4th Group Discussion- ch. 16-18

Theme: The Pursuit of Happiness

Important Quotes:

1. "'But that's the price we have to pay for stability. You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art.'" (pg.194)

Importance: It shows how much people have to sacrifice one thing for the other. In this case it is happiness versus stability (comfort).

2. "'One would think he was going to have his throat cut,' said the Controller, as the door closed. 'Whereas, if he had the smallest sense, he'd understand that his punishment is really a reward. He's being sent to an island. That's to say, he's being sent to a place where he'll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere in the world. All the people who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit in community-life.'" (pg.200)

Importance: It seems like Bernard is too focused on having false-happiness and he doesn't realize how lucky he is to be an individual and to be different from everyone else. His idea of happiness is something that doesn't really satisfy someone, but instead leaves one empty.

3. "Universal  happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can't." (pg.201)

Importance: They got rid of real happiness and created false happiness to make everyone think they were happy. However, this could be what people see as true happiness.

4. "The Savage nodded, frowning. 'You got rid of them. Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it...But you don't do either. Neither suffer nor oppose. You just abolish the slings and arrows. It's too easy.'" (pg.210)

Importance: Life isn't meant to be easy. The government opposed against unpleasant things in life to create paradise. However, paradise is like sleepwalking all the time, never really realizing what's around you and growing to your full potential. Everyone is cut off.

5. "'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make your choice. Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness. That's why I have to keep these books locked up in the safe. They're smut. People would be shocked...'" (pg. 207)

Importance: Many people believe that religion cannot co-exist peacefully on earth because it causes many problems amongst people. Others believe religion is the root of happiness. This quote shows how people in Brave New World don't really get to choose either way what their opinions are because they have been conditioned.

6. "' Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.' There was a long silence. 'I claim them all,' said the Savage at last." (pg.212)

Importance: It explains how pain and the negative aspects of society are a part of humanity.  This quote shows how imperfections are a part of life and help them to learn from mistakes and to grow.

Summarizer:


Key Points:

1. John (the Savage), Bernard and Helmholtz were sent to the Controller’s office after John’s demonstration against soma and in support of real happiness-without given mock happiness in the form of a pill.

2. The reader realized that Mustapha Mond (one of the world Controllers) was an individual and apart from the overall crowd. He was very well educated in science and literature, subjects which are forbidden to learn in depth.

3. John (the Savage) argued against the false happiness forced upon the citizens of the city and tried to understand the logic behind the modern world.

4. John was prohibited to go into isolation on the northern islands with Bernard because Mustapha Mond wanted to keep the Savage to further experiment with him to see how he would cope with the civilization, however the Savage tries to escape by creating himself a home in the countryside in an abandoned lighthouse.

5. John the Savage hung himself in an attempt to escape modern civilization and its confusion. Reporters and journalists had been provoking and irritating the Savage for they were fascinated by his unique personality and belief.

Investigator:

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov: He was born in Russia in 1849 in a small village. He passed away in 1936. He studied chemistry and physiology at the University of St. Petersburg. His entire career was to research digestion and blood circulation. Ivan experimented with dogs to investigate the interaction with salivation and the digestive system. After doing many experiments he concluded that the dogs could be conditioned to salivate. Therefore a "conditioned reflex" occurred instead of a innate reflex.
This relates to the book because the people in the book are sleep-conditioned. This method derived from Ivan Pavlov's experiments.

B.F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner: Was born in 1904. He received his PhD in 1931. He took an academic work position at the University of Minnesota. He wrote a fictional Utopian novel and he also began creating the "baby box"; which was a controlled environment chamber for young infants. He then used pigeons as experimental subjects for "operant conditioning" and "shaping behavior".He gave rewards to pigeons if they completed certain tasks or until they achieved a desired behavior.
This is related to the book because the children are conditioned in this way. Such as in the Conditioning Rooms where they learn to behave a certain way and to do certain things. In Brave New World instead of using rewards they used electric shocks to discipline the children; to scare them away from certain things. In this way they are psychologically shaped to be a certain way.

Illustrator:

Significance: The bird in the picture represents how the society in the book may have viewed John, an animal. To end his turmoil John committed suicide by hanging himself; as in the picture.

3rd Group Discussion - ch. 11-15

Theme: Nature vs. Nurture

Important Quotes:
1. "Ford, we are twelve; oh, make us one, like drops within the Social River; oh, make us now together run. As swiftly as thy shining flivver."

Why this quote may be important - The quote is a comparison to how everyone moves as one to discourage individualism, therefore, there is no distinct/ unique personalities.

2. "Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, kiss the girls and make them One. Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release."

Why this quote may be important - No one has rights and everyone belongs to everyone else. There is no resistance, only peace amongst each other because no one can say no. 

3. "O, brave new world." pg. 184 (first appearance)

Why this quote may be important - John (the Savage) repeatedly said this line throughout these chapters. The line is from a Shakespearean play, the Tempest. It demonstrates the struggle John is going through to live in the nurturing new world.  

Summarizer:

Soma. The answer to happiness?

Key Points:

1. The Savage (John) first experienced the New World in these chapters. He discovered the disadvantage of the soma when Linda was discriminated from society and turned towards an overdose of soma as her means of escape.

2. John was introduced to Helmholtz; however Bernard was jealous that John liked Helmholtz more than him. John read Romeo and Juliette to Helmholtz yet he did not understand the romance.

3. Bernard used the Savage (John) to regain his superior hierarchy. He brought him to numerous factories and dinner parties to show off his prize from the Indian reserve, without ever asking John if he wanted to be “shown off”. John rebelled against Bernard and locked himself in his room for one of the dinner parties.
4. John (the Savage) attended a feely with Lenina and experienced the feeling of every touch and smell in the film. The Savage thought the film to be horrible for it was a simple plot and there were too much irrelevant emotions, simply included for the sensation.

5. Lenina stripped in front of John in an attempt to seduce him. John was appalled and slapped, swore, and threatened her. He believed in being with only one person and marriage rather than “sharing” people.

6. Linda was sent to the Park Lane Hospital after a serious overdoes of soma. John (the Savage) visited his mother for her last few hours of life, however she did not remember him; she was lost in her soma holiday.

7. The entire hospital staff was made of two Bokanovsky groups and John (the Savage) despised them. He attempted to stop the distribution of soma at the Hospital and tried to make the people realize they were very restricted against freedom and real happiness.

It was the sort of idea that might easily recondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes…some enlargement of knowledge… “What fun it would be,” he thought, “if one didn’t have to think about happiness!”

Description - The controller has to be careful what is being published and broadcasted into the society to be sure no one creates any individualism or similar ideas.

Investigator

Ford's T-Model: Created by Henry Ford and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in September of 1908, it is known as the first affordable car for the average American. Henry Ford was the first person to use an Assembly line and a car could be finished in 93 minutes. When production of the T-Model ended in 1927 over 15 million had been sold.

Connector

• Othello: John makes constant references to Othello. He enjoys art and through the connections between Othello to his life, he can better communicate how he feels.
• Rejection: When Lenina is rejected by John, who feels he is unworthy of her attention, we can make connections between this and experiences we have had.
• Going to the city: each time is a new experience. Like John we prefer the country but also like the excitement of the city.
• A new place: Can be frightening and exciting. We prefer the comfort of familiar surroundings like John who misses his life back on the reservation.
• Embarrassment and rejection: Not a nice feeling. Bernard was embarrassed when the John wouldn't come out of his room, The Director of Hatcheries when John told him that he is his father, and Lenina when she attempted to seduce John. A feeling of disgust perhaps also arises.
• Loss: One feels sorrow and is depressed at the loss of something. Like when John’s mother, Linda, passes away we, the reader, can connect this to things or people we have lost in our lives.
• Regret: Not having lived life to the fullest. Regretting saying/doing something that affects yourself, the future and others around you. Makes one upset and the right thing to do is to make up for it. Regret when the mother dies; John feels like he is the cause of his mother’s death. The readers can reflect to many times when they regret having done or not done something.
  

  

  
  

  Ford's T-Model. Mentioned often in Brave New World

    

2nd group discussion- ch. 6-10

Theme: Individualism vs. Assimilation

Individualism- The habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant.

Assimilation- the state of being assimilated; people of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family.


John the savage is an example of individualism.
Developed society is an example of assimilation.


Connections: 

On page 113 John the savage uses and makes reference to Shakespeare as an innovator and this connects to Shakespeare's influence in our world. John enjoys Shakespeare literature, but others outside of the reserve ad within believe its creativity goes against the common grain of society.

The  lifestyle of John also makes a connection to primitive human life in our world. He lived in such a way that we would make reference to the Native Amaricans who lived off of the land in a primitive way as does the community where John was born.

Important Quotes:

Ch. 6- "When the individual feels, the community reels." (81)


Reactions: Prior to this statement, Bernard is expressing his need to feel passion. Lenina responds by saying that if an individual "feels" something, he really shouldn't be. If people start feeling things then the community will be staggered. This thinking is another indication of the control in the society. People are not supposed to speak out or do something that might disrupt the utopia. This is another example of how the government controls society because it does not want people to experience emotions, like passion. 

Investigation:


Savage Lifestyle- The term Noble Savages refers to primitive society untainted by outside forces such as the government. This makes refference to John's lifestyle.
  
Summarizer: 

There is a great difference between the Reservation and City, or past and present, life, as seen in these 5 chapters:

1. Bernard and Lenina traveled overseas to Santa-Fe to visit the Savage reservation, which is kept heavily guarded by the outside forces.
2. The Indian community is not affected by the civilized world outside the reservation. The people live primitive lifestyles, such as living in pueblos and hunting for their own food.

3. John (the Savage) lived a very miserable life and was discriminated against the community because of his foreign origins.
4. Linda and John (the Savage) were brought back to London to experience the new world and for Bernard to boost his social status.  

5. The director was publicly embarrassed by Linda’s crying passion and was humiliated by John’s dramatic entrance into society.

Illustrator

What we think the Savage Reserve looks likes. This is their house, the Pueblos.

Glossary

Vocabulary

Proliferate- Increase rapidly in numbers; multiply.
Paradoxically- To speak in a manner seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
Peritoneum- The serous membrane lining the cavity of the abdomen and covering the abdominal organs.
Matriculation- Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list.
Centrifugal- Moving or tending to move away from a centre.
Slavish- Relating to or characteristic of a slave, typically by servility or submissiveness.
Superfluous- Unnecessary, especially through being more than enough.
Spasmodic- Occurring or done in brief, irregular bursts.
Indissolubly-  Insoluble: (of a substance) incapable of being dissolved.
Hypnopedia- The science of teaching through subconscious conditioning utilizing audio.
Sibilant- Sounded with a hissing effect.
Asafoetida- The brownish gum resin of various plants; has strong taste and odour; formerly used as an antispasmodic.
Indefatigable- Persisting tirelessly; untiring.
Soliloquized- Monologues: talking  to oneself.
Aperture- An opening, hole, or gap.
Incredulity- The state of being unwilling or unable to believe something.
Auto-erotism- Using you own body as a sexual object.
Surreptitious- Kept secret, esp. because it would not be approved of.
Chypre- Perfume made of sandalwood ( pg.31)
Squalid- Dirty, repulsive, run-down (pg.31)
Midden- A dunghill or refuse heap
Incongruous- Lacking agreement, harmony ( pg.33)
Axiomatic- Self-evident (pg.34)
Truculently- Scathing, bitter opposition. (pg.34)
Monogamy- Marrying once in a lifetime, one single sexual partner during a period of time. (pg. 34)
Corpus Luteum- A yellow mass of cells that contains progesterone that forms after releasing a mature egg; it is needed to maintain pregnancy.
Soma- An intoxicating or hallucinogenic drink, often used in Vedic rituals which comes from a plant (pg. 46)
Parathyroid- A gland next to the thyroid (a gland at the base of the neck) which secretes a hormone that regulates calcium levels in a persons body (pg. 49)
Simian- An ape or monkey (pg. 50)
Vivacious- Attractively lively or animated (with women) (pg.51)
Voluptuous- Curvaceous and sexually attractive (in women) (pg.79)
Cajolery- Coaxing someone to do something (pg.79)
Pneumatic- Filled with or containing compressed air (pg.80)
Solecism- A grammatical mistake in speech or writing (pg.82)
Indecorous- Improper, not good taste (pg.84)
Infantile- Inappropriate, childish (pg.84)
Contraceptives- A device or drug to prevent pregnancy (pg.85)
Exulting- To show or feel  triumph or elation (pg.85)
Brachycephalic- A person to have a relatively broad, short skull (pg. 87)

Inexorably- Impossible to stop or prevent (pg.88)

Stoicism- The endurance of pain or hardship without showing feelings or complaint (pg. 90)
Pueblos- A town or village in south-western US, an Indian settlement (pg. 90)
Gunwale- The upper edge or planking of the side of a boat or ship (pg. 93)
Diadem- A jewelled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty (pg. 93)
Ophthalmia- Inflammation of the eye, esp. conjunctivitis (pg. 96)
Goitres- A swelling of the neck resulting from enlargement of the thyroid gland (pg. 97)
Multiudinous- Consisting of or containing many individuals or elements (pg. 100)
Incarnadine- To make flesh-coloured (pg. 100)

Mescaline (mescal)- A hallucinogenic and intoxicating compound, present in mescal buttons. (Pg. 103)
Acetate- A salt or ester of acetic acid (pg. 104)
Incestuous- Excessively close and resistant to outside influence (pg. 115)
Precipice- A very steep rock face or cliff, typically a tall one (pg. 119)
Blithe- Showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper (pg. 128)
Cygnet- A young swan (pg. 125)
Obliquity- Asynclitism: the presentation during labour of the head of the foetus at an abnormal angle (pg. 131)
Scatological- Dealing pruriently with excrement and excretory functions (pg. 132)
Patchouli- An aromatic oil obtained from a Southeast Asian shrub and used in perfumery, insecticides, and medicine (pg. 135)
Prognathous- Having a lower jaw that projects outwards. (pg.139)
Sepulchral- Of or relating to a tomb or interment (pg. 153)
Magnanimity- Munificence: liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit (pg. 156)
Stereoscopic- Of or relating to a stereoscope; "stereoscopic lenses" (pg. 146)
Brachycephalic- Having a broad, short skull (pg. 146)
Trypanosomiasis- Any tropical disease caused by trypanosomes and typically transmitted by biting insects (pg. 164)
Sanctimonious- Making a show of being morally superior to other people (pg. 168)
Sexagenarian- Someone who is between the age of 60 and 70. (pg. 177)
Moribund- Not growing or changing. On the verge of death. (pg. 177)
Verbena- Any several types of plants that are similar. (pg. 176)
Flaccid- Without firmness. Without energy (pg.177)
Senility- Old age. Mental and physical attributes associated with aging. (pg 177)
Patchouli- Southeast Asian shrub. And a perfume made from this plant. (pg.179)
Dolichocephalic- Having a narrow head and it being much longer than it is broad. (pg.183)
Peremptorily- In a commanding and urgent manner (pg.184)
Propitiatingly-To make peace with; to appease. (pg.185)
Impunity-Exempt from punishment or loss/harm. (pg.192)
Flivver- An automobile that is small, expensive and old. Or an old, cheap and beat up car. (pg.193)
Paroxysm- A burst of emotions or action; a spasm/convulsion or sudden attack of pain. (pg.199)
Matriarchy-  A system where the female is the head of the family. (pg. 200)
Postulate- To assume the truth or reality; a basic principle. (pg.208)
Chastity- Virginity. Quality of being pure and abstaining from sexual relations. (pg.209)
Neurasthenia-A disorder characterized by  fatigue and weakness in the nervous system. A nervous breakdown. (pg.209)
Coccyx- A triangular bone at the end of the vertebral column in humans and tailless apes. (pg.221)
Prodigious- Great in size, extent or meaning. Wonderful or Extraordinary. (pg.221)

1st Group Discussion- ch.1-5

Theme: Science vs. Technology

Literary Luminary: "Everyone belongs to everyone else." (37)

This is an idea that equality and fairness are strong aspects of this Utopian society. No one is an individual or may express himself as a unique person.

Connector:

• The Cast System: The cast system is a connection to the real world. In the book it is where everyone is bred to be a certain way according to his/her caste. They are made to live and work within their caste and go nowhere above or below it.             

Investigator: 

• Genetic modification: Modifying the genes of something to manipulate the outcome and make it better or worse than it was before.

• Cloning: In the book they clone people so that there are many of the same kind. They do this so that there are more people to do work.

Summarizer:

Key Points:

• The Bokanovsky Group of people in the society are all exactly alike (identical twins) and created from the same female embryo. Some bokanovskified eggs may produce up to 96 individuals. Everything is used within the community; eggs from the female body are removed to create dozens more offspring than the human capacity could sustain and deceased people are cremated to create fuel for factories and fertilizer for growing crops (63).

• Electronic sleep teaching (or hypnopaedia) and physical discipline is used during the childhood of each individual to teach the children in large masses and to condition them to love and hate certain activities or objects. (Examples on page 16-17 and 22-23) Ideas which are created in every individual’s mind are described as “equality”, conformity and the idea that “everybody is happy now” and “everyone belongs to everyone”.

• Uniformity is very relevant in this society however one who is different from his class or status is considered as abnormal (an example may be as Bernard had been described on page 39.)

• Despite the outlaw of religion and culture, the society created its own religion such as when Bernard attended a board meeting.

Illustrator