The Road Part 1:They walk,talk,walk,eat,walk again.Im so enthralled!

       There is one word to describe the beginning(and what seems to be the middle and end) of The Road:Bleak.The first part of the novel is just a long description of two characters(Papa and...boy?For some reason I don't feel like they're related) and their journey from someplace to the south...of someplace.There is no doubt that this is an apocalyptic novel because although it is set in the future the characters are acting as if its the middle ages.Building fires and walking EVERYWHERE and always looking behind your back for something sinister.Can you imagine?Also the "Papa" commented on the fact that he hasn't used a calender in years.Think about all the birthday parties he must have missed!
        It seems as though the biggest thing the apocalyptic genre has in common with the dystopian genre is that they're both set in the future. The apocalyptic theme runs on survival and how mankind deals with it.It's different from the dystopian genre because there is no stability-in fact the lack of it is the plot!The enemy, while can be other humans,seems to be nature:Lack of food,unbearable weather,that evil squirrel that keeps popping up. The dystopian genre is a bit different. There is stability(with consequences) and the enemy is the government,if the people can even recognize that. The people in the dystopian genre seem to have less truth than the ones in the apocalyptic genre.
        Now as for the writing,I'm not a big fan.We get glimpses of thoughts and barely any emotion which I guess is the author's way of showing the harshness of that world;the characters are so used to the pain that they don't even have to think or talk about it.And the grammar...McCarthy has stated that he doesn't use quotation marks because he doesn't want to "blot the page up with weird little marks". Now, I'm all for artistic expression. You want to use run on sentences?Go ahead! You want to act as if punctuation doesn't exist?Do your thing, just don't expect everyone to be pleased with it.As a student that has been taught grammar since I was a wee child, it is hard for me to enjoy a book that seems to go against everything I've been taught.It becomes hard to follow when an author deliberately uses bad grammar to make a point. Sometimes when I read, I doze off for a split second and when I come back I want to know whether I'm in the beginning of a sentence or the end or if I'm reading dialogue or scene description.So gurl I get watchu tryin to do, I just don't like it.

Brave New World:The End.DUN DUN DUN

        The ending of the Brave New World has to be my favorite part of the novel(not because I can finally stop reading it.Why would you think that...). I especially enjoyed chapters 16 and 17 because we get to finally hear the World State's side of things.I agree with some of the things that Mond says,especially his statement that humans were conditioned to believe in God. For those who are religious, we've been taught to think that everything happens for a reason. And that reason is God.But for those who haven't been taught that, God is just another thing that people believe in, either as a beacon of hope or a scapegoat.After all who thinks about God when good things are happening to them?We tend to think of God when we are at our worst, either guilty for something we've done or blaming Him when something has gone wrong. The people in the World State have happy, uneventful lives so they don't think about a higher power because,like Mond pointed out, there is no need to.
         The last chapter was especially distressing.I genuinely felt bad for John for haven't we all been in a situation in which we didn't know what to feel and how to act?I felt worse in the days leading up to his death than his actual death.Why?John has grown up being an outsider and has moved to the World State to be,once again, another outsider. He will forever be that, no matter where he chooses to live, and that is a hard fact to swallow.Even his closest friend,Helmholtz,laughed when he was talking about Romeo and Juliet. This shows that even though he had similarities with him,Helmholtz will always be a product of the World State and thus, way different from John. Alone and upset, John succumbed and took Soma and participated  in the Orgy Porgy which was the last straw.If he did choose to continue living, he would have had the most miserable experience because now not only was he an outsider, he was an outsider who abandoned his morals. Unfortunate as it was, suicide was the best option for him, lest he live a life not worth living.
        Brave New World was certainly an interesting book. I enjoyed it  a lot and think I think Huxley is a very good author.He made a world that,in the beginning,seems to be so different from ours and little by little shows us that it really isn't.How scary is that?

Brave New World Part 3(Wow such a original title)

        Dyson's Can Science Be Ethical essay has some very interesting points, many that correlate with Brave New World. One point talks about the advancement of technology and how many useful things can come out of that. The technology presented in the novel is clearly astounding, from the helicopter rides that seem no big deal to the way that the humans are made.Another point is humans' desire not necessarily for perfection but anything close to that. Brave new World showcases what seem to be the best looking humans ever, as seen by  their clear distaste of Linda and her unattractive features. Every one in the novel is fit with good teeth and no sign of wrinkles(Jim, this is your kind of world!).
        One of the most important parts of the essay is when Dyson talks about how technology can be bad. "As a general rule,to which there are many exceptions,science works for evil when its effect is to provide toys for the rich, and works for good when its effect is to provide necessities for the poor." This quote has some truths but in the case of Brave New World it is not necessarily  about advancements just for the rich but more so advancements for the few and powerful(though they can also be rich). In the novel a small few control the masses. How did they get that way? Technology is power whether it's in the form of intimidation or envy and the original creators of the World State clearly had at least one of them, if not both. The novel talks about how before the World State humans engaged in many wars and suffered from hunger and mania. After those ordeals who wouldn't say no to a stabilized state with happy pills?Sign me up! And once they've got them hooked on the pills the whole "poor will sooner or later rebel against the tyranny of technology" won't happen.
        Dyson's declaration that new technology is just as dangerous as liberating  can clearly be seen in Brave New World. Society's need for self improvement, stability, and desire to be lazy and get away with it will always be prevalent and can always be dangerous, as seen throughout  the novel. The question is: Will we be able to recognize it before it ruins us?Gurl dat is too hard of a question, you gots to give me a minute.
       

Brave New World part 2

As I kept reading Brave New World, I found out that there were certain characters,such as Bernard and Hemholtz, that were not completely satisfied with their dystopian life(no really?). When Bernard and Lenina go to New Mexico, they meet John, who is also unhappy with his life. Through this we see people who live in two different worlds and are still not satisfied. I feel as though this was Huxley's message to those who would prefer life in the World State and those who prefer life in our world. No matter what the reader's opinions are about which world is better, Huxley shows how each world has its faults.                                                                                       

  Since the Dystopia genre is all about futuristic "utopian" societies that might not be just that, Brave New World can clearly be put under that genre. The more I read the more I found faults with that world. One is the obvious lack of privacy. When Lenina commented that the only time one can be alone without raising suspicions is bed time, I felt very uneasy. If everyone is programed to love the World State and be content with their lives, then why is there such an intrusion on your private life? This shows the shady practices of the World State. Another scene I felt uneasy with was when the director publicly tried to humiliate Bernard.In a place where stabilty reigns, why would one feel the need to do such a thing? If that world is so perfect then the idea of making a point to help society shouldn't exist because everyone should do as they're told. This is just another scene that depicts the controllers have to be very strict because they dont want to lose order. Maybe someone in the past has tried to break free and/or start a revolution?                                                                                                                                                 So far the novel is reminding me of my favorite dystopian film, V for Vendetta. In both the novel and the movie, the setting is a future London in which people have very strict laws that they must adhere to. The government in V for Vendetta is totalitarian and so are the leaders of the World State. While both the film and the book are entertaining, I feel as though they strive to send the warning: Be careful for this is what the world might be like in the future(if it’s not already happening). The authors( for V for Vendetta was a graphic novel originally) are trying to make an allegory for oppression by the government and the use of brainwashing, both issues that are prevalent today.

Brave New World part 1

        As the thousands of people who are reading this blog must know, Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley that is set approximately 500 years in the future. It is set in a "utopia" in which the World State controls people and forces them to live in a frigid caste system under the pretense that this creates stability and keeps people content. As much as characters like the Director try to make this world seem perfect, the reader quickly sees how this wonderful world is much more of a dystopia.
        The first couple of chapters are set in the London hatchery and conditioning center where a group of kids are on some sort of weird field trip.Their tour consists of seeing how the factory creates humans( a whole bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo in which I practically zoned out on) and how they are given pre-destined futures. The latter part is much more interesting in a sadistic kind of way. We see how some fetuses are given less oxygen than others so they can have less intelligence( how rude!) and how some infants are given shock therapy so they won't like books(how demented!).
        I really enjoyed these couple of chapters for many reasons. One, although the story is set way into the future its still slightly realistic. No one is flying and no one is talking to animals. There is a lot of scientific talk which also helps keep it more to the scientific part than the fiction part. Two, I love how evil the world is. The kids are flabbergasted when they hear of families and humans giving birth which was quite funny. The whole shocking kids to make them hate certain things is also a really cool(albeit horrible and crazy) idea. The whole world raises very conflicting emotions in me. One one hand I hate how they practically torture people into being happy with their lives and what they have. One the other hand, how many people today hate their jobs and lives? How many wouldn't mind going through some kind of shock therapy when they're young (in which it's very short and you won't even be able to remember the pain when you're older) in order to be happy and content with their lives? In that world humans aren't given much choice but they're happy in their ignorance, in ours we are given choice but also the pain that comes with it(war, hate, depression). Which one is better? Gurl I don't even know.