1) Why did John feel that he needed to kill himself rather than just return to where he came from?
2) Did John's actions or questioning of society have any impact in the end?
3) What stance are Orwell and Huxley both taking on where our society is headed?
Friday, December 16, 2011
Brave New World Blog #2
1) What would happen if the World State's supply of Soma ran out?
If the World State's supply of Soma ran out, society would go into chaos. Soma is the driving force of the society and is what allows the World State to control society. If Soma ran out, people would begin to realize the issues in society and overpower the World State. The loss of Soma would be the end of the World State, yet would be good for the people in its society. It would be hard for the people at first though because Soma is extremely addictive and they would all suffer from withdrawal.
2) Why is John the only person to pick up on the issues of society in the World State?
John is the only person to realize all of the problems in the World State because everyone else is brainwashed by both the Soma and how they were programmed. John attempts to explain to people the problems in their society but they are too brainwashed to understand. My only point is that you would think at least one other person besides John would be thinking clear enough to realize the drastic issues. You would think that there are some people that surpassed the system and were never brainwashed, but it seems that the World State brainwashed most everyone that they could.
3) Why do people in the World State not understand Shakespeare?
People in the World State don't understand the meaning of Shakespeare because they were programmed that way. The people in this society were programmed to not feel love or compassion, but only lust. Because of this reason, the people don't understand how people could take such drastic measures in the persuit of love, since they don't know what love is. All of the people laugh at Shakespeare and view it as a joke rather than compassionate love stories. This shows how shallow the society of the World State is.
If the World State's supply of Soma ran out, society would go into chaos. Soma is the driving force of the society and is what allows the World State to control society. If Soma ran out, people would begin to realize the issues in society and overpower the World State. The loss of Soma would be the end of the World State, yet would be good for the people in its society. It would be hard for the people at first though because Soma is extremely addictive and they would all suffer from withdrawal.
2) Why is John the only person to pick up on the issues of society in the World State?
John is the only person to realize all of the problems in the World State because everyone else is brainwashed by both the Soma and how they were programmed. John attempts to explain to people the problems in their society but they are too brainwashed to understand. My only point is that you would think at least one other person besides John would be thinking clear enough to realize the drastic issues. You would think that there are some people that surpassed the system and were never brainwashed, but it seems that the World State brainwashed most everyone that they could.
3) Why do people in the World State not understand Shakespeare?
People in the World State don't understand the meaning of Shakespeare because they were programmed that way. The people in this society were programmed to not feel love or compassion, but only lust. Because of this reason, the people don't understand how people could take such drastic measures in the persuit of love, since they don't know what love is. All of the people laugh at Shakespeare and view it as a joke rather than compassionate love stories. This shows how shallow the society of the World State is.
Brave New World Blog #1
In Brave New World, the government creates equality by programming all humans to practically be the same in the lab where nhumans are created. The government has reduced conflict by programming everyone to not only be equal but to think similarly in such a way that conflict is avoided. The government has forced happiness by not allowing anyone to know anything different from the way they live. Not only do the humans not know anything different, but they are programmed so that they don't want to know anything different and so that they view the ideas of outsiders as ridiculous. This society is a dystopia because though the people are happy, they can't control being happy and the government forces things upon the people such as the addiction to Soma. In the book it says "everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without anyone." This quote shows that all humans work together as one unit rather than individuals.
1984 Blog #3
I think that Big Brother has won in the end. In the last sentence of the book when it says " [Winston] loved Big Brother." This quote directly contrasts with earlier in the book when Winston constantly talks bad about Big Brother and how much he dislikes it. This shows that the One State was able to brainwash Winston enough to completely change his views. The One State could be brought down if more people supported Winston and were all able to overpower the system. Also if people stuck with their ideas and didn't give into the One State it could be overpowered. I think that Winston goes on to never question the One State again and live as if nothing ever had happened to him.
1984 Blog #2
I think that Winston is having a hard time buying into what Big Brother and the State are offering because he realizes that there is more to life, and that the World State is holding everyone back from knowing the truth along with any potential that anyone might have. Winston voices his concerns when he makes small rebellions such as writing in his journal without the Thought Police knowing. I don't consider his small acts of rebellion to be protest because he is not voicing his opinions or allowing anyone else to know how he feels about the government. Without telling other people, change cannot be made, therefore excluding the point of protest in the first place. Compared to current protests such as Occupy Wallstreet, Winston's rebellion is nothing. Winston is not doing anything to change society, but pondering over his thoughts of rebellion, unlike Occupy Wallstreet where protest is actually occurring and making a difference.
Military Recruitment
A positive effect of promising working class youths a free education for enlisting in the military is that it draws many more people to enlist. The reason that so many more people enlist because of this is that many people don't care about defending their country but rather reaping the benefits of being in the military. According to Gibbs and Stengel, Jessica Lynch says that it "would be cool if [she] could have a job plus go to school at the same time" (1). This quote is an example of how many soldiers feel when enlisting. The option of free education for enlisting is also a great option for those who cannot financially go to college.
A positive effect of promising working class youths free world travel for enlisting in the military is that it will attract people who nwant adventure in life but cannot neccessarily afford it. This yet again attracts more people to join the military. Without incentives such as these, much less people would want to join the military and our military forces would be much less powerful and affective.
A positive effect of promising working class youths free world travel for enlisting in the military is that it will attract people who nwant adventure in life but cannot neccessarily afford it. This yet again attracts more people to join the military. Without incentives such as these, much less people would want to join the military and our military forces would be much less powerful and affective.
"Batting Clean-Up and Striking Out" SOAPSTone
Subject: The subject of this article is the main diiferences between men and women. More specifically how women are extremely sensitive to dirt and cleanliness, and how men are extremely sensitive to sports. Barry goes on to explain the different views of men and women about these subjects.
Occasion: This article was written in Dave Barry's Greatest Hits which was published in 1997 and was most likely written in the United States. I assume this to be written in the United States because Barry presents circumstances and issues which would be most typical for an American man.
Audience: This article is most likely written to typical American men such as the author himself. I presume this because Barry entertains with stories that might be appealing to men that are in similar circumstances as himself.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to entertain the readers with comical stories that many can relate to. Entertainment is the only purpose of this article and much of the information is exaggerated in order to make it more comical.
Speaker: Dave Barry is the speaker, whom is a columnist and article writer of comical stories. Dave Barry is also a comedian who has written countless other comical stories such as this one.
Tone: The tone of this article is sarcastic and comical. Though the tone is comical, the author is also critical of the opinions of women though in a funny way.
Occasion: This article was written in Dave Barry's Greatest Hits which was published in 1997 and was most likely written in the United States. I assume this to be written in the United States because Barry presents circumstances and issues which would be most typical for an American man.
Audience: This article is most likely written to typical American men such as the author himself. I presume this because Barry entertains with stories that might be appealing to men that are in similar circumstances as himself.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to entertain the readers with comical stories that many can relate to. Entertainment is the only purpose of this article and much of the information is exaggerated in order to make it more comical.
Speaker: Dave Barry is the speaker, whom is a columnist and article writer of comical stories. Dave Barry is also a comedian who has written countless other comical stories such as this one.
Tone: The tone of this article is sarcastic and comical. Though the tone is comical, the author is also critical of the opinions of women though in a funny way.
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