Response things

Instead of writing them here, i did them as comments on the site of Adam's, Brandon's, and (I Think) Catherine's. The Dystopian Everywhere one.

Brave New World Vocab

Decanted
To be produced in a factory, babies are decanted.
Verb: To pour a liquid from one container into another.
Connections: I think this sends quite the message. Instead of individuals being born, they merely trickle down, the same people, more flesh copies. It is used in the context of babies being "decanted" or made.

Heretical
To practice religion, which has been banned. Ford is the only omnipresent being next to the World State
Adjective: Being a heretic
Verb: To depart from recognized, established beliefs, E.G. burning a holy symbol such as a cross or converting religions.

Bokanovsky (Process)
To split a human egg so it produces 96 identical clones. Only used on the lower castes.

In context: The explanation of the Bokanovsky Process, used to create many lower-caste members that think alike.

Vivparous
To be born from a mother, a smutty concept

Adjective: To be born live inside the mother and develop inside.

Context: Used as a word to describe how the Savages give birth, with actual mothers and fathers.

Propaganda
Teachings delivered to young people.

Noun: A poster or piece of media that makes people believe in something

Context: Refers to propaganda as lessons and is encouraged, not lies.

Journal Entry #4: Typical Beta-Double Minus Child (Lowest high-caste ranking)

DISCLAIMER: ALL INCORRECT GRAMMAR AND SPELLING IS SUPPOSED TO BE THERE

The position, while not in itself a main or supporting character, represents all the bleak stupidity and hive mind-likeness of the majority of the people. So it is essentially the extras in a movie- there's many of them there, none individually important, but you couldn't do the movie without the group.

I have decided to take up writing in order to pursue my thoughts and keep track of them. I am a Beta Double-Minus and it is the very best position to be. It is the very best because all the lower castes are very stupid and wear horrid clothes, and the Alphas work very hard. I have the very best position because I am smart, but don't have to work very hard. Also, Beta's wear the best color clothes, red, much better than the blacks of Epsilons and the Greens and Khakis of the Gammas and Deltas. My favorite time is when we get our soma, soma is a really good thing that lets you have a fun holiday in your head, and you wake up fine.

My day today was good. We woke up from soma, have elementary lessons, free time, some minor jobs and then enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day. Today I played Electro-Magnetic Golf (Note: the golf itself does not represent anything. The novel was written in 1932 and he is predicting the advance games they might play) with a few of my friends. We then visited the hospital for “death conditioning” and we got éclairs! They were very good. I like it when we go to the hospital because we always get the best treats; they’re usually chocolate which is my favorite. Then we went to the dining hall and we got our ration of soma. Some boys were trying to be first in the line and acting up, but they were threatened that their soma might get taken away! What a horrible thought- they immediately started acting better! Then they gave up the soma and we went to out quarters. The day was very good, the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. All of the days are very good here. I’m so glad I’m a Beta, because we don’t have to work so hard, but we are smart unlike those stupid Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons.

I think this represents the majority of the population fairly well. In case you hadn’t noticed, it is written in the perspective of a child. He wakes up, goes through his daily routine, receives soma, repeats. He is fairly stupid, and completely apathetic (emotionless) to the people in the hospital, as that is what death conditioning does.

I think they were a major part because, as mentioned earlier, they are sort of the backdrops. Essential, but individually non-consequential at the same time. 

Journal Entry #3: Mustafa Mond

Due to my current position as resident World controller of Western Europe, a privilege shared  only by a group of 10, I have legal access to these papers in order to preserve the glory of the World State's Empire. All is good, for the people are happy, they are stable and the caste system keeps everything running. We have soma for complete relaxation and forgetfulness, with no aftereffects, and hypnopedia (sleep-teaching) makes sure that everyone, from Alphas down to Epsilons are happy with their current position. The World State is so good, and omnipresent, that the entire world has access to these methods. Except, of course, the islands. For the natives that refused to give up their own customs, the benevolent World State shows mercy, and allows them islands of their own.

It's funny though. Being around for a while, with access to the papers and documents pre-Revolution, I have discovered something quite strange. If our great society was around a few hundred years ago, our ideals would be shunned and cast away. People actually believed that a massive population of individuals would be a good idea. With all those people, plenty of them would be criminals and anarchists, causing terror into those that believed otherwise. This is why Ford is so much better than God. With God, you had to seek solitude and pray, expose yourself and all of your flaws. Ford offers none of these pressures. Just relax, be yourself, and go with the rest of the flow of people. Ford does not condone self-sacrifice or repenting.

If these people of the past were correct, they missed a huge part of the truth. Men are made to flourish. We have over the millennia, using our brains and intuition. The only time men work backwards is when we oppose ourselves. Humans would have been much more advanced if there had been no wars over the years. So, in order to stop us from working backwards, we created a society in which there were no wars, and everyone was satisfied. If you are calling this a horror, this is the only path of man. Therefore, for there to truly be peace, man must be gone. But this is so obviously not true, for it was men who wrote those words.

I think, from this journal entry, it shows Mustapha Mond's character. He is quite intelligent in terms of cleverness, but is blinded by his addiction to social stability. His thinks so highly of it that even with all of his intelligence, he still holds a bias. However, he still sees the point the protagonists try to make, but claims that people don’t want to live life to the fullest, instead they prefer to be safe and guarded.

I think he is an important part because he makes the decision to exile them, providing the basis for the ending (John hanging himself) and also because he represents a smart perspective of the World State’s views. He show the logic in the principles of decanting and such, and the argument is finished when he asks John if he claims the right to be affected by natural disasters, family grief, and disease, in which John says “I claim them all.) So in a way, he kind of is like a modern human that agrees with the World State.

Journal Entry #2: John the Savage.

These people that I have met are insane! They are manufactured in factories, into a ranking order. And, on top of that, the bottom levels; Epsilon's and Delta's, don't even care. They are "conditioned" as children to obey, and it goes all the way from the 10 World Controllers to the thousands of Epsilons. They are afraid to live life, so they hide behind a wall, which although giving them security, essentially ensures they have no actual life. If you can only do a few things, with no creativity or courage, what difference are they from the dumbest animals? I believe that offering up the story of my life may present to you the opportunity to make a difference, change the way you think.

I was born a step down from everyone. My father disowned me, and my mother was stuck here after we got separated from the group. I was brought up as an outsider, treated differently because I was an outcast from the same organization that basically enslaves these savages. My entire life, I only had two books, one manual from my mother, a Beta who worked in the decanting factories. It was a beastly book, full of long words and complicated procedures. However, I recently discovered a book of Shakespeare, which I could relate to. Shakespeare had been banned in the New World, but a copy remained on the reservations. Shakespeare was so full of creative ideas and expression. What a life it would be to live in a time where you could be whoever you wanted, do almost anything, and not be afraid to keep on exploring. The things in the world now are ghastly- any game that does not increase consumption is disallowed, and if there is something with the smallest fault in it, instead of getting repaired, it is thrown away. I believe the saying is “the more stiches, the less riches”, repeated in their sleep, which is ironic because the more things they consume, the less they have left. Of course the world is limited (at least in the New State) to 2 million million people, whenever a large amount of people die, they make more clones to take their place. There is no such thing as family, and everyone is brought up with “death conditioning”, a procedure I saw when my mother died in a hospital. These bags of meat, pretending to be humans, irredeemably stupid, just stood there as people died. And then they were given éclairs! Goddamned éclairs! And I don’t care about all the Ford stuff. The Ford is another wicked product of the New State, to be used as a comforting device these clones rely on.

The response from was from John, or as he is later known, John the Savage. Although he does not come in until near the middle, he is a main protagonist, even more than Bernard. I think these journal entries show John’s true character, one with a pathological hatred for the abominations of the World State. He believes in the true path of God, and is very religious, saying that he, one of the best characters in the book (in a standard our-world point of view) deserves nothing more than a dirty hole in the ground. He whips himself to repent, which attracts attention of a very bad kind.

The attention comes in the form of thousands of people who want to see him whip himself- they have never seen something like this before. Someone actually wanting to cause physical pain to himself? The crowd is worked into frenzy, shouting and calling out, until it turns into a mass of soma and sex. John realizes how insane these people really are, and in the morning, hangs himself. I think he fits into the novel as a main character, and also because the ending scene, that carries the message, shows his feet slowly moving back and forth, dead. 

Journal Entry #1: Bernard

I have decided to start recording my thoughts in this journal, in hopes that someone like me that doesn't believe in what everyone else thinks will read this. I am an Alpha Plus psychiatrist that, well, I'm not sure how I'm different from everyone else. We were all made in factories.  But maybe in the future, things will change. I'm sick of the mental blocks and rules that govern everything we do. So, seeing as books are forbidden, if you're reading this, congratulations. You live in a better world, where you are free to be individuals.

I've often wondered about how it might be if everyone was different. People would have different positions in society, and instead of everyone being equal, some would be higher than others. The funny thing is, the more I think about it, the more perfect my world seems. In man's pursuit of happiness, he has created a paradise to most, yet a living hell to others.

I hate how people like Henry Ford refer to others like Lenina like bags of meat, not even humans. Although, I suppose, being manufactured in factories makes us like that. We can't think for ourselves, due to those stupid hypnopedic messages. In my opinion, everyone who believes the messages is an idiot, although, being a psychologist who actually designs these messages probably influences me. I sometimes felt that I was alone in the world, unique. With 2 million million people on the earth, and ten thousand different forms, or two hundred thousand of each, maybe I'm not. But I'm the only non-savage that thinks the way I do. All the others just revolve around sex and soma. I've never felt particularly obliged to either of those pursuits, only when I’ve been pressured by others to do so. I’ve also never fit in in society, which is ironic considering society is designed so that you don’t have to do anything to fit in.

But anyways, seeing as this is a log of sorts, I might as well put down what happened today. Today, as life would have it, I was exiled to an Island for disobedience. John the Savage and my friend Helmholtz started a riot with Delta children by taking away their soma, and they happily accepted exile. I didn’t do anything! All I did was stand there. That’s how it’s been my entire life, on the outside, discriminated against. I’m sick of it. And now look where it’s landed me! There is nobody but unrefined savages. It’s not that I mind their customs so much- but they treat outsiders very badly. They’ll think I’m a runt, an outcast. The only person I’ve ever wanted was Lenina, and now I realize that she’s the exact same as everyone else.

The person insight into this journal is that, as he mentions multiple times, Bernard is an Alpha Plus psychiatrist, who disbelieves the standards of society and is thus an outcast of society. He has hatred for the apathetic lives of the mainstream people- oblivious to death, brought up with no dreams or ambitions, never wanting new things, content with what they have. It goes against the ideals of man, who has innovated for thousands of years.

Another thing is being that even though he has a large amount of resources and intelligence at his disposal, he actually does not know of the world before Ford. People die at 40, and although it does not say, I predict Bernard to be around 28-31, so he expects on only live another 10 or so years. I feel he was vital to the novel as the perspective of someone from our world in the novel, against the ideals of the World State

Sources

http://qbark.deviantart.com/art/Brave-New-World-Social-Classes-293185216
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
http://requiemhumansoul.wordpress.com/category/genetic-engineering/
http://prezi.com/hs48giqetna-/brave-new-world-timeline/

Quotation #4

The world's stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can't get. They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they're plagued with no mothers or fathers; they've got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they're so conditioned that they practically can't help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there's soma.
-Mustapha Mond, the World Controller of Western Europe, on the state of the people in BNW.

This quote is from the World Controller of Wester Europe Mustapha Mond, about the current society. The text-to-world connection was to some countries that, in a time of crisis, have taken to desperate measures in order to create peach. One example would be, a few years ago in China, a group of students went on strike and sat in the middle of a park. The government tolerated this for a few days, but then called in soldiers, armed with guns, to stop the riots. Many people were killed, all in a futile attempt to have their voices heard. The text-to-text connection is, yes again, to the novel 1984 (they are actually quite similar). The voice of authority is explaining to the protagonist, who is a traitor to the state, about how the society is actually a "utopia" (it's obviously not), by saying that there have been no rebellions since the Party took over. Mainly because the Party has ensured the population doesn't take over, through dehumanizing procedures and lack of public resources. The text-to-self connection is a bit more complicated, I can't say any of those things define me.

Quotation #3

"Stability," said the Controller, "stability. No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability."

Why Soma is used, to create individual stability, Chapter 3

This quote is talking about how soma affects daily life; you come home, tired and stressed, and have some soma. It's perfect. You leave, and come back content, creating peace. The text-to-world connection I made is between soma and basically all other addicting drugs. The catch though is, unlike say alcohol, when you have a hangover and thus many people (but not enough people apparently) think twice about taking it. With soma, not only is it permitted, it is almost required, and it has no aftereffects, so that makes it all the more attractive.

The text-to-text connections I made is, surprisingly, to the novel Battle Royale.  In the book, 41 teenagers are forced to fight each other to the death on a remote Japanese island. The "drug" is death, or escape, and there are multiple suicides because the students simply do not have the courage to actually fight one another, except for a few antagonists.
The text-to-self connection is, similar to the text-to-world, about the compulsive use of drugs in society and how they are permitted. Even kids are under the influence of drugs, and about 4-6 % of kids take things like glue/solvents as an escape. Also, there has recently been a few suicides in bullying cases, as an extreme way of escape.

Quotation #2

"At the end of the room a loud speaker projected from the wall. The Director walked up to it and pressed a switch.
"… all wear green," said a soft but very distinct voice, beginning in the middle of a sentence, "and Delta Children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly colour. I'm so glad I'm a Beta."
There was a pause; then the voice began again.
"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm really awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able …"
The Director pushed back the switch. The voice was silent. Only its thin ghost continued to mutter from beneath the eighty pillows.
"They'll have that repeated forty or fifty times more before they wake; then again on Thursday, and again on Saturday. A hundred and twenty times three times a week for thirty months. After which they go on to a more advanced lesson.""

An explanation of the mind-changing techniques used in BNW, Chapter 2

This is the quote on how the children are taught subconsciously to like their caste and the laws of society.
The text-to-world connection I made was about how impressionable young children are. In the late 19th century, a psychologist professor at Harvard decided to help his baby learn in a different way, by putting up blocks of sentences and books in different languages. The effect was phenomenal- the child graduated from high school at 10, took 2 years off to learn another 6 languages, then graduated from Harvard at 15. He travelled, the taught mathematics. The point being, the child's brain automatically had a head start, and showed more interest in books that goo-goo's, because that's what it was raised with. The text-to-text connection was again, from 1984, where de-humanization of the majority of the human race is a major factor. The text-to-self connection I made was actually fairly common, being brought up with goo-goos and soft toys. If you do things like that, it makes the parents feel more secure, although the child may not reach absolute potential. The same theory applies to the novel, you may have the State feel secure, because everyone is content, but people do not reach their fullest potential by limiting them. 

Quotation #1

"One egg, one embryo, one adult—normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress."
-Director of Hatcheries, Chapter 1

This is my first quote, and I think it sets the tone for the book. It establishes the Bokanovsky process, used on lower castes to produce many identical siblings. The text-to-text connection I made is 1984. In the book, they talk about the horrible things they do, in the name of stability and progress, like they're perfectly justifiable. Killing people in a huge continental war in order to keep the Party in place? Perfectly fine, much like the last part of the quote. The majority of the population are clones, there are only 10 000 unique people in 2 000 000 000 bodies. This is basically a huge genocide, killing off so only 10 000 souls remain.

The text-to-world connection I made is, quite like 1984, when people justify something horrible because of one good thing. If that was true then, you could kill an entire country off in order to prevent rebellion, but then their''s no actual country to rebel. The blissful ignorance of the facts because of one overlying principle, ignorance is bliss. Clones in our world do not count as people, therefore there are only 10 000 people that control most of the world. What gives them the right to eliminate individuality? The text-to-self connection I made was eating genetically engineered foods, quite a common sight in our world. Eating a winter watermelon? Modified. Almost all apples you eat are genetically modified to taste better.

Additional Caste chart

or

brave_new_world_social_classes_by_qbark-d4ujz5s.png

Note the height difference, an Alpha is almost twice as tall as an Epsilon.

Genetic engineering pic #3

DISCLAIMER: I'm a terrible artist
This is a picture I made myself, of a human brain with code written in it. The reason I drew this image is because, in a normal human brain,there would be different sections for different things, e.g. problem solving sections, reactions/reflexes, creative thinking, muscle control etc. Even in an Alpha, all decisions are made by the subliminal teachings when they are little. It's like a choose your own adventure book. You assume you have choices, but in reality, you can only follow 2 or 3 different courses of action.

It's kind of ironic in a way though. The human brain actually is kind of programmed like a computer- only we have a much larger range of options. We use adaptation and lateral problem solving to get around obstacles, not (usually) brute strength and sheer force. That's why man has survived and evolved so well over the many years- we use our brains. That's why taking away the capacity to think outside of the box, instead of just going with the flow, has reduced the humans in the book to mere animals.

The other images in the picture, and what they mean; the pyramid is fairly straightforward. Caste rankings, large amount of Epsilons and Deltas to keep the factories running, small amount of Alphas and Betas to enjoy it. But inside each level, there are more pyramids. This has two meanings: The Pluses and Minuses of each category, and this: If you were an Alpha, you would feel like you were at the top of the pyramid. But even Epsilons are happy with where they are, therefore, they are all on top of the Pyramid. The random sentences are quotes from the book and subconscious teachings. The Ford=Freud? is not from the book, instead just a widely accepted theory that Ford, or a god of sorts, was modelled after Sigmund Freud. The chain that keeps expanding represents the Bovanovsky Process, in which about 60-80 identical siblings are created from one egg dividing constantly. The BNW at the top is Brave New World, and the scratched book represents the teachings where they would give babies a book, then wail loud alarms and give the babies shocks. The babies then associated books and flowers with pain, driving them away from them even in later years.