Brave New World III

Questions about Brave New World:

• Why does Huxley base his society around consumerism in place of real feeling?

         Huxley uses consumerism to show the hypnosis of the population as a result of manipulation by the government. Through mediums like soma and conditioning, the World State has ensured that the population will not rebel and not to try to show feeling for each other if they are distracted by other things like sex and having a good time.

• Technology plays a large role in Brave New World, why does Huxley use it as a way for the World State to contain its citizens instead of fear?

           The World State uses technology in place of fear to control their citizens because it seems more rational in their eyes. They see fear as an unjust way of controlling the people, however the use of in-vitro fertilization by the government supposedly eliminates the need to rebel.

Question about Brave New World and 1984:

• Orwell uses fear and Huxley uses technology to create their dystopias that are both supposedly "happy", so can a utopia ever be created with the natural fears and the technology that surround us in everyday life?

       A utopia can never be created as a result of a perfect humanity without flaws. Humans will naturally have flaws and a government will always exploit those flaws for their own gain. Technology is merely an advantage to dystopian government as a means to control the population.

"Communist Utopia" by Thomas Hornung

• The red in the brick immediately indicates communism because red is the color of the communist party as well as the faceless man representing the anonymous masses with no individualism expressed typically associated with communism's supposed equality.
• The artist's portrayal of communism shows his negative view of the economic system. Gray, crumbling buildings portray a negative atmosphere and evoke negative feelings and the constant, watchful eyes of the party are meant to scare the audience into believing that communism is evil. 
• The title, "Communist Utopia," is intentionally ironic because communism has been tarnished by despair in practice while in theory commmunism wishes to create a utopia for citizens.