Brave New World- Second Reading

Disclaimer: I wasn’t sure how much we were supposed to read, so I went to chapter 16. I’ll try to minimize the impact of the extra reading on what follows.

How durable is the one-state?

The one-state appears at present to be very durable. For one, its scope is enormous, both in its extent of geographical control and in its intrusion into the lives of its citizens. Huxley writes, “But as the two thousand million inhabitants of the planet only had ten thousand names between them, the coincidence was not particularly surprising” (49). This statement demonstrates that the government controls the entirety of the world populace, and furthermore, that such control extends to so personal a level as naming. Additionally, it has moved beyond the cruder, more brutish punishments levied in 1984 to a life filled with apathy derived from pleasure and contentment. Huxley explains, “’Old men in the past used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking­—thinking! Now-- such is progress—the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think…” (68). From the moment consciousness begins, the individual is stimulated, through work and pleasure: leisure is structured; free time unavailable in a perversion of “idle hands do the devil’s work.” No one has a motive to rebel, and so the one-state is durable and powerful.

Does the one-state regularly deal with dissidence, and if so, how?

First, as indicated above, dissidence is minimally problematic because the vast majority of individuals are quite happy. Dissident individuals would presumably feel isolated and unusual, as Marx does. “’But wouldn’t you like to be free to be happy in your own way, Lenina?’” questions Marx, “’in your own way, for example; not in everyone else’s way’” (101). Marx is unhappy and an outcast for it—quite literally, being abnormal for an alpha—but he is one of the few (so far, two) who feel this way. The only implement for dealing with subversives mentioned so far is a job transfer to a remote location, where, according to the director, they “will have small opportunity to lead others astray by [their] unfordly example” (157). So far, no stricter means of punishment --punitive, rehabilitative, or otherwise—seems to be common.

How did the world come to accept what we would view as totalitarian rule?

This remains unclear to this point. What is clear, however, is that the society in which Marx and the other characters reside is far removed from our present-day society. The connotation of the word “mother” most vividly demonstrates this. The word is described as “smutty” (48) and “pornographic impropriety” (159), whereas in our society it carries a positive connotation of caring affection. Time is measured “after Ford,” and it is currently over a century after Ford; however, it is not clear when Ford lived or who exactly Ford was. Presumably, given allusion regarding the letter “T” Ford refers to Henry Ford, which would seem logical in tandem with the novel’s theme of technological abuse. This seems logical given the novel’s 1931 publishing date, but outdated now given both the year and the prevalence of mass-production techniques.

"Don't You Want Me"- The Human League

-The subject is unreciprocated love or desire. Specifically, the speaker feels abandoned by the woman in question. This is demonstrated by the lines, "You think you've changed your mind/ You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry," showing that the narrator feels a negative development as occurred in their relationship and that they should revert to the previous status quo.
-One side, the man, wants to continue the relationship. The woman feels that the relationship should end. "You'd better change back or we will both be sorry," threatens the man, demonstrating that he believes that their separation will directly or indirectly harm both parties and is thus undesirable. "Now I think it's time I lived my life on my own," counters the woman: she has decided that the man should no longer be part of her life.
-I sympathize with the woman over the man because she appears to be looking towards progress in her life. The man appears constraining, alternating between clingy and threatening, whiny and arrogant. She does appreciate what the man has done for her, but contends that she would have done the same herself. The woman appears to be ready to progress, while the man attempts to cling to a past state- denying hope and optimism for the future.

Brave New World- First Reading

To create conformity, the World State combines indoctrination, social pressures, and the threat of coercive action. Indoctrination consists of repetition of recordings played constantly to children as they mature in laboratory settings. Huxley writes, “’Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of these suggestions is the child’s mind. And not the child’s mind only. The adult’s mind too-all his life long’” (41). Additionally, the World State utilizes social pressures. The most obvious example of these social pressures and constructs are the classes, ranging from alpha to epsilon. Combined with indoctrination, citizens are taught to appreciate the caste structure and their specific position within it. Social pressures also reduce dissidence by ostracizing those who practice independent thought. Fanny says, “’And then he spends most of his time by himself-alone’” (57). Thus, it is socially unacceptable to practice independent thought. Finally, although at this point not fully developed, threat of corrective actions such as the director sending Bernard to Iceland (108). These three tools together minimize dissent against the World State.

To reduce conflict, the World State appears to have eliminated religion, literature, and art. Everyone has an established social station, and through the use of indoctrination, people are content with their social standings. Thus, class strife and the desire for upward mobility have been eliminated.  On a larger scale, independent thought has largely been removed through the use of the three methods described above.

Happiness and satisfaction have been created through elimination of ambition, as described above, the use of soma, a high standard of living, and abundant leisure activities. Soma is a widespread, officially endorsed drug that creates a sense of relaxation and contentment, perhaps comparable to marijuana. The standard of living in Brave New World does indeed appear to be high, although human life itself is not valued very heavily, as made clear by Foster’s comment regarding an earthquake causing him to have to create more babies (24). Leisure activities, ranging from various forms of golf to community singings, are abundant and widely enjoyed. Additionally, sexual activity is treated as a leisure activity much like a sport. Combined, these factors create apathetic contentment.

At this point in the book, the World State appears more utopian than dystopian. Given our societal emphasis on individualism, the society created seems unpleasant and problematic. But for the majority of its citizens, it provides contentment and satisfaction. It is only through a few individuals that the society’s flaws are exposed. Even then, these flaws do not seem significant when weighed against the happiness felt by the vast majority of the citizenry. However, I predict that Huxley will create a more dysfunctional and dystopian society as the plot develops.

Emic and Etic

-An emic perspective allows an anthropologist to understand the psychology behind individuals' actions- their motives for partaking in certain practices. It also allows a better sense of how actions relate to each other. An etic perspective permits analysis of underlying societal motives and emotional detachment. Neither perspective is inherently better, as both have appropriate applications.
-These rules exist to avoid inaccurate results caused by projection of one's own society onto the studied society. One generally assumes certain societal constructs if not careful to avoid the influence of one's own society.

Love Language

1. These people are from China. The man is attracted to the woman. The woman doesn't speak English and isn't speaking to the man because of her lack of lingual proficiency.
2. The conflict is between the deaf and hearing cultures, and the conflict is one of misunderstanding. Although the two groups do not bear animosity toward each other, they communicate very differently, and problems can result from this barrier.
3. The initial inability of the man and woman to communicate is an external conflict because the man and woman are unable to achieve their shared goal of communicating.
4. The man has an internal conflict over whether or not to continue his interactions with a deaf woman. This conflict is caused by conflicting desires for good communication and his interest in this woman.
5. The conflicts were resolved by the man deciding to continue talking to the woman even when he finds out that she's deaf. In this way, the man has resolved his internal conflict by deciding that the woman's positive characteristics outweigh the challenges of communication that they face. He has also resolved the external conflict by accepting her-with her physical flaws- as an individual with whom he shares interests and values.

1984- Final

Big Brother has failed. Although Winston’s acts of rebellion and dissidence throughout 1984 may not have had any actual effect, the Party was still unable to prevent the act of dissident thought. Orwell writes, “Will you understand, Winston, that no one whom we bring to this place ever leaves our hands uncured? We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed,” meaning that the Party is concerned with thought more than action- and though is what they were unable to prevent (146). In essence, the Party focus on thoughtcrime more than other crime means that its failure to prevent anti-Party thoughts is the greatest failing it could have.

The only certain end of the Party is the continued deterioration of quality of life until it has reached unsustainable levels.  Orwell explains:

In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus

that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. In practice the

needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there

is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life… (112).

Although the destruction of resources may be advantageous for the party in the short run, as resources and productivity dwindle and as estimates continue to be made poorly, the populace will not be able to secure the bare minimum required to live. Eventually, regardless of knowledge of past conditions, this will result in a revolt. Historically, food shortages are one of the best indicators of societal unrest: in Egypt, for example, a rise in grain prices shortly preceded Mubarak’s overthrow.

That said, it is possible- and perhaps even likely- that the party can be overthrown more rapidly than the aforementioned method. Should this happen, it will most likely be a result of proletarian revolt, as Winston writes: “If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there in those swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated” (40). Granted, agitation must precede revolt- the proles seem fairly content- but because the Party does not view the proles as human, and as such fails to regiment their daily lives, a proletarian revolt is possible.

At the end of the novel, Winston Smith has effectively been brainwashed, or broken, by the Party. The use of pain as a psychological tool has allowed O’Brien to destroy Smith’s powers of logic and reasoning- the very forces which compelled him to oppose the party in the first place.