Literary Analysis #3

1. For my third literary analysis I chose Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The story is a about a new Utopian society created in the future. In this world families, religion, art and science are no longer in existence and woman no longer bare children, instead children are created. Those of whom are then placed into classes which then in turn determine the child's specific role in the future (occupation). In the story a man named Bernard Marx and Lenina take a trip to the "Savage Reservation", an area where things are unaffected by the new utopian ways. There they find a woman named Linda and her son John. John and Linda travel back to London with Bernard. Linda dies and John falls into a deep depression and eventually kills himself.
2. The theme of this novel is that imperfections, mistakes, and struggles are what makes life memorable what makes it worth living. The whole story was about the perfect life with no sadness, mistakes, or personal conflicts, everything was scientifically mapped out for each individual their choices, their careers, their emotions. But no body should have to live that way, Bernard could not. If everything is perfect then everything is actually not. The struggles in life are what make the successes stand out that much more.
3. Huxley's tone in Brave New World is very dramatic at times. For instance when he describes the dark misfortunes of the characters, however he does an excellent job of counter acting those passages with lighthearted puns and parodies.
4. Literary Elements
-tone
"Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too-all his life long. The mind that judges and desire and decides-made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions... Suggestions from the State."
"The operation undergone voluntarily for the good of Society, not to mention the fact that it carries a bonus amounting to six months' salary."
-pun
"You all remember, I suppose, that beautiful and inspired saying of Our Ford's: History is bunk."
"Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches."
"A gramme is better than a damn."
-imagery
"These," he said gravely, "are unpleasant facts; I know it. But then most historical facts are unpleasant."
"Those who feel themselves despised do well to look despising. The smile on Bernard Marx's face was contemptuous."
"The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects. Which in turn increased his sense of being alien and alone. A chronic fear of being slighted made him avoid his equals, made him stand, where his inferiors were concerned, self-consciously on his dignity."
-parody
"And that," put in the Director sententiously, "that is the secret of happiness and virtue-liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny."
"All of the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects."
"Bottle of mine, it's you I've always wanted! Bottle of mine, why was I ever decanted? Skies are blue inside of you, The weather's always fine; For There ain't no Bottle in all the world Like that dear little Bottle of mine."
-symbolism
"Ford, we are twelve; oh make us one, Like drops within the Social River; Oh, make us now together run As swiftly as thy shining Flivver. Come, Greater Being, Social Friend, Annihilating Twelve-in-One! We long to die, for when we end, Our larger life has but begun."
"Lying in bed, he would think of Heaven and London and Our Lady of Acoma and the rows and rows of babies in clean bottles and Jesus flying up and Linda flying up and the great Director of World hatcheries and Awonawilona."
-syntax
"What man has joined, nature is powerless to put asunder."
"Community, Identity, Stability"
"The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offense is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior. Murder kills only the individual-and, after all, what is an individual?"
-personification
"Yes, and civilization is sterilization."
"When the individual feels, the community reels."
-diction
"Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta."
-metaphor
"One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments."
“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
-motif
"In the lift, on their way up to the changing rooms, Henry Foster and the Assistant Director of Predestination rather pointedly turned their backs on Bernard Marx from the Psychology Bureau: averted themselves from that unsavory reputation."

Characterization

1. Huxley likes to switch back and forth throughout his writing from direct and indirect characterization, like most authors do. By doing so this it helps to develop the main characters Bernard Marx and John through their own thoughts and actions and others thoughts and actions towards them. 

2. Huxley's syntax and diction changes dramatically when describing and switching between characters. Just looking at his writing styles when describing the city (London) and its people in the utopian society compared the the savages and there people the diction becomes much more simplistic. The same trend occurs individually when comparing his writing styles with John and Bernard, each worlds apart.

3. To me there are two main characters in this novel, Bernard and John. Bernard is definitely a dynamic and round character. He was so many qualities about himself and this ideas on the world. He wants so hard to understand the world around him and be happy but something is holding him back. He struggles with what to do. As for John, John is the opposite he is a static flat character, up until his death he was very one noted, had little differentiation. In his mind the world is dull and confusing but he does little to try to figure it out. 

4. Since this was a fictional story it was harder for me to connect to the characters at the time, I often found myself confused with their thoughts and reactions. After reading this book I feel more as if I read about characters rather than met them. The characters did not really appear to me and that might have been part of the reason why.