“COMMUNITY IDENTITY STABILITY” What price would you pay to feel perpetually happy?

1. “COMMUNITY IDENTITY STABILITY” What price would you pay to feel perpetually happy?

2. Birth control should be practiced by all sexually active adults. • It is the responsibility of the females only to take birth control. • Birth control should be regulated by the government. • Sex education should be taught in schools. • There is too much emphasis placed on sports in this country. • Only a handful of people in the world make the most important decisions regarding laws, freedoms, and policy. • A majority of people in the world have absolutely no power to make important decisions regarding laws, freedoms, and policy. • It is possible to climb the socio-economic ladder in America. • The mass media programs us to feel fear and bias toward others. • America is a utopia of freedom and democracy. • Humans should not be cloned. • Human organs should not be cloned for implantation. • Test tube baby conception is morally wrong. • The mass media promotes sex. • Sexual freedom among young adults is liberating • Science is pushing mankind into dangerous moral territory. Introduction Inventory: What’s your opinion?

3. Author – Aldous Huxley Born in Surrey, England July 26, 1894 Wealthy and intelligent parents; father was a well-known scientistand biologist, mother was a writer and teacher Nephew of Matthew Arnold (poet) Very informed in English and in developments in technology and science Fascination with dystopian society Was an ardent pacifist and interested in hypnotism, séances, the occult and hallucinogenic drugs Published 5 well-known novels He died Nov. 22, 1963

4. Terminology to Know Utopia– imaginary society organized to create ideal conditions for humans; often void of hatred, pain, neglect or evil Dystopia– society characterized by human misery, oppression, and disease Occult– pertaining to magic, astronomy or any system claiming knowledge of supernatural powers

5. Published in 1932 • A Science Fiction/Dystopian novel describing the future • Utopianism vs. Primitivism • Dehumanized, disenchanted world due to scientific advancement A Brave New World

6. “The Doors of Perception” – mentioned first in a poem by William Blake (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell) Huxley titled one of his books after this quote. It is also where The Doors attained the name of their band. • Brave New World's - ironic title derives from Miranda’s speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act V, Scene I “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in it!” • (Henry) Ford – Satirical use of Henry Ford, basically interchanges with “the Lord” because of the sociteties’ worship of technology as god References to Music, Literature and Technology

7. References to Music, Literature and Technology • Mescaline/LSD – Huxley experimented with these drugs, the drug “soma” in the book, as well as other descriptive references were created when Huxley was on the drug(s) • William Shakespeare – his poetic, elegant and passionate language contrast the detached, course, cold language used in the World State • Sigmund Freud – “Our Freud" is sometimes said in place of "Our Ford" due to the link between Freud's psychoanalysis and the conditioning of humans, and Freud's popularization of the idea that sexual activity is essential to human happiness and need not be limited to procreation. It is also strongly implied that citizens of the World State believe Freud and Ford to be the same person.

8. Dystopia/The Cost of Happiness: World runs efficiently by science, but culture and spirituality are still present, leading to want and misery • Totalitarianism: Political system where the state is usually under the control of a single political person • Technology vs. Religion: Where are there lines that technology shouldn’t cross? What effect does one have on the other? • Control: Who has it? Who should have it? • Individuality: At what point does government control go too far? Major Themes

9. Minor Themes • Moral & Cultural Decay:Values, beliefs of humanity are disappearing • Isolation: Humans are not allowed to have “real” relationships; government controls everything and everyone. Intimacy is a thing of the past. • The Role of Sex in Human Existence: Love? Lust? Procreation? They see sex as the only way to emit emotion, and even then it’s cold and detached.

10. Due to two World Wars, ideas had shifted from individual to a common good Science supplanted ethics, art, philosophy, and religion in Huxley’s lifetime Movement toward government-controlled welfare state after World Wars Time of stress and anxiety for people in post-war state Societal Issues

11. Motifs • Pneumatic: Huxley imagined a future in which there is a sort of extension to the idea of cinema, where not only your sight and hearing were offered inputs, but also other senses. These super-movies he called 'feelies'. • Ford, “My Ford”, “Year of Our Ford, etc: Henry Ford was thought of as a sort of god; References to him are a time reference. • Alienation: Loss or lack of sympathy; estrangement; no ties to human emotion or feeling • Shakespeare: References to Shakespeare refer to all the arts, which are a lost concept in the New World

12. Soma: a drug that is the symbol of the use of instant gratification to control the World State’s populace. It is also a symbol of the powerful influence of science and technology on society. As a kind of “sacrament,” it also represents the use of religion to control society.“Soma is quite pervasive in the book Brave New World. It is a mind altering substance that people depend on to escape from the reality of their bleak and government controlled lives. The people in this futuristic world take soma in pill form, liquid and even frozen as an ice cream. Almost everyone in this society is addicted to soma. The few people who are not addicted to this drug are considered to be unusual optimists who do not need soma to be happy.” –WorldPress

13. Opens in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. The year is AF 632 (632 years “after Ford”) • This is a factory that produces human beings and conditions them for their predestined roles in the World State. In the World State, human beings no longer produce living offspring. Instead, surgically removed ovaries produce ova that are fertilized in artificial receptacles and incubated in specially designed bottles. • The Hatchery destines each fetus for a particular caste in the World State. The five castes are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon Setting

14. Setting • The World State is a “dystopia;” a world of anonymous and dehumanized people dominated by a government made overwhelmingly powerful by the use of technology. • The lower castes = anonymity and mechanization • Members of the higher castes = retain at some level of the individuality and creativity that is denied completely to the lower castes.

15. THOMAS / 'TOMAKIN', THE DIRECTOR: In charge of the Hatchery and chooses the caste for each person. When it is found out that he had an affair with Linda in the Savage Reservation and fathered a child (John) his authority is compromised. • BERNARD MARX: One of the main characters, he is seen as one of the only people who remains “human” in the emotional sense of the term. He criticizes the WS; but we end up finding out that he’s very hypocritical in his actions. • JOHN THE SAVAGE:Born outside the World State on a reservation, John is the “illegitimate” son of the Director and Linda. He’s highly critical of the World State’s values and is one of few people to be educated outside the WS. His vast knowledge of Shakespeare makes him one of the only characters who can truly verbalize his emotions. Main Characters

16. LINDA: A Beta-minus left behind on the Reservation while she was pregnant with the Director's child (John). Linda had been too ashamed to go back on her own initiative, but she finally returns with Bernard because she misses the civilization of the WS and the effects of soma. • LENINA CROWNE: A young, beautiful and promiscuous Beta. Lenina is a popular vaccination-worker at the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Somewhat quirky - she normally dates only one person at a time - Lenina is basically happy and well-conditioned. She comes across as the heroine of the novel. • MUSTAPHA MOND: A paradoxical character. He reads Shakespeare and the Bible but is dedicated to the WS’s philosophy of eliminating emotion, human relation and individuality. • HELMHOLTZ WATSON: A strong, intelligent and attractive Alpha. He is critical of his caste in that, unlike Bernard, he is too strong for those in the WS. Like John, he loves poetry and hates the WS, but he mocks the ideas of love, marriage and parenthood found in Shakespeare’s work. Main Characters

17. Reflection Journal: What movies have you seen or books have you read that depict the future of our world/society? Do you think they are accurate? In what ways? What dramatic changes do you think will take place by the year 2495?

18. Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, Epsilons: the caste hierarchy in Utopia. • Anthrax Bomb: a Pre-Ford weapon used in germ warfare. • Bokanovsky Process: a process by which a human egg has its normal development arrested. It starts to bud and produces many identical eggs. • Bottling: the stage where artificially created embryos are put into sow peritoneum-lined bottles for maturation. • Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy: an intricate ball game played with complicated equipment. • Community Sing: a pseudo-religious meeting for the lower castes, promoting fraternity. • Decanting: the process by which Utopian embryos are removed from the bottles after maturation. • Ectogenesis: birth outside the human body. • Emotional Engineering: the profession responsible for preparing propagandistic diversions for the people. • Erotic Play: a pastime for Utopian children, involving exploration of each other's bodies and meant to absolve all feelings of guilt associated with sex. Vocabulary from Brave New World

19. Vocabulary from Brave New World • Five Step: a popular Utopian dance. • Ford: the Utopian idol, the nearest equivalent to God. • Freemartin: a sterilized Utopian woman • Hypnop'dia: sleep-teaching to inculcate prejudices into the subconscious of the sleeper. • Internal and External Secretion Trust: this utopian organization is in charge of hormones and extracts to keep the people young and happy. • Liners and Matriculators: people who work in the Bottling Room. • Malthusian Belt: a device worn to discourage sex in the unsterilized women to avoid pregnancy. • Malthusian Drill: another device meant for the unsterilized women to avoid pregnancy. • Orgy-Porgy: a ritual where indiscriminate, en masse sexual relations ensure solidarity in the participants. • Podsnap's Technique: a process resulting in speeding up the ripening of embryos artificially.

20. Vocabulary from Brave New World • Power Elite: an exclusive and restricted group which exercises power by forceful means. • Pregnancy Substitute: this medical procedure allows utopian women to experience the psychological benefits of childbirth without actually undergoing it. • Scent and Color Organ: a console that plays concertos of fragrant aromas and capriccios of colored lights. • Sex-hormone Chewing Gum: an artificial means of gaining sexual satisfaction • Social Predestination: a process by which a card file of data on every Utopian is preserved to establish a quota system for those types of persons the state intends to create. • Solidarity Service: a pseudo-religious gathering to promote fraternity among the upper castes. • Soma: a drug that dulls the passions and understandings of the people and creates a false sense of happiness. It is frequently consumed to escape reality, mainly in the form of tablets. For the state, it serves as a tool of preserving social stability. • Subliminal Projection: an image presented to the sight or words to the hearing for split seconds and super-imposed upon visual or aural entertainment. This split-second communication lodges in the subconscious and greatly influences subsequent behavior. • Super-Vox-Wurlitzerians: a synthetic-music box. • T-Model: the Utopian equivalent of a religious symbol, meant to be a play upon the Christian cross; it honors Ford, the founder of this utopian society and alludes to Henry Ford and the mode-T.

21. Vocabulary from Brave New World • Violent Passion Surrogate (V.P.S.): a chemical intended to give the body the psychological experience of having had normal sexual relations. • Voice of Good Feeling: the artificial voice that suppresses any riot by soothing the people with suggestions of peace through loudspeakers. • Will-to-Order: the drive in human beings that compels them to forge unity out of diversity to the extent of over-organizing things.