Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Uncomfortable Unknown
I was struck in one of our recent meetings, about how uncomfortable the unknown and new experiences were to Lenina. When she was traveling to New Mexico and the Savage Reservations with Bernard, she could not enjoy the vacation because she was so overwhelmed by her surroundings. Even something as simple as an old man is enough to make her reach for her soma in discomfort, and exclaim, "But it's terrible ... It's awful. We ought not to have come here" (111). This shows how the only thing she wants to do is leave and return to the ease of her life in the "civilized" world. This is interesting because it isn't like this is her new life that she is rejecting, she just doesn't want to see it and I wonder if that is because she doesn't want to admit to herself that a place like this exists and everything is not happy like it is in her world controlled by conditioning and soma. This is also interesting I think because she has been conditioned so intensively, and without individuals having to learn and discover things for themselves, they are unable to cope with new things that are presented in front of them. She did not learn from experience, she was brainwashed and all of her thoughts were inserted into her brain. Thus, it is exhausting to be presented with something that was not conditioned into her brain, and "Lenina felt herself entitled, after this day of queerness and horror, to complete and absolute holiday" (140). For her, something new and "horrible" pushes her back to soma and makes her crave that happiness and control that is in the "civilized" world, but Bernard has a different reaction. He is much more open to what he sees in the pueblo and even says "What a wonderfully intimate relationship .. And what an intensity of feeling it must generate! I often think one may have missed something in not having a mother" (112). These ideas are considered to be incredibly inappropriate in their world and I think in part that is why he is saying them. This trip, and his happiness and curiosity towards what he is experiencing is a form of rebellion against his society at home which he does not like, and feels like an outcast in. I wonder if he will continue to rebel and push back against the rules, and if Lenina's experience will eventually make her a little rebellious or will continue to push her back to what she's comfortable with.
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It is really interesting to compare Bernard and Lenina’s experiences at the reservation. They viewed the reservation and the people very differently. Like Kate said, Lenina is absolutely repulsed by the community. Everything about the reservation disgusts Lenina. When she sees an actual old man she is so surprised and grossed out. She says that “it’s terrible” as she feels into “her pocket for her soma” (111). Lenina relies on this drug as well as every other “civilized” person in the world. Soma helps aid their troubles and solve their problems. Bernard, however, wants to explore the world that is soma-free. He often wonders “ what it would be like to subjected (soma-less and with nothing but his own inward resources to rely on) to some great trial, some pain, some persecution; he had even longed for affliction” (104). Bernard is ashamed “of the weakness he displayed that morning in the hotel” by taking the drug so, “he went out of his way to show himself strong and unorthodox” (111). Being an outsider, Bernard begins to see all that is wrong in the world state. He allows himself to question the customs of the society. Perhaps he is excited to be at the reservation because like the savages, he too is a misfit. I wonder whether or not Bernard is going to continue breaking away from the world state and convince others to realize how they are all merely manufactured items. To be labeled “civilized” means that one is completely controlled and sterilized both physically and mentally. This is the irony that is evident when Bernard tells Lenina “civilization is sterilization” (110). He seems aware of the oppressiveness of the society and that is why he tries to distance himself from the “mainstream.” This is why he doesn’t enjoy crowds, and spends time alone. I think that visiting the reservation gave him joy because he was able to discrover at least a few things he had been searching for. For example, he finds passion when he sees a mother breastfeeding her child. He even mentions this to Lenina and asks her to imagine if that was her with her children. He is fascinated with the relationship mothers have with their children.
ReplyDeleteInteresting response Kate, I had a very similar reaction. Lenina's response to the reservation was shocking. It was very odd to see such normal things result in such a disgusted backlash. In our society a mother caring for her child is greatly supported. Elderly people are treated with the utmost of respect, and a little filth here and there is never life changing. Lenina's response to such basic aspects of our life illuminates the clear distinction between our society and theirs. We raise our children our self, and start families to strengthen bonds between humans. There are no strong connections in this world, and it is clearly shown from Lenina's response. Furthermore, the women who Bernard and Lenina talked to had extremely bizarre comments regarding the reserve. She was complaining about the simplest, and oddest problems. If this women had talked to someone in our world about her problems she would be thrown in a mental institution. What this makes me think is how did this society become like this? What is the key distinction between our two societies? In The Handmaids Tale and Children of Men fertility was the distinction; however, in A Brave New World, there are many factors that differentiate our two worlds. Yet how did these changes begin? What brought on such drastic measures? these are the questions I hope are answered in the upcoming readings.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that we are more tolerant than Lenina, generally, but we also reject that which we find unsavory or distasteful or fearsome. We are "conditioned," though perhaps not to such an extreme degree, to find comfort in things that are clean and neat and pretty. There is often a public negative reaction to a woman breastfeeding in public, a "natural" act. Huxley is envisioning an extreme version of this perspective, and one in which Bernard doesn't belong.
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