Brave New World Questions chapters 1-3
9. How do you think the Director would have finished the sentence "It therefore follows..."(29)?
"It therefore follows...... that the children will be good citizens of the state."
8. According to Mr. Foster, at what point does the Centre leave the realm of imitating nature and begin to apply human invention to reproduction?
"So we allow as many as thirty percent of the female embryos to develop normally. The others get a dose of male sex-hormone every twenty-four metres for the rest of the course. Result: they're decanted as freemartins—structurally quite normal (except," he had to admit, "that they do have the slightest tendency to grow beards), but sterile. Guaranteed sterile. Which brings us at last," continued Mr. Foster, "out of the realm of mere slavish imitation of nature into the much more interesting world of human invention."
7. What do you think a "freemartin" is (13)?
A "freemartin" is a woman who has been made sterile by exposure to male hormones during the fetal development. This is so women can not have children naturally.
19. What is a Malthusian belt?
A Malthusian belt is like a bandolier but instead of holding bullets it hold condoms.
21. Describe the aging process in the World State.
Aging does not exist. Procedures are performed to take away wrinkles and the lengthy daily rituals of washing and massaging one's body ensure that aging is put off for as long possible.
18. Based on context clues, what do you think "Simple Lifers" were? What happened to them?
Based on context clues "Simple Lifers" are people of the lower class. All the simple lifers were killed off.
4. What is Bokanovsky's Process? Which classes undergo Bokanovsky's Process? Which do not?
Bokanovsky's Process takes a single fertilized egg and continues to split it until there are 96 identical embryos. Deltas, Gammas, and Epsilons all undergo this process. The Alphas and Betas do not undergo the process.
5. Why would Bokanovsky's Process help create social stability?
Bokanovsky's process helps create social stability because you know that all of the humans from the eggs will look exactly alike so you already know what to expect.
16. What is Ectogenesis? According to the Director, why did world governments initially reject this scientific advancement? What other technological and social advances/reforms did they reject, and for what reason? What changed their minds?
Ectogenesis is growing something outside of the human body rather than inside. It was once rejected because of the drawbacks from certain groups, such as religion. They also rejected nuclear technology because it looked really dangerous. The positives changed their mind.
9. What treatment is Fanny undergoing? How do you think the treatment works? Why do you think it would be prescribed?
Fanny is undergoing Pregnancy Substitute and it appears that it acts by entering the body through injection and tricking it into thinking it is pregnant to balance out its hormones, as the mammary gland extract and placentin would mimic the conception of a child. It would probably be prescribed to make sure that the female is still capable of properly having a child, as a rejection of such hormones would suggest they were incapable. Fanny is prescribed some type of pill that mimics pregnancy by releasing hormones into the body. This may be prescribed as it allows women who want the positive feelings of pregnancy without the bearing of children. If a woman can take medicine that mimics pregnancy, the body won't feel the need to be pregnant for real, which benefits the World State.
15. Why doesn't Fanny approve of Lenina's interest in Bernard Marx? What is the rumor about Bernard?
Fanny thinks Bernard is unattractive as he is short and thin, especially as an Alpha, and therefore sees him as a waste of time. It is rumored that alcohol was added to his test tube while he was developing as an embryo, which stunted his growth.
12. Why does Fanny disapprove of Lenina's relationship with Henry Foster?
Fanny thinks that Lenina is becoming too involved with Henry as she isn't seeing other men. Fanny is concerned that Lenina may get attached to Henry in a romantic way, so she encourages her to go on dates with other men and "have them".
10. According to the Director, why did Ford/Freud decide that families were dangerous?
Father equaled to misery, mothers equaled every kind or perversion from sadism to chastity, full of brother, sister, uncles, aunts which is full of madness and suicide
2. How does the Director respond to the children he catches engaged in sexual play? In this society, what sort of behavior is considered "normal" and "abnormal?"
He calls them charming and merely dismisses it as they walk by with his sentimental comment, to which the boys who are listening to him smile in a patronizing manner. It is considered normal for a child to engage in sexual behavior, and they find it abnormal when a child cries and doesn't want to
11. Explain the meaning of the proverb: "every one belongs to every one else." What does Huxley suggest about the reason that the students accept this proverb as truth?
He is essentially saying there is no individual who stands alone among the other people in society. This takes away individualism, and the idea that there is no such thing as marrying one person, or staying with one person, because that would create an ownership or a power over people, and they must subject themselves to everyone, and this also gets rid of "the appalling dangers of family life"
4. Who is Mustapha Mond?
He is the Resident Controller of Western Europe, which means he is one of the ten men who run the World State, and he is the most powerful character in this totalitarian World State; he is referred to as his fordship in the novel and is clearly highly regarded
8. What does Huxley mean when he compares hypnopædia to drops of sealing wax falling on granite (28)?
He means that the information is false and it pretty much gets covered so it doesn't fall off.
5. Based on context clues, what historical figure is referred to as "Our Ford"?
Henry Ford, the creator of assembly lines in manufacturing cars and therefore the introducer of mass production
10. Explain how Huxley develops the motif of Henry Ford as a God figure. Use specific examples from the text to support your analysis.
Huxley thinks Ford is a god life figure because he made a big impact of the world by making things easier with the making of the kids.
12. Explain some of the processes that the Centre uses to prepare embryos for their "inescapable social destiny"
In Chapter One, the students view various machines and techniques used to promote the production and conditioning of embryos. The scientists take an ovary, remove and fertilize the eggs, force the eggs to bud up to ninety-six times, and subsequently grow the embryos in bottles. Predestinators then decide the future function of each embryo within the society, essentially assigning a future job to each human.
14. What does it mean to call a woman "pneumatic?" Why does Henry Foster's conversation about Lenina anger Bernard Marx?
In the context of the book, pneumatic seems to be synonymous with sexy or curvy. Henry calls Lenina pneumatic and this angers Bernard as he sees Lenina as a person rather than an object for satisfying one's sexual desires.
6. Explain the saying "History is bunk." Consider the list of things (found on page 35) that the Controller dismisses and suggest a reason for his inclusion of these particular examples of "bunk." Are there any common themes among them?
It is essentially saying that thinking about history too much is a waste of time and therefore living in the present is far more efficient than dwelling on the past. Mond wants people to believe in science and "progress" rather than old ideas and mistakes. The word "bunk" refers to the frailties and primal loyalties of man that he had no control over. Mond looks to the new model of people who have no individual loyalties to enact the violence and vengeance that was common in the past.
4. How was hypnopædia discovered? What were its limitations?
It was discovered in a case in which a boy named Reuben was left in a room where his mother and father left the radio on and so when he fell asleep while the London broadcast played, Reuben was able to repeat the lecture he heard word for word: they essentially discovered sleep teaching and it was first implemented in AF 214. However, the system was flawed in that you could not learn something you did not already understand. For instance, a child who was provided with a speech on the Nile did not know it was located in Africa and therefore when he was asked what the longest river in Africa was, he did not know the answer, but when the Nile was mentioned, he could still recite the whole speech
6. What is moral education? Why was it possible to adapt hypnopædia for moral education?
Moral education was the process of teaching by showing them what is right and wrong in the community.
7. Explain the methods used by the class, Elementary Class Consciousness, to condition children.
One method is the use of Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning, which is when they use electric shocks and sirens to defer children from taking a liking in certain things that would modify their societal traits and limitations. Another method used is hypnopaedic learning, which is sleep teachings. We see the betas being taught the different roles of society and the opinions that are drilled in their brains until they believe it is their own opinion, such as their dislike for the lower classes. The methods they use in the class is that they repeat the information at different intervals so that they understand the information and remember it.
1. Research the experiments of Ivan Pavlov and explain Pavlov's theory.
Pavlov's theory was about classical condition which explains how people associate two stimuli in their minds and react to one of them as though it was the other.
17. Explain the "conscription of consumption" (49). How are citizens conditioned to become consumers? Why would appreciating culture or nature be at odds with consumption?
People are expected to consume. Society views consumption as beneficial. The society believes that more consumption means more production of good, which will increase the number of jobs and keep the society fully employed. Endless consumption also keeps people's minds superficial and in a constant state of desire.
10. Why do the scientists hope to discover a way to speed up maturation?
Scientists hope to discover a way to speed up maturation so that the people are fully developed around the age of six to have more "slaves" to create more babies.
20. What is soma? What purpose does it serve in society?
Soma is a drug that is given to all citizens for whenever they begin to feel unhappy and need an escape. Daily rations are distributed to the people and soma is used regularly to take the edge off of life. Soma is used to suppress extreme emotions that could create instability in society; instead of dealing with these emotions (like anger, loneliness, and depression), citizens go on a "holiday".
2. Explain the conditioning exercise that the Delta infants at the Centre experience. What is the purpose of the "lesson"? How does it reflect the Pavlov's theory? Explain the economic rationale for conditioning lower-caste children to hate flowers.
The Deltas are introduced to flowers and books and are allowed to touch them before a loud siren noise goes off and the children get scared before an electric shock is sent through the children so when they are presented with the books and flowers again, they cry and do not want to be near them. The purpose behind this is to make them have an 'instinctive' hatred of books and flowers, keeping them focused on their jobs, away from the knowledge of books and botany. It makes them scared of nature and the outside world, which discourages any behavior that would destabilize the society and would therefore make every worker efficient, meaning no effort or human material would go to waste
8. How does the Director describe what a home was? Why effect does his description have on the students?
The Director describes a home as an unstable cage where emotions continue to brew until it somehow influences a person's behavior and sways their judgement from being objective to subjective. Like with the term "mother", the students are disgusted by the thought of living in a home.
3. What does the Director tell the students about the way children were raised in the past? How do the students respond to this information?
The Director tells the students that before Ford and for some generations after, erotic play between children was regarded as abnormal and even immoral and so it was suppressed, and the students who listen are astonished by the information and almost appalled
13. Explain the allegory that the Director makes using water under pressure in a pipe. How does it illustrate the danger of monogamy or other exclusive relationships? According to the Director, why does promiscuity lead to stability?
The controller states that all human emotion or feeling can be seen in the same way as a pipe that carries water. Once the pipe has been lanced, water spurts out..... but if the pipe is pierced multiple times, each hole only leaks a small amount of water. Human emotion, like the water, can be stabilized to "small" leaks if there are multiple outlets or partners to consistently share it with.
3. What is suggested by Huxley's decision to replace the words "mother" and "father" with "crash and crash" and "wink and s******" (25)?
The decision that is suggested to replace the words "mother" and "father" with "crash and crash" and "wink and snigger" was made because the parents were not needed as the humans were now made in test tubes. They are considered primitive and filthy, and as threats to the system, because it is contrary to the system of artificial reproduction. These words (crash and crash) are chosen to belittle the value of parents
7. Based on context clues, what are Feelies (35)?
The feelies offer a chance to not only experience sights and sounds as, but even feel touch. Those watching can actually feel all of the action, especially during the love scenes.Feelies are like a erotic movie you can feel
1. Explain how Centrifugal Bumble-puppy is played. What is the government's perspective on the purpose of games?
The game is elaborate and requires complex machinery. They learn that the heavy reliance on machinery increases consumption of material goods and thus boost the economy.
3. Explain the fertilization process used in Brave New World. How does the Hatching and Conditioning Centre acquire the necessary ovum and spermatozoa?
The premise of the fertilization process used focuses on creating individuals who are as uniform as possible. Ova from one ovary and spermatozoa from one donor are obtained and then used to create up to 16,000 individuals. Similar to IVF, the ova are submerged in a concentrated solution of spermatozoa until each egg is successfully fertilized. Each fertilized egg is then split continuously until there are 96 identical embryos.
11. According to the Director, what is the secret of happiness and virtue? Do you agree with him? Explain your answer.
The secret of happiness and virtue is to speed up maturation so you have a full grown human at the age of six. In my opinion, I don't agree with the Director because even though the human may be fully matured, he/she will not be fully developed in the brain like they would need to be.
5. Beginning on page 34, Huxley juxtaposes scenes between the Director and his students with scenes between Henry Foster and Bernard Marx and scenes of a discussion between Fanny and Lenina Crowne. What is happening in each of these three vignettes? What effect does the juxtaposition of the scenes create?
The students and the Director are discussing the caveats of past societies; Bernard and Henry argue over the way that women (specifically Lenina) should be treated and thought of; Fanny and Lenina discuss their relationships with men and their contraception requirements. All three scenes reveal various aspects of the World State and how citizens react to certain phrases/ideas. It is apparent that promiscuity is encouraged (for both men and women) and that becoming romantically invested in someone is blatantly wrong. The juxtaposition of the scenes reveals the views of each character on the World State. For a society where everyone's life is supposed to be planned out, these characters show an awful lot of individualism.
1. Explain how Huxley uses imagery to establish setting and mood. Cite specific examples that you find particularly effective in your response.
The very first sentence of the book paints the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre as a "squat grey building" that is "cold for all the summer beyond the panes". Even though the physical temperature of the building is quite warm and tropical, the introductory page continues to suggest that the building is cold in appearance by using words like frozen, wintrous, and goose-flesh.
9. What is the purpose of depriving some embryos of adequate oxygen?
To keep the brain from fully developing which would result in a group of people with a lower intelligence level.
6. Based on context clues, what do you think the term "unforeseen wastages" is a euphemism for (10)?
Unforeseen wastage is a euphemism for the numbers of deaths in a catastrophe, and an increase in production to make sure those losses are replaced. when population falls you must make up for it.
2. The World State's motto suggests that community, identity, and stability are the most important qualities in their society. What do you believe are the three most important values for a society? Explain your answer.
Unity, passion, and compassion.
