Sir Ken Robinson

There are many parallels between the society in Brave New World and Sir Ken Robinsons video "Changing Education Paradigms".  I thought that the video was very interesting and agree that our education system is becoming outdated and needs to be changed. Robinson believes that "we are getting our children through education by anaesthetising them" he says this because there is an epidemic of ADHD in the country. More and more kids are given drugs to help them focus better in school. This relates to what goes on in Brave New World, the citizens are encouraged to take soma whenever they are unhappy. This causes them to never truly deal with their emotions because the drugs make them feel happy at all times. John, who is seen as a savage in the story, realizes that the drugs are unnatural and throws the soma while shouting "free, free!" Another similarity is that "schools are still organised on factory lines" Robinson believes that because of the ringing bells, separate facilities, separate subjects, and that children are educated by batches. He believes that the model of education should not come from a production line mentality. This is similar to the society in the book. Their whole world is based on the production line. They worship Ford who is responsible for the creation of an assembly line. In our society we are put in "batches" by our age, but in Brave New World they are grouped by Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. There are many similarities between the views of education and Brave New World.

Brave New World

In chapter 3 of Brave New World, Mustapha Mond said "Wheels must turn steadily, but can not turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment." Mond who is “One of the Ten World Controllers” (34) is a powerful character in the book. The ideas in the passage above are used to manipulate the desired outcomes of human experiences such as family, monogamy, impulse, feeling, and desire. The citizens of the World State are encouraged to act promiscuously. Lenina tells Fanny that she hasn’t been very enthusiastic about promiscuity lately and Fanny tells her “one’s got to make the effort…one’s got to play the game” (43).  She goes on and says that “every one belongs to every one else.” This is very true because the citizens are told not to have relationships with one another. They are encourages to see many different people so that they do not become attached to each other. They are less meaningful if they are short relationships. There are also no families in the World State because humans are manufactured. There is no such thing as love in the World State. The controller tells the boys that the “pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable” (41) because they had experiences such as family and monogamy. Mond explains that things like love and families will cause social instability. Another way that the citizens are manipulated is by taking the drug “soma”. This drug gives the citizens a false sense of happiness. The government is able to control the citizens because they do not think for themselves and there is no individuality at all. The people are manufactured to think the same way and act in a way that would be beneficial to the World State.  

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In the discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been about whether or not Shakespeare intended to address the issue of imperialism and colonialism in his play. For example, Aime Cesaire's A Tempest portrays the play in a completely different way than Shakespeare intended. Although the plot follows the same basic premise and the cast of characters is for the most part the same, Cesaire changes the dialogue between the characters and change the way that the play is portrayed. In A Tempest Caliban tells Prospero, “Call me X. That would be best. Like a man without a name. Or, to be more precise, a man whose name has been stolen.”  In this line Cesaire is referring to Malcolm X, which is his way of comparing Caliban to the African American slaves. Cesaire hinted at the idea of imperialism a lot more than Shakespeare did in the original play. On the other hand, George Will argues that literature always reflects political beliefs. Will states that “The Tempest reflects the imperialist rape of the Third World.” After looking into both critics’ ideas I can see that Cesaire was able to change the meaning of the play just by changing the way that the characters talked to each other throughout the play. The author made the play reflect imperialism. Will believes that politics can change the way that people read and analyze certain text. He also argues that some critics over analyze some literature and change the authors meaning.

            I am very confused with this week’s blog so I am hoping that we have to write comments to each other this week so that I can get some other opinions on this stuff because right now I am not sure if I am doing this write.