Brave New World Close Writing

        As Bernard and Lenina are on their holiday together, their views on individualism and freedom are discovered. Pages 90-91 highlight their differing ideas, as well as exposing more of their identities to the reader. “’It makes me feel as though…’ he hesitated, searching for words with which to express himself, ‘as though I were more me, if you see what I mean. More on my own, not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body. Doesn’t it make you feel like that, Lenina?’” (Huxley 90).  Bernard has an inner inhibition that there is something more purposeful he is to be doing with his life. While Bernard yearns for something more than the everyday, group routine and longs to let something out of him out, Lenina is terrified of the idea of being alone with Bernard, away from a group. Lenina responds to Bernard’s question with tears, “’It’s horrible, it’s horrible,’ she kept repeating. ‘And how can you talk like that about not wanting to be a part of the social body?’” (91). Lenina sees nothing wrong with being a part of the social body, and in fact, longs for group support and stability. She feels as if she is free to do what she wants and feel how she wants. However, Bernard feels enslaved by his conditioning and his predestined life as an Epsilon. 

Close Writing Practice

        The passage describing the twins is one of vivid description. The description begins with a loud, unpleasant sound of their shrill voices. The passage continues with the stream of twin reproduction. "Twin after twin, twin after twin, they came---a nightmare. Their faces, their repeated face---for there was only one between the lot of them---puggishly stared, all nostrils and pale goggling eyes" (Huxley 201). One gets the sense of constant repetition, as thought the twins continually enter, all looking the same. While dressed in khaki, the collaboration of their squealing and chattering gives the reader a sense that the twins have rather similar charactersitics to an animal. Acting much differently than normal eight year olds, the twins climb and clammered through the hospital beds, disrupting the patients. All of these detailed descriptions of the twins makes them seem annoying and monstrous.

Brave New World Proposal

Individualism/Freedom

Chapter 3

“'Has any of you been compelled to live through a long time-interval between the consciousness of a desire and its immediate fulfillment?’” (Huxley 45)

                In the Brave New World, the people expect immediate fulfillment. It is unlikely for one to have to wait for the things they want. So uncommon that one person answers the question with a one-time instance of having to wait between the consciousness of his desire and the fulfillment of having a girl he wanted. This quote presents the freedom that the people believe they have, the freedom to want something and to receive it almost immediately.

Chapter 4

“’Did you ever feel,’ he asked, ‘as though you had something inside you that was only waiting for you to give it a chance to come out? Some sort of extra power that you aren’t using—you know, like all the water that goes down the falls instead of through the turbines?’” (Huxley 69)

                Bernard begins to get a feeling that he has something different inside of him, that he wishes he could bring out. This untouched potential relates to the sense of individual in the novel, or lack thereof, which Bernard begins to think about.

Chapter 5

“’Everyone works for everyone else. We can’t do without any one. Even Epsilons are useful. We couldn’t do without Epsilons. Every one works for everyone else. We can’t do without any one...They don’t know what it’s like being anything else’” (Huxley 74).

                This repetitive statement acknowledges the lack of individualism within the group. There is a group mentality that everyone depends on one another, and even the Epsilons serve a purpose. People are oblivious to their own strengths or weaknesses within their caste. This motto makes everyone feel useful, while ensuring that no one goes off to do their own thing.

 “’Everybody’s happy now’…They had heard the words repeated a hundred and fifty times every night for twelve years” (Huxley 75).

                This assumptive notion that everybody is happy is engrained into their heads continuously. This prevents them from thinking they are unhappy or doubting their freedom. They are told what happiness is, without the opportunity to figure it out for themselves.

“Feeling that it was time for him to do something…and when the others began to jig and stamp and shuffle, he also jigged and shuffled” (Huxley 84).

                Bernard does not have the same feelings or reactions that everyone else does, the ones that he should. Instead, he has acquired feelings of his own. However, this makes him feel as though he does not fit in. With this progressive individualism, Bernard still feels obliged to act like everyone else.

Chapter 6

“’It makes me feel as though…’… ‘I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody’s happy nowadays’” (Huxley 90-91).

                Bernard continues to talk about his feelings of being himself. By looking at the sea, he feels as though he is more of his own person, and not so much a part of the group. However, Lenina is disgusted by the thoughts of his individuality, of not wanting to be a part of the group. Bernard knows they are not free, and when he asks Lenina if she wishes she were, she already believes they are free.

Chapter 7

'“Old?...’That’s because we don’t allow them to be like that”’ (Huxley 110).

                When exposed to the “real world”, they are horrified to see someone who has grown old. As with anything else, the people of the Brave New World do not have the choice to grow old, repressing them from their freedom. The key words here are “we don’t allow”. The directors have complete control over how the people look, act, and feel.

"Savage Reservation"

“For instance,” [Linda] hoarsely whispered, “take the way they have one another here. Mad, I tell you, absolutely mad. Everybody belongs to everyone else- don’t they? Don’t they?” she insisted, tugging at Lenina’s sleeve. Lenina nodded her averted head, let out the breath she had been holding and managed to draw another one, relatively untainted. “Well, here,” the other went on, “nobody’s supposed to belong to more than one person. And if you have people in the ordinary way, the others think you’re wicked and anti-social. They hate and despise you….”  (Huxley 121).

        This passage, spoken by Linda, makes the commitment men and women have to one another “savage” compared to the relationships in the Brave New World. Linda has been a part of both worlds, yet still regards the Brave New World to be the normal way of life. As the savage reservation seems much more normal than the Brave New World to today's readers, it is all foreign to the people of the Brave New World. In the Brave New World, it is expected to have multiple sexual partners and to not get attached to one another.

        Love and commitment are not concepts that are comprehended by the Brave New World. Linda is a prime example of the understanding of this. She does not know any better than to "have" as many men as she wants. Again, this had always been expected of her in the past. In the above passage, she references "the ordinary way", referring back to the Brave New World non-commital relationships, where everyone belongs to everyone else. By entering the savage reservation, her lifestyle has been looked down upon and reprimanded for belonging to more than one person.

My Reading Process

When I sit down to read, I take quite a few things into consideration. If it is an assigned reading, I usually plan to read the entirety of it in one sitting. If it is a book of my own choosing, I won't want to put it down and am able to read for hours. I prefer a quiet, comfortable area, often times my couch, my bed, or a peaceful place in the library. My reading experience becomes most enjoyable with a cozy blanket and a warm latte. When deciding on what book to read, I am guilty of judging a book by its cover. I am drawn to bright, modern covers with a creative title. This isn't to say I won't give a book a chance even if I don't like the cover as much, however. I prefer romantic, easy reads that don't take much thought. Ones that tell a nice love story, and I can visualize it clearly. However, I occasionally crave mystery and suspense in the books I choose. As I read, I create my own little world, where I am taking part in the story at hand. It becomes an escape from reality, one that I wish to not be interrupted from. I cannot have music playing, the television on, or people talking while I read. I need to give the book my undivided attention and get distracted easily if other things are going on. I read the book chronologically, from beginning to end in order to comprehend the whole story the way it is supposed to be. I used to dread reading and never understood why people read books for plain fun. However, once I had more free time and found stories that interested me, reading became one of my pastimes. I liked how I could pick up any book and become a part of a story, learning about the characters, going through good times and hardships with them. By reading a book more than once, I found that I can experience completely different things or interpret it in a different way depending on what was occurring in my life or what I had experienced since the last time. As everyone's reading process is different, so is their reading experience. Not everyone is going to feel the same way about a character or relate to a situation the same. I am able to experience it on my own, in my own way. That is what I find most enjoyable about reading.

Testing, 123

English 204!