BNW Journal Ch. 5 pt. 2

Summary:

Part two of the chapter focuses on Bernard’s use of soma and his going to a sort of church. He is almost late to his meeting and cannot concentrate on worshipping Ford. Instead he thinks about what a bad seat he chose. Once everyone arrives they form a circle. The goal of their service is to worship Ford and become one with each other. Part of the society’s moddo is unity. This is exemplified by Lenina and Henry in the first half of the chapter and by the church group in the second half. Once again, an important part of the chapter is religion. Bernard takes soma ice-cream and tablets, as do all of the circle members. Although Ford and unity are supposed to be his focus, he cannot stop thinking about his neighbor’s, Morgana, uni-brow. Soon they are frenzied and all are experiencing the hallucinogenic side-effects of soma. They claim they are hearing Ford, yet Bernard feels nothing. He is not moved by this celebration like the rest of them. The celebration turns into an orgy as they chant/sing. This chapter is mainly about soma and, perhaps, the way it replaced religion

Lit. Elements:

The ice-cream and tablets are very symbolic because of the allusion behind them. In Christianity people drink wine and eat pieces of bread to symbolize the blood and body of Christ. Christians believe that a man sacrificed himself to allow them to get into a magical place after death on earth.

Vocabulary:

None

bnw journal Ch. 5 pt. 1

Ch. 5, Pt. 1

Summary:

Lenina and Henry return form their date at the obstacle golf course. Lenina is confused about four towers that are lit up to ensure flyers see them. Henry explains that they are there to collect Phosphorus from cremated bodies. This part in the story shows how non-feeling, but eco friendly this society is! I am not appalled by this because a body is a body, once the person inhabiting it is dead. In most people’s view, this would be horrible. Next, Lenina and Henry go to a club where Soma is plentiful and the music synthetic with saxophones. They take soma and then dance the night away. Later, they both take more soma and leave the club to go to Henry’s apartment where they enjoy an ancient game.

Lit. Elements:

The most obvious and important allusion in this .5 chapter is the song where the song “Bottle of Mine”. Bottle of mine is an allusion to an old gospel song that goes like, “this little light of mine/ I’m going to let it shine/ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine”.  This song talks about the need of soma. This is funny because they are listening to a song about addiction, yet the concept of addiction is unknown in their society. Irony also comes into play because of the fact that it was originally a song about a persons love for Jesus/God. The Bible is essentially against addiction, it counts addiction as one of the sins.

Vocabulary:

Ambergris –noun- a waxlike substance that originates as a secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale, found floating in tropical seas

Deturgesence –verb- The mechanism by which the stroma of the cornea remains relatively dehydrated

BNW Journal Ch. 4 pt.2

Summary:

Bernard is very irritated and almost ashamed by Lenina's and Benito's actions in the previous .5 chapter. This irritable mood is not helped by the forced interatction with some lower caste Delta-Minuses. He is acutely aware that like the Delta-Minuses, he is looked down upon by the other Alphas for being different. Bernard's small physical stature and odd habits such as spending time alone, are subject to much speculation within the Alpha and Beta communities.

            In this chapter we meet Helmholtz Watson, a handsome Alpha-Plus. He and Bernard are comrades because they are both different, and therefore social outcasts. Bernard is small in stature and Helmholtz wants more from life. He is an Emotional engineer and creates slogans and writes articles about how good society is. The writing is boring ad he wants more to do, explore, and create. They talk together for a while, both voicing their complaints and what is going on in their lives.

Lit Elements:

When Bernard says how much he envies Benito and Henry, that is a potential foreshadow. He could possibly become more "powerful"/popular than they are. After a life of neglect and practical exile, revenge would be sweet.

Vocabulary:

Asceticism –noun- severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence

BNW Journal Ch. 4 pt.1

In this half chapter Lanina accepts an invitation to go on a date with Bernard. They plan to go to a savage reservation in New Mexico in mid-July or June. She does this in front of a crowd of popular Alphas and it makes Bernard, who is socially awkward, embaressed. Another guy comments and tries to offer Bernard Marx soma, this makes two offers and he refuses both. Lanina then goes to Henry’s transport vehicle for an outing with Henry to the Obstacle Golf course. He comments on her lateness, four minutes, and then they leave the compound. The flying device speeds towards the course at two kilometers per second. The course is almost six kilometers away and they fly through a blue sky with a couple minor clouds.

            The major character interaction in this half chapter focuses on Lanina and Bernard’s budding relationship. Although Bernard likes Lanina, he is unsure as to how to speak, approach, and interact with her both in public and private. Lanina doesn’t know why everyone is so mean to Bernard, but she likes him well enough. She also thinks it is cute when he get’s all flushed.

            There were two major symbols in this chapter. Lanina and Bernard along with the other Alphas going to the roof is symbolic of them rising above others as Alphas and also of the escalating tension/interaction between Lanina and Bernard. The second important symbol if the flying machine Lanina and Henry use to get to the Obstacle Golf course. The rising machine shows how both of them are air headed, head in the clouds, as of right now. No real thoughts or questions, their existence is very basic. One allusion from this chapter was a mention of New York, in the form a comment about some sort of messenger device. Ironic that she can see and pretty much accept Bernard’s faults, but can’t accept Benito’s or Edzel’s uncomely features. In a society that cares more about looks and sociability more then intelligence, Lanina is not behaving properly.
Also, I noticed that there are three main people Lanina, Bernard, and Benito and three main settings the elevator, the roof, and the ride to the obstacle golf course.

            Previously Unknown Words:

Revitrifying: to convert or be converted into glass again (because of re)

Asbestos: noun a heat-resistant fibrous silicate mineral that can be woven into fabrics

BNW Journal Ch. 3

Chapter 3 is important to the story line because it shows a few things. Since I haven’t read the full story yet, I can’t say what is most important. However, I can make conjectures about what will be valuable to know. The first part of the chapter focuses on children in this society. The D.H.C. explains how the government essentially brainwashes children. The process starts before they are decanted, their  word for born. They repeat messages over speakers thousands of times to drill in into ‘em young.

We are introduced to Mustapha Mond, one of 11 world controllers. He holds power over Western Europe and is much respected by the D.H.C., a man in control of the baby =-making facility,  and everyone. Mond tells the story of family and certain signifigant events in history. This is important because it shows you the views of their society on certain subjects. This viewpoint can make foreshadows and nuance or abnormalities more apparent throughout the story. A young lady, 19 years old or so, named Lanina is introduced. She is described as a perfect specimen of human and we can conclude she is an alpha.  Her and another nurse, Fanny, are talking about Lanina’s “love” life. We observe the normal protocol for amourus relations and how detached they are from each other.  Henry Foster, the man Lanina has been going out with, is completely normal for that society and just regards Lanina as a thing. This angers the last seemingly important person, Bernard Marx. He has a crush on her, weird for a society of detached people, and thinks that the other people are disgusting and stupid. He is an outsider within a community of like-minded people.

There are truly to many allusions to name in any sort of timely manner, so I will write about a few that I thought were most important. All of the main characters introduced so far have allusions or possible meanings behind them. Mustapha Mond refers to a influential Turkish politician/war leader. Henry Foster might be an allusion to Henry IIX, a former King of England notorious for his wives, or rather the number. Karl Marx is the person behind Bernard Marx. “Lanina” could mean two different things. If separated La nina refers to a girl, this is saying that she is young yet and will grow and develop over the story. Lanin is Lanina without an a, this could be a reference to Vladmir Lenin, a Russian politician.

One foreshadow I noted was when Lanina and Fanny were talking about Bernard Marx in the showers. Lanina say “as though she were a World Commander and he a Gamma-Minus machine minder.” (pg 45, line 9-10) This indicates that sometime in the future Lanina will have massive power over Marx.

Previously unknown  vocabulary:

Boskage: noun a mass of trees and shrubs; thicket

Maudlin: adj. over-sentimental

Discarnate: adj. not having a body ; viviparous: adj. live birth with live babies

Pneumatic: adj. of or relating to the spirit

hypnopaedia: learning by hearing while asleep or under hypnosis

Ectogenesis: noun the development of embryos in artificial conditions

Vocab #4

Caste -n-an endogamous and hereditary social group limited topersons of the same rank
The caste that the family belonged to forced them to go to the back of the line.

Precipice -n- a very steep rock face or cliff

A rock climber made it to the top of the mountain, looked down, and almost fell off the precipice.

Ruminating -v- think deeply about
The doctor was ruminating about an illusive cure for his terminally ill patient. 

Adage -n- a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth
The old adage that women are more resilient than men is very true.
Magnanimity -adj- very generous or forgiving, esp. toward a rival
The magnanimity that was expressed by the victim's family to the killer was inspiring.
Axiomatic -adj- self-evident or unquestionable 
The axiomatic document clearly explained how to bake a cookie. 

Ignominy -n- public shame or disgrace
The ignominy of someone catching you pick your nose is horrible.
Mollified -verb- appeased the anger or anxiety of someone
I mollified my fathers anger by cleaning the house and saying sorry 2000 times.
Intrinsically -adv- belonging naturally
The dog intrinsically knew how to pee on a fire hydrant.
Cajolery -n- persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery
The kid tried to use cajolery to convince his mom that going to a rave was alright.

Final Essay: The Lawyer/Harrison Bergeron

Being trapped is universally regarded as not being an enjoyable activity. Physically or mentally, captivity is not pleasant. Imprisonment will take varying tolls upon people. This essay will explore two characters from different stories that have been altered by incarceration. The circumstances behind the situations, why, and how the terms and the eventual outcomes of their confinements changed them. Completely different from each other in actions, unbeknownst to them, they share similarities in personality.

            To assume too much is never a great policy, but we can make conjectures about the beginning of Harrison Bergeron’s life. George and Hazel Bergeron, the parents of Harrison from “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, were poster adults for their society. Uniform everything, from looks to intelligence, was the optimal goal of the government. The commonly accepted reasoning behind this was that if everyone was the same, there could be no quarrels over differences. Harrison Bergeron was an anomaly, something the system punishes. Forced to use constraints such as weights and headphones to stop thoughts, Harrison Bergeron hated the controlling government and longed to be free. A bit on the loopy side, his impediments excelled his hatred and took him to extremes. Harrison ended up believing that he could better rule the people of America. This lead to a failed coup and death by shotgun.

            The Lawyer, a main character from “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, accepted a frivolous bet from a youthful banker. All that is known about his character before the principal events occur is that he is young, naive, and not particularly wealthy. The stipulations of the fateful bet were thus: the Lawyer must stay in solitary confinement for exactly fifteen years, upon completion the Banker would reward the Lawyer two million rubles. This was a fortune in the late 1800s. As the bet commenced we saw the Lawyer turn his interests to studying. Anything and everything, from religion to science, was covered extensively sometime during his fifteen years of imprisonment. All of these ideas lead the Lawyer to declare humanity corrupt and in a manner of protest left the self-imposed prison only a few minutes before the bet was to be finished.

            The most common feature between these two is the vigor they put into their last deeds of each story. Desertion and revolution are rather dramatic actions; both had a flare for the dramatic. These theatrical tendencies led to losses.

Harrison pranced around after busting in the door like a classical gangster. Harrison should have spent his time planning for a government attack; if he had been prepared then the chances of him not dying would have been much greater. I am surprised that he would be so foolish because the book described him as a genius, and all Einsteins need a back-up plan.

            The Lawyer wrote an emotional letter then fled five minutes before two million rubles would have been his for the keeping. This act of defiance was supposed to protest the human way of money, greed, and intrinsic mortal problems. Before they Lawyer decided upon this course of action, he had already been altered by his extensive studies. These studies lead to his final known deeds.

The major difference in their final exploits was that one wanted the loss while the other did not. Harrison and the Lawyer both wanted a different society and human change.