BNW Questions ~ #2

1. How does the concept of success and contentment with life in Brave New World differ from what we view to be contentment in our society today?
In our culture, happiness is defined as something that is meant to accompany success, which is something that in turn is designed to be individually achievable. In the One State society, happiness is a state-facilitated process that comes through the use of the feel-good drug soma. Rather than personally select the path that an individual believes will bring them contentment, as we do in American culture, people are induced from birth to automatically be satisfied with whatever position they have in life. This is why Mustapha Mond ponders, "It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes–make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere, that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge. Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true. But not, in the present circumstance, admissible" (chp. 12). He recognizes the absurdity of the idea that happiness is based on a goal that can be achieved or by the gaining of knowledge, rather than something that is essentially "inborn".


2. How does the One State's view of what is considered sexually "moral" be treated in our society?
In American culture, it is typically the norm for women to be sexually passive while men are the "aggressors" in the relationship. Women are more commonly expected to be chaste and not behave in the way men traditionally do. In Brave New World's society, "everyone belongs to everybody", and sexual promiscuity amongst women is not only common but considered moral. This is why Helmholtz finds Shakespeare's writing of a woman selectively choosing to be with one man is absurd, and comments that Shakespeare is a "marvelous propaganda technician" and that "he had so many insane, excruciating things to get excited about" (chp. 12). Conversely, this setup within our society is considered the norm, and if Helmholtz were to share his view with the average American today, they might react not only with shock, but with disgust as well. Unlike in Brave New World society, many people in American culture cite the Bible as the basis for what they believe in morally, and the Bible staunchly opposes any setup other than a one man-one woman arrangement.

3. How does Brave New World's society differ from 1984's?
1984's society utilizes fear tactics to enforce conformity; Brave New World's utilizes mental conditioning from an early age to make conformity the only choice available. Yet, those who do not conform entirely are not hunted down by the government to be locked away; rather, they are simply admonished to behave more morally. I believe the reason Brave New World's society does not immediately rush to kill off anyone who does not conform is because the sleep-hypnosis and genetic conditioning is typically so effective that "revolts" are not viewed as serious threats. People in 1984's society might be able to envision the possibility of another type of world, and if they do, they are taken to the Ministry of Love to be tortured and reformed mentally; in Brave New World, change from the government's established norm is not seen as possible, therefore, it is not as much of a concern.

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

The subject is the man's internal conflict over the woman leaving him. This is exemplified through the lyrics, "don't, don't you want me?/You know I don't believe you/When you say that you don't need me."

The man's perspective is that he created the woman's success and that she still needs him. He sings, "You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you/I picked you out, I shook you up/And turned you around, turned you into someone new" and "Success has been so easy for you/But don't forget it's me who put you where you are now,/And I can put you back there too.".


The woman's perspective is that he had nothing to do with her success and that she doesn't need him to create a life for herself. She agrees that she wasn't always successful, but now she has the ability to be strong by herself. This is shown through the lyrics, "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar,/That much is true./But even then I knew I'd find a much better place/Either with or without you" and "I think it's time I live my life on my own".

I sympathize with the woman. She's genuinely trying to move on from the past and create a life for herself, whereas the man is just reminding her of what he's done and trying to make the past a reason for not to leave. The man seems pompous and arrogant as well by saying that he has the ability to "put her back" into the life she used to live.

Brave New World #1

The society in Brave New World has created conformity through genetic and embryonic conditioning. The government manipulates how each individual will live their life by exposing them to higher or lower levels of oxygen to either enhance or depress their mental ability, putting them in conditions that are ideal for the person they are supposed to become (for example, predisposing someone who is supposed to be a chemical worker to various types of chemicals as an embryo), and adding c,ertain diseases in order to place further limitations on the individual's potential as they grow up. We see the nurse, Lenina Crowne, adding batches of typhoid fever to certain embryos as part of her job, for example. As the embryos develop and eventually become infants, they introduce new types of conditioning based on what caste the child is supposed to be raised in: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilson. For example, the government uses Pavlovian-style classical conditioning to make Delta infants fear books, so when they grow older, they will never be able to seek out knowledge for themselves and raise their caste position. Sleep conditioning is used to re-enforce certain messages into the minds of the children even while they are unconscious. Through these methods of conditioning, people are taught to be loyal to their pre-assigned role in life and fully accept their prescribed position within their own caste.e

Brave New World's society is viewed as a utopia by those who live in it, but its lack of personal freedom and individuality makes it a dystopia. People in the society are said to "belong to one another", and are prohibited from being dedicated to any one person, whether it be a family member or a spouse. Devotion towards loved ones has instead transformed into devotion to one's caste and position in life. The lack of freedom to love and the restriction of individuality is what makes this society a dystopia rather than a utopia.

Battling Clean Up and Striking Out

Subject

                The subject of Dave Barry’s Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out is the division between what men and women consider priorities and what they value. The division is demonstrated through various anecdotes, including one about the writer not being able to see the dirt that his wife can see clearly and another about his wife's inability to appreciate the World Series. The use of these anecdotes allows the reader to compare the differing views between the two sexes concerning various issues. The first expresses what the author believes is a priority for women (cleaning), and the second illustrates that men tend to value sports in a much higher regard than women do.

Occasion

Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out was written in 1988. The setting is shown most explicitly through the introductory paragraph, but regardless, one can assemble a general idea of when and where it takes place through clues from the text. For example, details about the World Series and how enthusiastic the men were over the event indicates that this probably did not occur very recently. The reason is that the World Series is a major baseball event, but within the past decade, baseball has waned in its degree of national popularity and become less important through the years. Thus, judging by the level of excitement amongst the men for the World Series, the reader can guess that this takes place at least two to three decades ago.


The probable place of the essay’s creation is in Barry’s home in Florida. Barry's central focus in writing this essay concerns the antics of his own family, and judging by the fact that Barry writes for The Miami Herald, we can guess that he lives there and is writing from this location.

Audience

                Dave Barry’s specific audience for Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out is middle-aged married adults. The type of humor he uses is most easily identified with this age group, as he focuses on the peculiarities of the family and the marriage relationship. This topic would be unfamiliar to the younger generation, but to those who have already lived through it, they could identify with it more easily and find more humor in it.

Purpose

Barry's purpose in writing Battling Clean Up and Striking-Out is primarily to entertain. Phrases like “babies of both sexes have a very low awareness of dirt, others than to think it tastes better than food" instill a light-hearted atmosphere that lets the reader know the article is not intended to be serious, but comical.

Speaker

                Dave Barry, a writer who specialized in writing comedy columns for The Miami Herald, believes that some inherent differences between men and women are irreconcilable. This belief is exemplified through the ending, where the women end up sitting at the table discussing "human relationships or something" while the men end up in the other room watching the World Series. Symbolically, the two sexes were unable to come together and ignore the fundamental differences that make them, essentially, man and woman. Presumably, Barry is trying to illustrate here that sometimes men just want to be men and women just want to be women.

Dave Berry, a married man, also recognizes that although his wife and him might have some very sharp differences in the ways they perceive situations, it does not create any sort of disharmony or frustration between the two. The men and women doing separate things is not something Barry complains about, nor does he give any indication that it has caused his wife problems. Instead, Barry seems to believe that this is the natural harmony of things and most relationships are characterized by a certain level of gender dissonance.

Tone

                David Barry shows a comical and sarcastic attitude about men and women’s difference in viewpoint toward certain subjects in Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out. These attitudes are expressed through the use of exaggerated hyperboles, such as the joke about the fall of Pompeii and the cause of it being unseen levels of dust. His tone is effective in the essay because it allows him to get across a point that might be considered offensive by some, but when put in a comical context is more socially culturally acceptable.

1984 Reading Blog #3

1. Has Big Brother won? Why/Why not? 
2. Propose a way that the One State can be brought down. 
3. What do you think happens to Winston Smith at the end of the novel? 
Support your answer with analysis of specific quotes from the text.

~


1. Yes,  in the end,  the Party has managed to successfully "convert" Winston to their ideals through careful psychological manipulation. This is most obviously seen in the concluding sentences of the novel: "...the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother" (pg. 297). Winston had three primary barriers the Party had to tear down before they could finally get him to submit: 1) his tenacious belief in the existence of objective reality and universal truths, 2) his love for Julia, and 3) his willful refusal to "love" Big Brother. O'Brien manages to destroy the first obstacle during torture sessions in the Ministry of Love, where he utilizes both pain-inducing physical methods (electric shock, beatings, starvation) and psychological manipulation (having Winston view his own dilapidated body in the mirror, solitary confinement, fostering a bond of trust between Winston and himself) to tear down Winston's clinging belief in objective reality. He manages to convince Winston that 2+2 can equal 5 (or even 3, if the circumstances call for it), freedom can be slavery, and that "nothing exists except through human consciousness" (pg. 265). Therefore, if the Party did declare that the sky was green or 2+2=5 or whatever other ludicrous assertion they needed to be true at that moment, and Winston could manage to see the green sky or perceive that 2+2 did indeed equal 5 within his mind, then in reality, it could be true. Having broken down this intellectual barrier within Winston, O'Brien still recognized that he had some emotional ties keeping him from truly committing to the Party with not just his mind, but also his heart. Winston's outburst ("he had heard himself cry aloud, "Julia! Julia! Julia, my love! Julia!" pg. 280) demonstrated that his feelings for Julia still took precedence over his loyalty to the Party. Therefore, it served as another obstacle for O'Brien to get rid of before Winston's conversion could ever be complete. His feelings are destroyed during an encounter in Room 101, a room found in the lowest quarters of the Ministry of Love that's rumored to house 'the worst thing in the world'. In Winston's case, the worst thing in the world happens to be rats. O'Brien, therefore, prepares a cage full of hungry rats that he prepares to let loose on Winston's face. Just before the cage door slides open, Winston, driven insane by panic, shouts: "Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!" (pg. 286). This signified that Winston had finally relinquished his feelings for Julia in place of the fear instilled by the Party. Later, Winston and Julia discuss what happened to both of them in Room 101, and how the event managed to put a nail in the coffin of their feelings for each other:


"Sometimes, [Julia] said, they threaten you with something you can't stand up to, something you can't even think about. And then you say, 'Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn’t really mean it. But that isn’t true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there’s no other way of saving yourself and you’re quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don’t give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."
"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.
"And after that, you don't feel the same toward the other person any longer."
"No," he said, "you don't feel the same." (pg. 292)



The final barrier to Winston's conversion is finally struck down while he sits in the Chestnut Tree, alone, much like the political convicts Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford had done long before him. Looking up at a poster of Big Brother, he realizes he truly does "love" him, thus completing his conversion and making him completely subject to the Party. It is through this three-step process that Winston is broken down and Big Brother becomes the victor.


2. Using the physical and psychological methods mentioned above that were used on Winston, it seems impossible that the One State could ever be combated long enough to be brought down. The system is designed to ensure that no unorthodox thoughts exist anywhere, even in the minds of prisoners about to be put to death by the State. Even the proles, who might have a chance at breaking loose, are kept in a permanent state of poverty and lack of education so that they will never have the means to actually do so. Rebellion, therefore, is literally made impossible by the structure of the system.


3. We can guess at Winston's fate by noticing that Orwell seems to put him in the same position of Jones, Rutherford, and Aaronson at the conclusion of the novel. Much like the three rebels before him, Winston will likely live what remains of his life in complete and utter helplessness before the State. They might ask him to come forth and confess his crimes openly, they might decide to finally end his life, or they might allow him to carry out the rest of his existence freely, as he no longer poses any sort of threat to the Party. Whatever they decide, the Party has ensured that Winston will never be able to rebel against it, whether through action or simply through thought. After all, the capacity for rebellion has been "cauterized" out of him, and therefore his future actions became a subject of little importance to the Party.

"Love Language"

1. The conflict originates from the deaf woman and the man not being able to communicate, complicating their relationship and possibly leading to confusion between them. This is an external conflict, as it deals with the outward relationship between the man and the woman.

2. The man also has an internal conflict over how to approach talking to the woman, since at first she simply seems as if she's being difficult.

3. In the end, both conflicts are resolved as the man finds out she's deaf, and he decides to stay with her anyways despite difficulties communicating with her.