"'Have a few magnesium-salted almonds!' said the man who, if the Savage were to advance, would be the first to be attacked. He held out a packet. 'They're really very good you know,' he added, with a rather nervous smile of propitiation. 'And the magnesium salts will help to keep you young'" (Huxely 316).
The citizens, no matter what happens the first thing that always comes to mind is consumerism. Even when in danger these people only know consumerism. This makes their lives seem less meaningful to the people that know more than just consumerism, because those people know there is more to life than just objects. Contrary, to this belief to have consumerism be the first thing that comes to mind can prove useful if you are in dire need of anything. For example, if a person needed a way to calm down as fast as possible them soma would be there for them, so there is a good use for the ways of consumer culture.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Brave New World: chapter 17~ Punishment by the pleasant vices
"'Are you quite sure that the Edmund in that pneumatic chair hasn't been just as heavily punished as the Edmund who's wounded and bleeding to death? The gods are just. Haven't they used his pleasant vices as an instrument to degrade him?'" (Huxely 290).
In the Brave New World, the consumer culture is being compared to a man being wounded and bleeding to death. This is because of how the citizens degrade themselves and punish themselves by always just being a consumer in their new society. The culture degrades them and they don't even know because if they were to be compared to someone in reality, they would have the mental maturity of a child. However, them being so ignorant may not be so degrading because by keeping most of society at this mental state they are able to keep a peace that is unattainable without regulating how the people indulge themselves. Furthermore, in this strategic way of accomplishing a control over the people they do not have to rely on force, and use a culture that solely relies on consumerism.
In the Brave New World, the consumer culture is being compared to a man being wounded and bleeding to death. This is because of how the citizens degrade themselves and punish themselves by always just being a consumer in their new society. The culture degrades them and they don't even know because if they were to be compared to someone in reality, they would have the mental maturity of a child. However, them being so ignorant may not be so degrading because by keeping most of society at this mental state they are able to keep a peace that is unattainable without regulating how the people indulge themselves. Furthermore, in this strategic way of accomplishing a control over the people they do not have to rely on force, and use a culture that solely relies on consumerism.
Brave New World: chapter 15/16 ~ Science and Art tear the world apart
"'And it's what you will never write,' said the Controller. 'Because, if it were really like Othello nobody could understand it, however new it might be. And if were new, it couldn't possibly be like Othello'" (Huxely 264).
Consumer culture in the Brave New World sacrifices the arts to give the people happiness, but this is a false sense of happiness because the root of their happiness is ignorance. The citizens of the world state are only shown few pleasures in life so to say that they are truly happy is that they are really just ignorant and this is what they have been taught to enjoy. However, the people are not able to feel the happiness and the plethora of emotions that come from art, but to say that they do not feel a real sense of happiness, because they only know few pleasures, is ignorant on its own. There are many people in the real world who only know few pleasures and are very happy. Although, the sacrifice of art is detrimental to this society, it is to say even if it were to be created here the meaning in the life of art has been degraded to nothing, and not one would ever understand it.
Consumer culture in the Brave New World sacrifices the arts to give the people happiness, but this is a false sense of happiness because the root of their happiness is ignorance. The citizens of the world state are only shown few pleasures in life so to say that they are truly happy is that they are really just ignorant and this is what they have been taught to enjoy. However, the people are not able to feel the happiness and the plethora of emotions that come from art, but to say that they do not feel a real sense of happiness, because they only know few pleasures, is ignorant on its own. There are many people in the real world who only know few pleasures and are very happy. Although, the sacrifice of art is detrimental to this society, it is to say even if it were to be created here the meaning in the life of art has been degraded to nothing, and not one would ever understand it.
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