Post Reading: Brave New World

         Fear and ignorance are both ideas that live in our head. I feel that ignorance however is more detrimental due to fact that you are not in the know about how you are controlled.
         In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the citizens are under an illusion that the world that they live in is a perfect world. The truth about their government is that anything that could bring them knowledge or realization is taken from them. The government has taken away people’s right to read, have religion, or even have a natural human relationship including sexual reproduction. To me this is should be feared more because in this form of government you would be too ignorant and blind to even realize what was happening to you and why any of it would be wrong.
         In the novel they’re many things that take place that aren’t accepted in society today. They have the idea that Henry Ford is somewhat of God and should be worshipped and this is believed because religious texts were prohibited under the government. In the society of Brave New World the use of the drug soma is present when the characters face internal conflict and wish to be free from their thoughts. The drug however isn’t illegal in their government, this is because it makes it easier for the government to control the mind of the people which makes it less likely for rebellion. Since drugs are abused by the citizens the high of the drug causes a fake happiness and this makes the ignorance from the citizens increase. In the novel children are allowed to perform in sexual excursions and is passed off as being play today we look upon this in disgust. Many people today have knowledge to know that sexulizing children is not right but in their society they see nothing wrong with it because this is what they are taught and supposed to believe. Babies are also subjects to tests from the moment that they are born they have beliefs that are meant to be engraved in their minds. Without the freedom to think for themselves as adults a caste system is created between the different classes of people and what they feel is right and wrong.
        I feel that the author's use of ignorance being happiness can be seen in living today. It shows that the things that we find happiness and brilliance in can be dangerous and harm us. People like Lenina were always blind to everything and believed that the idealistic world that lived in was honest and true. In the end without knowledge, people are unfairly controlled and stripped of their rights.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

-Albert Einstein

Triangulation Essay

Could you imagine a world without creativity? Could you imagine having no identity or rights to your own mind? That’s what countless writers have illustrated in the mind of society today. The dystopian ideas of everyone being the same, everyone being a slave to society, and even their mind. But what happens when rebellion sparks?

In societies of those presented in the movie Antz and the stories “Harrison Bergeron” and Anthem live in ignorance, fear, and oppression. Government doesn't give you the power to make your own choices and creates the idea that everything is done for the good of the people. Oppression is the systematic way that the citizens are controlled and abused. In both Anthem and Antz your job placement is defined by government to stifle and ideas, potential, or excellence anyone may have. In “Harrison Bergeron” the government uses masks, weights, and earpieces which were known as handicaps. Handicaps were meant for everyone to have the same level of abilities and thoughts it kept everyone from being better than anyone else. Many people believed the government to be honest and true and some were simply not afraid to speak out against the government, however three brave souls had the courage to do so.

Harrison, Z, and Equality were the names of the young men who attempted to reform society. The three courageous males had felt the sadness and oppression that was bearing on their shoulders. All had outside of the box ideas and ways of thinking. Harrison a 7 foot tall fourteen-year old who lives in a world filled with masked beauty and handicaps. Equality a twenty-one year who lives in less modern yet futuristic world where originality is scorned upon. Z who stands at only a few centimeters is tired of living in a colony where he doesn't matter. While all these characters have their differences they all have the same want and intentions and that was to be emancipated from the servitude of their government. The three not being average as everyone else had open eyes of the ways of their oppressors which soon lead into the start their rebellions. All three resulting in different ways the government was effected.

As Equality makes new scientific discoveries and Z attempts to find himself and love Harrison makes plans to create rebellion in a much different light. While both Z and Equality have philosophies and knowledge that surrounds their rebellion the insurgence Harrison came from place of violence and control. He does get freedom, while it’s short lived. In the end while Harrison was killed by the Handicap General, the leader of his government. Equality proposes light, his new invention to the world council and when he learns they have no means of improvement of society and soon flees the scene into what he knows as uncharted land. He is followed by Liberty whom he has fallen for. As they venture off into the woods they soon discover an old home and starts a new life and civilization. Z becomes known as war hero to his fellow ants and soon embarks on a journey along with the kidnapped princess. He returns soon to save the colony from the annihilation of the government he becomes renown and every ant gets their individual rights.

Utopia isn't a place that can be reached due to the fact everyone has a different idea of what a perfect civilization is. In a homogeneous world without creativity or imagination it stifles people as individual. Individuality and identity should be defined through the feelings and thoughts of a person. The dystopian stories show us a look into the future where freedom isn't a choice and thinking for yourself is wrong. The tales teach us that your freedom is a right that shouldn't be taken from you.

Brave New World Pre Reading Blog

The first mentions of utopia came from ancient Greece in 1516. The word's roots literally means "no place". In every society that has ever been mentioned through the countless stories that I've read nothing is ever perfect to everyone, there is always an outlier. Nothing can be perfect in the eyes of everyone because everyone has a different idea of their perfect society this is why an utopia can never be achieved.

Recently I've had a feeling that the America that I live in today is almost distopic. I look around and realize the country that I've been placed in a place stolen from another culture. A country were people were once enslaved. A country were women and men aren't equal, cultures aren't appreciated, and people are poor and homeless. I listen to people speak of materialistic as if they somehow make them better than people who can't afford things. It seems that people are blinded by the privelege America has given them to see the bad and sadness this county has caused people. Sometimes I sit and think of these facts and then I start to see a place that is far but idealistic for the future.

In my perfect society I see equality amongst all people but in a way that creativity isn't stifled. Creativity would be a big part of my society art, music, and new inventions anything that was new and innovative would be rewarded and praised but mediocrity wouldn't be. With this equality men and women  would be equals to each other and have respect for each other without misandry or misogyny. There would be no crazy beauty standards that people would have to abide to to seem attractive or wanted. Men and women would know about the cultures of others and respect them but would refrain from appropriating the ideas of others and claiming them as theirs. In my idealistic society people would be able to marry who they want, women and women and men and men and they wouldn't be judged for loving who they love. I would want to live in modern society where technology is prosperous but isn't taking jobs from people rather than helping make people's jobs easier. I would want people to learn and know the pain behind civilization and all the people who struggled everyday. This I'd my idealistic idea of how things should be people being having complete individuality to express themselves.

These are my dreams for America.  It's hard to be a woman in this country and being black is just as hard. Sometimes I think that if everything in this country stays the same then what are the chances for future generations? What are the chances of my future? I like to keep an open mind that things can change and that we'll live in world were people  are excepted no matter who they are and choose to be.

 "Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle."
- Kendrick Lamar