This passage from chapter 14 of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” illustrates the contrast between the World State and the outside world. John sits by the side of his dying mother while she is observed by a group of children who are being “death-conditioned”. They are “astonished” yet “alarmed” by her “distorted senility”, as the erasure of nature in the new world prevents them from witnessing “a face like hers”—one that is not “youthful” or “taut-skinned”. While John is disturbed by their “disgraceful” comments, it is actually he who is disgraceful, disrupting the death-conditioning of the children by acting so inappropriate towards Linda’s death. This passage questions who is truly more civilized. Is it those who live in a socially stable
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As John “tremble[s] with indignation” after experiencing the cruel comments of the children towards Linda’s death, the nurse is perplexed by his reaction and struggles to comprehend what he perceives to be so “disgraceful” about them. She is an significant character in this passage because she represents the logic and values of the World State, as she is unaccepting of anything that would interfere with the stability of society, such as John’s disruption to the children’s death-conditioning. The nurse “[falls] back in terror” after John faces her with such a “menacing”, savage-like demeanour, reflecting the fear of the outside world in the World State, which is a key characteristic of a dystopian society. In addition, Huxley describes the manner in which the students “[stare] with the frightened and stupid …show more content…
Huxley chooses to link these words together using alliteration in order to juxtapose the fascinated while disgusted reaction of the children towards Linda’s appearance. In addition, the assonance of the long “aw” sound in “astonished” and “alarm” prolongs the feeling of amazement, as if the children are standing with their jaws dropped in awe. Standing in stupefaction, one of the children whispers to the others, “Oh, look, look!”. The repetition of the word “look” draws the reader’s attention to the children’s curiosity, as if they were jumping and pointing in excitement. This emphasizes their interest in something so otherworldly. Huxley makes this choice in order to underline the deprivation of World State citizens from the outside
As John “tremble[s] with indignation” after experiencing the cruel comments of the children towards Linda’s death, the nurse is perplexed by his reaction and struggles to comprehend what he perceives to be so “disgraceful” about them. She is an significant character in this passage because she represents the logic and values of the World State, as she is unaccepting of anything that would interfere with the stability of society, such as John’s disruption to the children’s death-conditioning. The nurse “[falls] back in terror” after John faces her with such a “menacing”, savage-like demeanour, reflecting the fear of the outside world in the World State, which is a key characteristic of a dystopian society. In addition, Huxley describes the manner in which the students “[stare] with the frightened and stupid …show more content…
Huxley chooses to link these words together using alliteration in order to juxtapose the fascinated while disgusted reaction of the children towards Linda’s appearance. In addition, the assonance of the long “aw” sound in “astonished” and “alarm” prolongs the feeling of amazement, as if the children are standing with their jaws dropped in awe. Standing in stupefaction, one of the children whispers to the others, “Oh, look, look!”. The repetition of the word “look” draws the reader’s attention to the children’s curiosity, as if they were jumping and pointing in excitement. This emphasizes their interest in something so otherworldly. Huxley makes this choice in order to underline the deprivation of World State citizens from the outside