Brave New World
The novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley positions readers to think and reflect upon values and beliefs of our society, through emphasising the differences in his fictional society and our current society (or that of the 1930s). (Main Contention)
THE MEANING IN TEXT IS SHAPED BY PURPOSE, CULTURAL CONTEXT, AND SOCIAL SITUATION. (The author provided a society so different from ours that we were forced to either agree strongly with or disagree with the concepts – would this be a good or bad thing? Our society and social norms have shaped how we generally read this text, Huxley wanted to highlight that). • Child erotic play
• Soma
• Everyone Belongs to Everyone Else
• Science fiction child raising
• No families
TEXT IS …show more content…
Child erotic play, accepted or forced promiscuity, and forms of sexual harassment are unacceptable in today’s society. However, in Brave New World, readers are informed that the Director ‘inappropriately’ smacking Lenina’s bottom is “The strictest conventionality.” (Fanny Crowne, chapter 3, page 35) Such an act, in present-day society, would be considered inappropriate and beyond rude which coerces the reader to seriously consider the effects of each moral and value in their society. Mustapha Mond, an influential character in this novel, explicitly instructed a child to “run off and do your erotic play.” (Chapter 3, page 48.) Similar to the previous quote, this instruction exemplifies the glorification of aspects of modern society that would be considered incomprehensible or unacceptable, which encourages the reader to think about the values of a ‘more advanced’ society in comparison to their own. Both glorification and binary opposition are strong tools in the novelist’s repertoire to encourage the reader to reflect upon the values and beliefs of contemporary
The novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley positions readers to think and reflect upon values and beliefs of our society, through emphasising the differences in his fictional society and our current society (or that of the 1930s). (Main Contention)
THE MEANING IN TEXT IS SHAPED BY PURPOSE, CULTURAL CONTEXT, AND SOCIAL SITUATION. (The author provided a society so different from ours that we were forced to either agree strongly with or disagree with the concepts – would this be a good or bad thing? Our society and social norms have shaped how we generally read this text, Huxley wanted to highlight that). • Child erotic play
• Soma
• Everyone Belongs to Everyone Else
• Science fiction child raising
• No families
TEXT IS …show more content…
Child erotic play, accepted or forced promiscuity, and forms of sexual harassment are unacceptable in today’s society. However, in Brave New World, readers are informed that the Director ‘inappropriately’ smacking Lenina’s bottom is “The strictest conventionality.” (Fanny Crowne, chapter 3, page 35) Such an act, in present-day society, would be considered inappropriate and beyond rude which coerces the reader to seriously consider the effects of each moral and value in their society. Mustapha Mond, an influential character in this novel, explicitly instructed a child to “run off and do your erotic play.” (Chapter 3, page 48.) Similar to the previous quote, this instruction exemplifies the glorification of aspects of modern society that would be considered incomprehensible or unacceptable, which encourages the reader to think about the values of a ‘more advanced’ society in comparison to their own. Both glorification and binary opposition are strong tools in the novelist’s repertoire to encourage the reader to reflect upon the values and beliefs of contemporary