Brave New World book
1. Remind yourself of the conversation that happens between Lenina and Henry on page 75 when they pass over the Crematorium in their plane. Notice that Henry at first appears a bit melancholy about the switchback and then returns to the fact that “Everybody’s happy now.” What has happened to Henry here? (at least 2 sentences please)
2.Numerous times throughout the novel, Huxley talks about the women’s Malthusian belts or the Malthusian drill (bottom of page 77 is one example). Thomas Robert Malthus was a British economist and clergyman who theorized that a human population will always increase faster than the things it needs to survive (like food, water, land, etc.). Malthus believed that people needed to decrease the human population through moral restraint (lack of sex or the use of birth control, for example), disease, family, war, or disaster OR there would be so many people that poverty and degradation would result. Given this brief history lesson, I can clearly see why Huxley named his society’s birth control method after this man. Using the same principle, find another name in this novel and give a brief historical background of the person, tying him/her to the themes of the novel. (at least 5 sentences please)
3.Revisit the conversation between Lenina and Bernard on pages 89-92. On page 91, specifically, Bernard says that he feels “enslaved by [his] conditioning.” Why do you think he feels this way? Would you feel this way if you were him? (at least 3 sentences please)
4.Why does Bernard compare Lenina to meat on page 93? (at least 3 sentences please)
5.When Bernard takes Lenina to the New Mexico reservation, Lenina looks at it as something like a vacation during which she can see “savages” and other sites. Consider the fact that the society we are reading about, where Bernard and Lenina live, is a futuristic London. The society they visit during these chapters is in the United States. Considering the time this book was written (1932), what might Huxley be saying about the United States? (at least 4 sentences please)
Disscusion 1 Numerous times throughout the novel, Huxley talks about the women’s Malthusian belts or the Malthusian drill (bottom of page 77 is one example). Thomas Robert Malthus was a British economist and clergyman who theorized that a human population will always increase faster than the things it needs to survive (like food, water, land, etc.). Malthus believed that people needed to decrease the human population through moral restraint (lack of sex or the use of birth control, for example), disease, family, war, or disaster OR there would be so many people that poverty and degradation would result. Given this brief history lesson, I can clearly see why Huxley named his society’s birth control method after this man. Using the same principle, find another name in this novel and give a brief historical background of the person, tying him/her to the themes of the novel.
Disscusion 2 Revisit the conversation between Lenina and Bernard on pages 89-92. On page 91, specifically, Bernard says that he feels “enslaved by [his] conditioning.” Why do you think he feels this way? Would you feel this way if you were him?
Disscusion 3 Why does Bernard compare Lenina to meat on page 93?
Disscusion 4 When Bernard takes Lenina to the New Mexico reservation, Lenina looks at it as something like a vacation during which she can see “savages” and other sites. Consider the fact that the society we are reading about, where Bernard and Lenina live, is a futuristic London. The society they visit during these chapters is in the United States. Considering the time this book was written (1932), what might Huxley be saying about the United States?
Discusion 2 Revisit the conversation between Lenina and Bernard on pages 89-92. On page 91, specifically, Bernard says that he feels “enslaved by [his] conditioning.” Why do you think he feels this way? Would you feel this way if you were him?
I believe Bernard feels this way because he doesn’t think like others do. He has different wishes and desires that would be socially inappropriate compared to what he has been conditioned to like. Any time he has wanted to do something that he would enjoy he has been meant to feel like an outcast. If I were him I’d feel very enslaved by the society and what’s socially acceptable.
0 comments