.
3. What is Fanny's explanation for Bernard's behavior?
Fanny believes that the alcohol put in Bernard's surrogate while he was developing in the baby factory causes Bernard to be different from the rest of the men she knows in the World State.
Part II
4. What did the Director tell Bernard about his own trip to the Reservation? Why did it initially make Bernard feel uncomfortable?
The Director told Bernard about his trip a couple decades back with a pneumatic girl he was seeing at the time. They had gone exploring the wilderness, but their horses ran away and they got caught in a thunderstorm. The girl got lost and by the time the Director made it to the rest house, there was no hope of recovering her. Bernard felt uncomfortable at first because of the obvious solecism of the director; he knew that the Director disapproved the trip to New Mexico but still persisted in his story of the past.
5. What does the Director threaten Bernard with if he doesn't change his behavior? Why does it elate Bernard?
Bernard is told that if he keeps up his dodgy behavior, he could be reassigned to a post in Iceland. Instead of this terrifying him as it should, he is ecstatic because this means he is enough of an individual that the company is taking notice.
Part III
6. How does the Warden describe the Reservation?
The Warden describes the reservation as a park ranger could describe Yellowstone, He spits out the facts and tries to sound impressive by recounting the horrific deeds of the savages, who still engage in sex and marriage and speak extinct languages like Spanish. He treats it as a landmark or roadside attraction instead of human beings living life in an "alternative" way.
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