'History is bunk' - The Director said this in chapter 3, this was a possible reference to what Henry Ford once said:
"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history that we make today." (Chicago Tribune, 1916).
The more I come to read about Ford it gets very clear why Huxley gave him such an important role in his novel.
This one of his famous phrases tells exactly which meaning history has in BNW: It has None!
Brave New World
'The greatest enemy of freedom is a happy slave' - Marie von Ebner - Eschenbach
About me and this Blog
- Dominik S
- I am a 12th grade student and this Blog was created in my English class in the International School of SHAPE; German Section. This is a place where I will post my tasks and thoughts around Brave New World and our world today. I would appreciate if you would comment my writings. But first of all you have to read them so I do not want to keep you away from it: Have Fun, or whatever you might feel whilst reading ;)
Would you prefer stability (like in BNW) , our world today or Anarchy?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Stability
Stability is a bit more difficult to describe.
Differing from one world view to another the mere word stability as a self evident term does not exist.
As I do not want to give you a lecture about all the possible social systems (also I do not know enough about it) I just try to give you an impression of what I think stability is.
To me stability is his own opposite, constant change!
Differing from one world view to another the mere word stability as a self evident term does not exist.
As I do not want to give you a lecture about all the possible social systems (also I do not know enough about it) I just try to give you an impression of what I think stability is.
To me stability is his own opposite, constant change!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Consumption ( in Brave New World )
Referring to my previous post I want to sum up how Aldous Huxley solved the problem in his novel.
At first the human leaders created the World State and were able to overcome all the international struggles and passed global laws.
The second idea was to bring everyone to work, which is also a basis for stability (see following post). To achieve this goal they produce humans by 'schedule' so that there are only as many humans as there are needed.
At first the human leaders created the World State and were able to overcome all the international struggles and passed global laws.
The second idea was to bring everyone to work, which is also a basis for stability (see following post). To achieve this goal they produce humans by 'schedule' so that there are only as many humans as there are needed.
Consumption ( in general )
What do you think about consumption?
Is it good? Is it bad?
If there are two possible answers, normally both have an element of truth, so it is here.
But of course at first the definition so that we won't talk at cross purposes!
Even though I do not think that would be to difficult or misunderstandable.
Consumption is usually seen as the usage of goods.
But as in every definiton there are words which need deeper understanding or where there is something that stands behind them. To me in this definition there are two: 'usage' and 'goods'.
Is it good? Is it bad?
If there are two possible answers, normally both have an element of truth, so it is here.
But of course at first the definition so that we won't talk at cross purposes!
Even though I do not think that would be to difficult or misunderstandable.
Consumption is usually seen as the usage of goods.
But as in every definiton there are words which need deeper understanding or where there is something that stands behind them. To me in this definition there are two: 'usage' and 'goods'.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Name Sources and References
This is a shortened (to the most interesting references) version of the Wikipedia list.
- Bernard Marx, from George Bernard Shaw (or possibly Bernard of Clairvaux or possibly Claude Bernard) and Karl Marx.
- Lenina Crowne, from Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution.
- Fanny Crowne, from Fanny Kaplan, famous for an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Lenin. Ironically, in the novel, Lenina and Fanny are friends.
- Helmholtz Watson, from the German physician and physicist Hermann von Helmholtz and the American behaviorist John B. Watson.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
This is again a shortened list this time of the most interesting analyses www.SparkNotes.com delivers.
The Consumer Society
It is important to understand that Brave New World is not simply a warning about what could happen to society if things go wrong, it is also a satire of the society in which Huxley existed, and which still exists today. While the attitudes and behaviors of World State citizens at first appear bizarre, cruel, or scandalous, many clues point to the conclusion that the World State is simply an extreme—but logically developed—version of our society’s economic values, in which individual happiness is defined as the ability to satisfy needs, and success as a society is equated with economic growth and prosperity.
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