Brave New World- Aldous Huxley
Page(3.103-4) (Chapter, Part, Paragraph)
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PassageNodding, "He patted me on the behind this afternoon," said Lenina. "There, you see!" Fanny was triumphant. "That shows what he stands for. The strictest conventionality." |
Reactions, Comments, Questions
This quote makes me think about all the laws we have today about sexual harassment, especially in the workplace. Lenina was touched on the behind by her boss and it is a positive act to the women! This shocks me and it is also disturbing. If that were to happen in today's world that man would be charged and lose his job. These women also don't know that this is degrading to them and not something to be happy about. This is not the typical dystopia where pain is the usual norm, this quote shows that this dystopia proves a bit of a unknown fear. How would you feel if this happened at work and everyone thought it was the norm?
Page(3.12-13)
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PassageLenina shook her head. "Somehow," she mused, "I hadn't been feeling very keen on promiscuity lately. There are times when one doesn't. Haven't you found that too, Fanny?"
Fanny nodded her sympathy and understanding. "But one's got to make the effort," she said, sententiously, "one's got to play the game. After all, every one belongs to every one else." |
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Lenina is feeling tired of being so promiscuous all the time, which goes to show how no matter how hard you are conditioned, the urge to find a mate will always be there. This idea that everyone belongs to everyone is flawed, especially when it comes to the women. It seems as though the men are the ones to decide who they want to sleep with. In the book Bernard is not as promiscuous but that is because no woman will give him the time of day, the only person who seems as though they want to settle down are the girls. (Besides the "savage" but he's not from the same society). This makes me think about my biology lesson in gr.11 about genes and whether or not loves actually exists. Women tend to hold on to the idea of companionship because they can only carry so many genes (eggs) whereas men will be more lax because they have thousands of opportunities to pass on their "genes".
Page(3.118-20)
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Passage"Lenina Crowne?" said Henry Foster, echoing the Assistant Predestinator's question as he zipped up his trousers. "Oh, she's a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic. I'm surprised you haven't had her."
"I can't think how it is I haven't," said the Assistant Predestinator. "I certainly will. At the first opportunity." From his place on the opposite side of the changing-room aisle, Bernard Marx overheard what they were saying and turned pale. |
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As I said earlier, the women don't seem to as much power in this novel as the men. Even though the women are expected to be available at all times, it's the men who have the final say to whether or not they will sleep with them. In our society a women who sleeps around with everyone is known as a "slut" in this novel if you have slept with everyone there is no judging at all, its impressive. In a way the roles are kind of equal because in our society men who sleeps with a lot of women are know as studs. its shocking once again how these men talk about women like their objects its almost as if they're saying ," Have you eaten at this restaurant yet?" "No, but I will as soon as I can".
Page(4.1.1)
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Passage The lift was crowded with men from the Alpha Changing Rooms, and Lenina's entry was greeted by many friendly nods and smiles. She was a popular girl and, at one time or another, had spent a night with almost all of them.
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Reactions, Comments, Questions
How degrading! This is infuriating how this woman has been used at one time or another by all these men. Maybe the fact that they are conditioned to be promiscuous would be more believable if we didn't learn that Lenina had feelings of longing for just a relationship. That feeling was not displayed by any of the men, not even by Bernard who loved all the attention once he became famous. This goes back again to our evolution, women crave companionship.
Retell:
The book "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley is about a dystopian society told through the perspectives of multiple characters such as Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne and John. All of these characters have different attitudes toward their societies, one society being a revolutionized city and the other being a savage reservation. Bernard Marx is a man who doesn't meet the socially acceptable physical requirements, he is smaller than the others, and disagrees with his society until he gets his chance in the spotlight and he realizes that he just didn't like it because he was despised. Lenina is a very "popular" girl who has slept with many of the men of the society, she finds herself feeling lonely and yearning for a mate, one person so settle down with. She follows the laws of her society however, by being promiscuous, which doesn't play into her favour when she meets our third character John. John is from the reservation and is used to the norms of our present society, he becomes very fond of Lenina but doesn't feel good enough for her. John is disgusted by the new city's society and in the end resists Lenina's attempts to seduce him because of his moral values. In a way all three characters are misfits, Bernard is misunderstood by his peers, Lenina wants a relationship but that is forbidden and John doesn't understand the new society he is expected to live in. They are all trying to fit in but their societies stop them from being able to be totally happy with their lives, with all the restrictions and new social norms , it is like they are fighting their nature tendencies to pair up together. After all is said and done Bernard Marx gets banished to an island for questioning his society, Lenina never get the chance to be intimate with John and John kills himself because is moral values conflicted so much with the world he was living in that it drove him to the point of insanity.
Relate:
This book reminds me of the way society holds men and women differently, in our society if a man sleeps with a bunch of women he is a stud and if a woman does it she is looked down upon. Specifically prostitution when ever the word "prostitute" comes to mind people immediately think of a woman selling herself, meanwhile the term can go for a female or a male. However in this society both men and women are expected to be promiscuous, but it's the men who are more outright about who they want to sleep with and the women question their promiscuity and yearn for a relationship. This novel also makes me think of a the movie called "The Island" which was a society set up as a uptopia for the clones, these clones were owned by rich people who expected to harvest organs from them. When the company made the clones they tried to suppress emotions like curiosity, which didn't work because in the end it's the curiosity of one clone that took down the whole company by releasing the secret to the world. Even though both societies tried to suppress certain emotions or genetically condition them out of the person, they will always find a way to surface again.
Reflect:
When reading this book I realize how much I cherish my society and the beauties of relationships, whether it's with a lover or with your family. Humans are meant to have connections with people and build relationships with whom ever they chose, we are not living in a world where "everyone belongs to everyone". Bernard was confused and miserable in his society because he wasn't conditioned the way he was supposed too, but as soon as he was accepted among everyone he loved the life he was living. I think that Bernard should have either stayed on the savage reservation because he would have been more accustomed to that way of life or he should have left the savage behind. When he brought the savage he began rising to the top at a rapid speed only to fall down twice as hard. Those people weren't even allowed to know about religion or great works of literature like "Shakespeare" which robbed them of knowledge and even hope. The part that most interested me was how even though John really wanted to be with Lenina, when she wanted to "have" him he called her a "whore", which were the words the town people used against his mother. Perhaps his conscious was holding him back because Lenina's values resembled his mothers?