The Death of Creativity in Brave New World
Aldous Huxley, in his distopian novel,Brave New World, presents a
horrifying view of a possible future in which society has
become a prisoner of the very technology it hoped would save us. In Brave
New World Huxley's distortion of technology, religion, and family values,
is much more effective than his use of literary realism found in his
depiction of a savage reservation. Through his use of distortion Huxley
tells a classic tale with the theme of, be careful what you wish for,
because it may not truly be what you wanted.
Huxley effectively uses distortion in -Brave New World through his
depiction of social values of the future. For example, when Barnard Marx
hears somebody talking about Lenina in the locker room, he becomes upset.
Leaving the building, everyone he passes recommends soma for his bad mood.
Huxley shows the reader that drug use is becoming more and more an
acceptable way out for a weak society. He is showing society that we are
becoming emotionally incapable of dealing with pain and hurt. Furthermore,
the students, while speaking with the director of the London Hatchery, are
told at one time people were viviparous, and were disgusted and outraged.
Huxley is trying to warn society that its lack of commitment and endurance
will eventually be its downfall. Lack of the experience of pregnancy
severs the emotional ties of the woman and her child. An emotionless
society feels no guilt. In addition, Lenina, when accused of lack of
promiscuity by Fanny while in the locker room, religiously denies it.
Monogamy requires commitment, pain, and work. Huxley is predicting humans
progressing to a society of people who are unable to focus on anything but
pleasure; unable to handle the work of a commitment. He knew the road we
were on would lead the wrong way.
Huxley also uses distortion to open peoples eyes to the world of
religion. For example, Bernard Marx hurries and frets about being late to
his orgy-porgy session because he is running behind. Huxley's prediction
of the church moving away from God and towards man is becoming evident even
sixty-three years after his book appeared. Church figures, such as, Jim
Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert, have appeared numerous times on the news and in
the papers for using the church for money and sex. Furthermore, when
Bernard and Lenina visit the reservation they are appalled at the practice
of a cross of Christianity and Hinduism. A warning that lack of religious
tolerance could be one of the greatest downfalls of our time.
Intriguing with sapphire eyes, a face chiseled out of stone, and golden ear locks stands Danny Saunders. In Chaim Potok’s book The Chosen Danny Saunders is a dynamic character. Son of Reb Saunders, a tzaddik, Danny lives a life infused with the Talmud. He studies and Talmud by heart but longs to study beyond religious manuscripts. The reading of non-religious books in Danny’s sect earns social rejection¬¬¬, but Danny yearned to study more and did so. Danny Saunders possesses a brilliant mind, a theological understanding, and an inquisitive sprit.
While reading Amazing Grace, one is unable to escape the seemingly endless tales of hardship and pain. The setting behind this gripping story is the South Bronx of New York City, with the main focus on the Mott Haven housing project and its surrounding neighborhood. Here black and Hispanic families try to cope with the disparity that surrounds them. Mott Haven is a place where children must place in the hallways of the building, because playing outside is to much of a risk. The building is filled with rats and cockroaches in the summer, and lacks heat and decent water in the winter. This picture of the "ghetto" is not one of hope, but one of fear. Even the hospitals servicing the neighborhoods are dirty and lack the staff that is needed for quality basic care. If clean bed sheets are needed the patients must put them on themselves. This book is filled with stories of real people and their struggles. Each story, though different in content, has the same basic point, survival.
As analyzed by social critic Neil Postman, Huxley's vision of the future, portrayed in the novel Brave New World, holds far more relevance to present day society than that of Orwell's classic 1984. Huxley's vision was simple: it was a vision of a trivial society, drowned in a sea of pleasure and ignorant of knowledge and pain, slightly resembling the world of today. In society today, knowledge is no longer appreciated as it has been in past cultures, in turn causing a deficiency in intelligence and will to learn. Also, as envisioned by Huxley, mind altering substances are becoming of greater availability and distribution as technology advances. These drugs allow society to escape from the problems of life instead of dealing with reality. With divorce rates higher than ever in the past few decades, it has become evident that lust has ruined the society's sexual covenants. People are indulging in their sexual motives; lust runs rampant, thus strong, long-lasting relationships are becoming a rarity.
From the time they first meet in a softball game to the moment they bid their final farewells, Danny and Reuven develop tremendously. Their fathers play a crucial role in this development. Still, no matter how David Malter and Reb Saunders raise them, their sons will always accept and forever cherish the precious gifts of love, guidance, and care that are continually given to them.
Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace is a book that describes the everyday horrors and struggles for survival, for a group of elementary girls and boys who are growing up in the South Bronx, the poorest congressional district in the United States. "When you enter the train, you are in the seventh richest congressional district in the nation. When you leave, you are in the poorest." This unimaginable way of life seems normal to these children because they really don't know any better. Normal to them is sickness, drug abuse, pollution, death, welfare and violence.
In modern day now women are able to genetically choose what they’re baby would be like. Sperm banks are required to have a profile of each man that donates sperm. This gives the opportunity to women to choose what kind of characteristics their baby would inherit. Which this concept ties into brave new world. In the book they are created by machine basically but multiple eggs will produce more than 40 or about 40. But if you were going to be high class you would be created by one egg. And he high class people were in control of what kind of people they needed. If you weren’t going to be all there you would be injected with alcohol etc. It was a world that was controlled and cruel. Such as the modern world due to the fact that women are giving the opportunity to pick the kind of characteristics that they please for their children. Which most people would think would be absurd. Another way of doing such thing is doing genetic mutation. This basically is a permanent change in the DNA sequence. There are three ways a genetic mutation can possibly occur. One it would be passed down and the mutation would inherit. Also it can progressively occur over time without the person knowing it’s actually happening. Or it can be altered which a genetic message is carried to the DNA and changes it. There are so many ways to alter or choose what kind of genetics or DNA you would like to choose for the human being you create. If it’s one thing modern society would have to say it’d be why create something piece by piece when you can create something on your own with out no genetic mutations or any sperm donation. You shouldn’t interfere with what you create at all. In the brave new world Linda was ashamed that she was pregnant because babies weren’t...
In the featured article “The Creativity Crisis” written by authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, the subject of increasing the American public’s overall I.Q. through creativity is discussed. The authors starts out by scrutinizing the subject of the American people’s I.Q. They state that as a whole the American people’s I.Q. has gone up 10 points from the past but the current generation’s I.Q. is poor when compared to the 90’s generation I.Q. Bronson and Merryman state that the “failing” is occurring the most in the grades starting at Pre-K and going up to sixth grade. This article claims that creativity can be taught, and that people just need to learn how to integrate it into their everyday lives. They also state that simple things such
Each character has their own strengths, weaknesses, and motivations, leading them to act realistically and with purpose. For example, Reuven is easily affected by first-impressions. Because of this, he begrudges both Danny for hitting him in the eye at the start of the novel and his father for imposing silence over Danny. Another example comes in the form of Danny’s thirst for knowledge. Danny’s father worries about the secular world making Danny’s soul devoid of compassion through the allure of information. Yet, Danny cannot stay away from external learning, gobbling up Freud’s works over summer. Because of this, Danny’s father is motivated to teach Danny how to be compassionate in the only way he knows how—establishing a permanent silence between the two outside of Talmudic studies. Through these ways, Potok’s novel establishes characters with depth and personality, making them come to
One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have.
Even though the novel, Brave New World was written quite some time ago, Huxley still makes points that are relevant today. By using satire, he warns us on issues such as science, technology and religion. We should slow down our uses of science and technology, especially when using them for abusive purposes. We also need to be careful about letting the government get too involved in aspects of our everyday lives. If we start letting simple freedoms go, we could lose some major ones.
Ken Robinson once said, “Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it 's produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.” Creativity is more than just having artistic talent. According to Merriam- Webster Dictionary creativity is defined as, “the ability to make new things or think of new ideas.” A person can be creative without making a single piece of artwork. Creativity was one characteristic that Stalin and Hitler had in common. Both had artistic abilities and talent as well as possessing the ability to think creatively. Hitler and Stalin had artistic talent in their youth, however, Hitler continued to use his artistic talent and creativity while gaining power.
In most countries in our world, society has experienced technological advances to the point of being able to accomplish what Huxley envisioned. In contrast to Huxley’s vision, the moral standards of most nations allow all humans to enjoy basic human rights that embrace family, personal relationships, and individualism. Today’s society is able to comprehend how with the technological advances Huxley’s world could be a reality, but with the privilege of a democratic society, civilization would not allow the medical intervention for reproduction, the conditioning for happiness and consumerism. Work Cited "Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Barron's Notes" Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Barron's Notes. N.p., n.d. Web.
In the TED talk “How School’s Killing Creativity” Ken Robinson makes some very good points, he says that as we grow we are taught to be more practical than we are creative. He starts out with a very humorous approach to his topic; by starting out with several jokes the mood becomes lighter and he grasps the audience’s attention. As a college professor he knows a lot about education and what is being taught in schools today. As he begins to speak his main point is that all children are born creative, but through years of schooling we are taught from ‘the waist up’ and only taught how to use our brains at school. That in most schools the most important subjects around the world are math and
Another factor that points to children's television being too violent is the aggressive behavior that it is bringing out in the children that are watching it. During the average four hours a day that children watch television, They witness an average of 20 violent acts per hour. That is about 80 violent acts per day and, "Children who watch the violent shows, even 'just funny' cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the nonv...
Capital punishment is necessary in order for justice to prevail. Capital punishment is the execution of criminals for committing crimes that is in regard as so bad that death is the only acceptable punishment. Capital punishment servers to lower the murder rate, but also has value as a form of retribution. Its fairness is determined by the judicial system. As a form of punishment, it saves money when compared to a life sentence.