You Can't Live Forever

Summary

After John’s outrage in the hospital, World Controller, Mustapha Mond, decides that since neither Helmholtz nor Bernard feel comfortable with civilization, they will be expelled from it and will live in isolated islands where other people like them live. John then finds out that Mustapha is well acquainted with literary works such as Othello, and asks him about the reasons for abolishing such beautiful words from civilization. Mustapha explains to John that their world is not the same as Othello’s, that they can’t create a tragedy without social instability, and that their world is stable, he further explains why religion, love, beauty, liberty, and truth were abolished in order to maintain society happy. Indignant and upset, John leaves London to live at an abandoned lighthouse so that he can be cleansed from the wickedness of civilization, but is unable to so since bypassers find his acts of self-flagellation amusing, which then leads to articles and movies being published about John. One day, reporters arrive at John’s “house” only to find a dangling pair of feet visible under an arch inside the lighthouse.

Quote Analysis

“ ‘The optimum population,’ said Mustapha Mond, ‘is modelled on the iceberg- eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above.’ ‘And they’re happy below the water line?’‘Happier than above it.’ (...)‘In spite of that awful work?’ ” (Huxley, 223-224)

Along the 16th and 17th chapters of the book, Mond explains to the savage that he,too, had an interest in science and poetry. The difference, however, between John and Mustapha, is that Mustapha learned to understand the dangers of science and beauty, and the importance of having a stable society which he describes as an “iceberg”. John, on the other side, is still unable to understand how citizens on the civilized world can be happy without poetry, love, science,and truth. He totally disagrees with the civilization’s social hierarchy, and believes in equality and choice. Although they were both once the same, Mustapha Mond became a slave who loves being enslaved, while John still considers himself to be free.

I'm free to be the greatest, I'm alive
I'm free to be the greatest here tonight

“ ‘But he (God) manifests himself in different ways to different men.’ ” (Huxley, 234)

Mustapha explains to John that God only manifests himself to the people when he is needed, and since civilization is stable, God manifests himself as absence. Anyway, I do believe that God manifests himself in different ways to different people. I like to think that we all have our blessings. Like for example, maybe mothers and fathers consider their blessings to come as their children, others might see their blessings as health, happiness, or even money. Sometimes, it's much more simple.

I will never forget this one time that my family and I went on a road trip that included a pretty long car drive, and basically what happened was that we drove past some mountains that were pretty clouded except for these little patches of sky that were not clouded and that allowed sunlight to shine into the mountains. It looked pretty awesome, and my dad was pretty surprised. He slowed down the car to take a good look into the landscape and then proceeded to say, “You know, landscapes like these are proof, to me, that God exists.”

Conclusion

Yay! I finished the book. I guess that my most recurring and important thought about the book is how unexpected the end actually is. Like, if I was to go back to the middle of the book and think about the ending, what the ending actually is never would’ve crossed my mind. I can honestly say that it was a very good book. I think that the most important thing that I learned from the book is to appreciate what I have. I guess that, now that I kind of have an idea of what a life without love or freedom would be like, I have learned to appreciate these two things more than I normally would.

Life Gives, Life Takes

Summary

Now in the civilized world, John befriends Bernard’s friends and reads Shakespeare to them, which makes them understand that John actually believes in love and leads a very different lifestyle compared to them. After a while, John realizes that he loves Lenina, but when she tells her, is very disappointed and enraged that she doesn’t want to have a relationship with him or marry him, but would much rather keep their relationship casual. After John screams and (unfortunately) hits Lenina, he gets a call from a hospital saying that his mom, Linda, is dying. John arrives at the hospital as quick as he can, but is not able to save Linda, but instead witnesses the hospital giving rations of soma to kids, which he realizes is what makes people in the civilized world “slaves”. As John throws away all of the soma out the window, and while both the children and the hospital staff are confronting him, Bernard and his friend Helmoltz arrive just as authorities take both of them and John as prisoners.

Quote Analysis

“that beautiful, beautiful Other Place, whose memory, as of heaven, a paradise of goodness and loveliness, he still kept whole and intact, undefiled by contact with reality of this real London, these actual civilized men and women.” (Huxley, 201)

This quote, referring to John’s thoughts and feelings while regarding his dying mother, do not only demonstrate that what we think of the unknown is not actually what the unknown is, but that two people can have very different views of reality. Although the “civilized” world is not what John thought it would be, it is what Linda thought it would be. It all has to do with Linda’s and John’s traditions and lifestyles. On one side, Linda grew up in the “civilized” world, while being part of a high caste and believing that she belonged to everyone and everyone belonged to her, and also believed that there is no such thing as love, that there is no need for it. On the other side, John grew up in an indigenous reservation, he believes in family and grew up reading Shakespeare and he believes that there is someone out there that he will love for all eternity. So I guess that, in a way, John just wants to believe in Linda’s reality of the “civilized” world, because it reminds him of when everything was easier and when his mom wasn’t dying.

“ ‘But do you like being slaves?’ ” (Huxley, 212)

This is something that John asks the kids in the hospital after Linda died, and he realizes that everyone in the “civilized” world is a slave to both the system and the drugs that they take. I guess that the answer to John’s question is yes, they do like being slaves. They love being enslaved, but they don't kow that they are slaves. This is something that I came to realize while reading the introduction to the book, in which Aldous Huxley explains that the only way to lead a successful totalitarian government is to make the people love what they do and how they do it, even if that means loving their own pain. Based on this idea, Huxley introduced a system of predetermined social classes, abolished love and family, and encouraged drug use among the population. But, is Huxley’s explanation of what makes a successful totalitarian government put in practice today?

Conclusion

Yay! Almost done with the book. I am really happy and surprised on how the book  has turned out to be, I guess that I just haven’t expected most of the events of the plot that there has been. But anyways, I am almost done with the book (I only have three chapters left to read), which means that the problem should be getting solved soon. I guess that there are a few problems in the book. For example, Bernard feels like and outsider and wants to prove himself to be a worthy Alpha, Lenina is not as promiscuous as she should be (but then becomes too promiscuous), John doesn’t like the “civilized” world, but Linda liked the “civilized” world so much that she died (!). Apart from this, I am very excited to finish the book and find out how it ends, given the fact that there are still so many things that have yet to be resolved.

It's Not The Numbness In Your Heart

Summary

After getting the necessary permissions, Bernard and Lenina are able to take both John and Linda back to the civilized world. When they get there, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning threatens Bernard with expelling him to Iceland due to his unorthodox lifestyle, to which Bernard responds by publicly embarrassing him when he lets John call the Director his “father”. The Director immediately resigns from his position and Linda decides to go back to taking soma, a drug that everyone is expected to take in order to relax or be happier, which keeps her away from John. Luckily for Bernard, everyone treats him as a celebrity for a while, but it all comes to an end when a bunch of authorities come to meet the Savage (John), and he does not want to meet anyone, embarrassing Bernard in front the authorities. In addition, Lenina started liking John, who does not see her in the same way, which leaves her heartbroken and alone.  

Quote Analysis

“ ‘What fun would it be,’ he thought, ‘if one didn’t have to think about happiness!’ ” (Huxley, 177)

This is something said by Mustapha Mond after turning down a “brilliant” paper that sadly defied society’s rules on its theories of biology. I guess I doubted this since Brave New World’s society is already one that does not encourage individual happiness. Its plot is based on the crazy idea of running a society with people who are taught to feel happy if others are happy, and sad if others are sad. That said, they cannot experience true happiness or sadness because they are not feeling it for themselves, but for the community.

On the other side, the Director, thinking that he knows happiness, is able to understand that without sadness we wouldn’t be able to feel happiness. Which is something that I have been taught by both my mom, at home, and teachers, mostly while reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver, that we can't feel pleasure without pain or love without hate. We can’t have one without the other.

"Life is a balance."

“One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies.” (Huxley, 179)

What I like most about this quote, is that it references love and friendship in a world where people are numb but consider themselves to be “happy”. This references Bernard's complicated social interactions after he brings John to the civilized world, which somehow affects Bernard’s already complicated relationships with other people. What I first thought of after reading this quote, is the pain that we can cause to the people that we love. The best example that I could think of for this quote is when you don’t get along with someone so you don’t treat them as well as you should, so then you start behaving like that with the people you do get along with, and eventually you hurt those people for trying to hurt someone else. Are we entitled to hurt people that we love? Or do we just don’t consider it pain when we cause it on someone we love?

Conclusion

I honestly think that this book is just getting started. Even though most (?) of the characters have already been introduced, there has already been a lot of problems that have yet to be solved. The man vs. society conflict that has been present in other dystopian fictions books that I have read has not been introduced yet, which I think is definitely weird since I am more than halfway through the book. There are still many questions that have to be answered. For the next couple of chapters, I hope that Bernard reflects a bit on his newfound fame and doesn’t let it get to his head (which he definitely has). I am also curious on what will happen with Linda and John, since they have been pulled apart ever since they came to the “brave new world”.

Expect The Unexpected

Meeting the Savages

Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian fiction novel, Brave New Word, tells the story of how our reality would be if family, individuality, and love were taken away from humanity. As  Alpha-Plus, Bernard Marx, prepares to visit a Savage Reservation in Mexico with Lenina Crowne, he is able to share his thoughts of non-conformity with the system to Lenina who, of course, thinks he has gone mad. When they are finally able to reach the reserve, they discover something that they never even imagined of existing, they witness deadly famine and disease, dancing and rituals, sacrifices, and family. Lenina and Bernard meet John, a young man whose mother, Linda, a Beta who had visited the reserve more than twenty years ago but had been lost and forced to stay in the reserve. Linda tells Bernard and Lenina about how neither people of the “new world” would accept them because she was pregnant (with a World Controller’s baby), nor people from the reserve accepted them because they were “too white”, out of sympathy, Bernard offers to take both of them back to the “new world”.

My Thoughts On...

" -But queer that Alphas and Betas won't make any more plants grow than those nasty little Gammas and Deltas and Epsilons down there.-

-All men are physico-chemically equal,-  said Henry sententiously.” (Huxley, 74)

This quote is said by Henry Foster, one of Lenina’s lovers, while explaining to her about the process of using human corpses as a way to give nutrients to the earth and grow better crops. What really impacted me was that, no matter what social class you came from and no matter who you are, it truly doesn’t matter in the end. Even today, equality is a reality that some people are just not able to accept. Just like Henry, who describes Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons as “nasty”, there are still people who think they are superior to others. It reminds me of all of the men that don’t think that women are equal so they don’t let them study and abuse them instead, of all of the men and women that don’t think homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples, and all of the people that still think white is the superior “race”.

“These words and the strange, strange story out of which they were taken (he couldn’t make head or tail of it, but it was wonderful, wonderful all the same) - they gave him a reason for hating Popé; and they made his hatred more real; they even made Popé himself more real.” (Huxley, 132)

This are some of the thoughts that John had when he first learned how to read. I guess that this is when he realized that words have the power to do both great and terrible things (for the record, Popé is one of Linda’s lovers who John later tried to kill). This reminds me of a book I read last year that was also a dystopia in which it's totalitarian government understood the power that words and books can have over people, and so they banned books from society. Fahrenheit 451 is, ironically, narrated from the guy who makes sure that books are being burnt and that no one reads them, while he steals and keeps books hidden. I guess that words can give people a sense of independence and thinking into some sort of rebellion or revolution, which is exactly what the government avoids in Fahrenheit 451.

Plot Twist?

I have read a fair share of books in my life, not as many as I would like, but I still consider myself to read a lot. The thing with books, the good ones at least, is that they are unexpected. And so, the plot twist of this week is *drumroll*: a World Controller got a woman pregnant and left her in a reserve full of “savages”, more than an ocean away from the civilized world. Which doesn’t seem like a big deal but, believe me, it is. Aside from that, the book has been pretty good. I now know who the protagonists of the story are and what their general idea of life is. Also, I am pretty curious of what could happen if John and Linda are able to go back to the “civilized” world. Honestly, I’m just imagining everything that can go wrong.

Close Your Eyes, Or You Won't See Anything

An Introduction to Aldous Huxley's Mind

In 1932, Aldous Huxley imagined the future of mankind as a place where humans are reproduced in test tubes by the thousands because “family” has become obsolete. A place where people of different social classes are incubated differently, with lower classes being exposed to less oxygen in order to limit their physical and intellectual development, which is why Alpha Bernard Marx is an outcast due to his short height. He imagined a World State that didn’t cover the whole world, that was led by ten people who considered those who weren’t under their control “savages”. Huxley also imagined a world where promiscuity was encouraged because “everyone belongs to everyone else”, which is exactly what ordinary worker, Lenina Crowne does.

So eventually Aldous Huxley made this fantasy into a reality and wrote a book, which he called Brave New World.

Thinking Of...

“ -For particulars, as everyone knows, make for virtue and happiness; generalities are intellectually necessary evils. Not philosophers but fretsawyers and stamp collectors compose the backbone of society.- ” (Huxley,4)

After reading and reading this quote over and over again, I was able to understand that this is what Brave New World’s society is based on. I figured that this society is not successful because of all the scientists, doctors, and all the educated people that have an idea of what individuality and freedom are, but rather all of the people that make up the lower social classes and that are not able to think for themselves. I’m guessing that the government controls their minds and actions so that they don’t have anything against the system, or so that they are on the government’s side. This reminds me of all of the great civilizations that were able to control the majority of their population, that were mainly uneducated and poor, so that they didn’t  go against the government.

“ -After all, everyone belongs to everyone else.- ” (Huxley, 43)

I didn’t understand the meaning behind this quote until I reread it a couple of times. I thought that belonging to someone else gave people in Brave New World a sense of, false, community that they could not have in other circumstances, but then I realized that I was wrong. I actually felt deeply saddened by the fact that, while belonging to everyone, you don’t belong to anyone at all. I was heartbroken when I realized that these people don’t have a sense of “family” or “home”, and that working is the only thing that they have known or will ever know. In this case, coworkers are the closest thing that they can have to a family, which is why I hope that they can have each other’s backs.

"Just know you’re not alone"

Next Up...

So far, the book has been more unexpected than what I thought it would be. It has been much more different than what I expected, but I kind of like it. Since I have just started reading the book, I don’t really have any reasonable predictions to make about story, but I hope that some things happen in one place or another in the book. I hope that Bernard can learn to love himself just the way he is, and that he doesn’t let what other people think or say about him define who he is. I have also been thinking about how, in other dystopian novels that I have previously read, a revolution or need for change always happens, but I am not sure yet who can protagonize these actions in Brave New World.

History Books Forgot About Us

Truths And Lies

Colin and Hassan discover Lindsey´s boyfriend, Colin, cheating on Lindsey with Katrina, and they tell Lindsey, which causes her to break up with The Other Colin and for him to start a fight with everyone that was present. Hassan, Colin, and Lindsey find out that Hollis sold some property because people are no longer buying the tampon strings made in the factory, but Hollis doesn't want to fire people so she throws the tampon strings away (she is selling some land to make money). Colin discovers that the person who is resting in the famous Archduke tomb is not actually the Archduke, but Lindsey´s grandfather, and she explains to Colin that her grandfather just wanted to be remembered, and they both kiss. Colin tells her the stories of the 19 Katherines and Hassan enrolls into college, much to Colin's happiness. Afterwards, Colin (with the help of his theorem), predicts that his and Lindsey´s relationship will end in four days, when this is proven to be false, Colin understands that his theorem only works for past relationships and not for future ones, love is just too unpredictable.

 My Thoughts On...

“ ‘I had a, um, blinding light spiritual awakening.’ (...) ‘I mean, she's giving up all her time and her money so people can keep jobs. She´s doing something.’ ” (Green, 193)

This quote is said by Colin while he is talking with Hassan about the things that Hollis does in order to keep her employees with a job. I think that this shows Colin´s positive character development throughout the book. Reading this quote made me realize that Colin no longer thinks that, in order to matter, he needs to impact the whole world. I guess that I consider this his “blinding light spiritual awakening” since he now has a different perspective of changing people's lives. I guess that, all it takes for us to want to cause a change, is to see someone else make a change.

“Nothing was happening, really, but the moment was thick with mattering.” (Green, 212)

I think that these moments that Green refers to in the book are the ones that we don't consider important until we later remember them. When I read this, I remembered an specific car ride home that I didn't realized held so much meaning until it became a memory. After I graduated from 6th grade, the whole grade attended a final party after the ceremony at school was held. The so called party was fun and all, but it was also the last time time that I saw a few of my friends that wouldn't attend secondary with me. When my dad picked me up from said party, I immediately fell asleep on the backseat of the car. It wasn't until later that I realized that this car ride signified the ultimate end to my primary education, it ended a stage in my life that I will never get back, it was the last time I saw some people, and it was the first time I saw others.

The Future Is Forever

I finished the book! I am honestly very pleased with the way it ended, I would not change anything about the story. I guess that what I am most happy about is that Colin finally learned and understood that not being famous or not becoming a genius is just as good as becoming one. I enjoyed the ending of the book because it doesn't give a single clue to what will happen to the characters once the summer ends. I guess that it gives the readers the opportunity to imagine their own scenarios and to draw their own conclusions. The book has honestly taught a few things. First, that I shouldn't live to please others (like Colin does in order to please his parents at the beginning of the story), but that I should live in order to please myself and live up to my expectations. Second, I learned that being popular in school (like Lindsey) is not the most important thing there is to life. And, finally, that not knowing what we are doing or will do, is just part of being alive.

Kind Of, But Not Really: A Memoir

How To Shoot A Gun

Later after visiting the nursing home, Hassan tells Colin that he went out with Lindsey´s friend, Katrina, and kissed her. Sadly, Colin does not react very nicely about this news and the two friends get in a fight about it. Then, Hassan and Colin get invited to go hunting with Lindsey and her friends, which results in Lindsey teaching Colin how to shoot a gun (and ends up showing him a secret cave that she discovered on accident when she was younger). The three of them join Lindsey´s friends for the hunt but, after being left alone, Hassan and Colin accidentally shoot a hornet nest instead of a pig. They are later chased and stung by the hornets, until they run up to a graveyard, where they find Katrina with a guy.

Thinking About...

“ ‘We're invisible. I've never been here with someone else. It's different being invisible with someone.’ ” (Green, 144)

This is something that Lindsey said to Colin when they were alone in her cave. While I read and tried to understand this quote, I realized that Lindsey should be actually be pretty lonely in order to feel (or be) invisible. I guess this surprised me because in the majority of the book, she is surrounded by both her friends and her boyfriend, so, I guess I expected her to feel accompanied by them. On the other side, the book also explains that Lindsey does not spend that much time with her mom as she would like (Lindsey even calls her by her name and not as “mom”). So, I guess she feels a bit lonely because she doesn't spend that much time with her mom, or because she doesn't really care for her friends. But, in all honesty, I guess we all get a little bit lonely sometimes.

“ ‘The thing about chameleoning your way through life is that it gets to where nothing is real.’ ” (Green, 147)

Lindsey says this to Colin when they are sitting together in her secret cave and she is trying to explain about her more than ordinary life to him. This quote is kind of a conclusion to Lindsey, a type of lesson she has been taught. She acts in different ways around different people she knows and people she meets, but the problem is that she doesn't know who she really is any more. This quote made me feel strangely upset because it got me thinking of what really is real and what is not, but it also made me think about the reason behind acting different around different people. I came to the conclusion that, like all of us, Lindsey is scared of being judged for who she is, therefore changing to be accepted. I have definitely felt this way and I think that so has everybody else. Overcoming this is not easy, but I just hope that Lindsey can be able to discover herself, and will be able to stay true to this self.

Almost Done

There has been a lot more happening in the last few chapters that I read than I expected to. I mean, in the last chapters or so, Colin and Hassan came out of their comfort zone and went hunting with some other people, that surprised me a bit. But either way, Lindsey has yet to find out the reason behind her mother's want (or need) to sell part of their property to a guy that no one had ever heard of before. I am also curious about knowing who is the guy that Colin and Hassan saw Katrina with at the end of chapter 15. Anyway, I am really looking forward to continue reading what is left of the book. I honestly have no idea how it's gonna end since I think there are still a lot of things that have to be cleared up before the book ends.