Brave New World #1

Phelps, Entry #1 Brave New World
                Bethany, I agree with you that the setting is very sterile and emotionless. There are no families and their leader, The Ford, says that there are "appalling dangers of family life"(39). I thought it was terrible that they taught babies to have an aversion to books and flowers because they think those are things wasteful to their time and are not productive. As said by the director: "A love of nature keeps no factories busy. It was decided to abolish the love of nature"(23). They do not want them to read books and think or waste their time appreciating nature; which I found very sad. The idea of their "sleep-teaching" disturbs me because they have the ability to alter the babies brains-- what they think, what they like to do, even their personalities. This way they are able to "predestine" everyone to do specific jobs or be in certain classes. They even predestine some women to be "freemartins" who are "guaranteed sterile"(13). There is no freewill whatsoever. It reminds me of CS Lewis' section about the "tin soldiers" who have no feelings and no freewill-- like the people of this society. The Director says that, "the secret of happiness and virtue [is]-- liking what you've got to do"(16). How do you feel about that? I think he is wrong and the truth lies in the opposite of what he said, which is we should do what we like to do and what we have a passion for.
         
              Again, I agree with you that the children's erotic games are very creepy. I am not really sure of their purpose other than trying to raise their promiscuity and eliminate monogamous relationships. I also found the last chapter to be confusing but I think it was interesting. It was comprised of dialogue from The Ford, Lenina, and Bernard. I think this style was attempting to compare and contrast Bernard from the rest of the characters. He does not agree with the other guys "having Lenina" and it just seems like there is something a bit different about him. What do you think? I think he almost might be less brainwashed than the rest of them. The others keep repeating the phrase "every one belongs to every one else"(43) which has been ingrained in their minds.
         
            My question for you is what do you think about the caste system? There are Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas, etc. I personally think that it is terrible that they predestine people to be "smart" like the alphas or "dumb" like the Deltas.. Also do you think the phrase "straight from the horse's mouth"(4) holds any significance? They keep repeating it throughout the book.