Ocean Breeze

I have always known that I have to follow rules and laws but there are certain rights that are mine. I never thought of being unhappy as a right. After reading Brave New World I realized that these citizens do not have the right to be unhappy. John stated the fact that he had the right as an individual to be unhappy, sad and to know about religion. I completely agree that this is a right that all individuals should have. I remember when my uncle, grandma and grandpa passed away I had so many emotions going through me. I had a right to be sad about losing my family that I loved. I cannot even imagine feeling happy after their death because I did not have that right to be sad. There are so many rights that I have that I never realized were so important. Before this book when human rights was brought up I thought of freedom of speech, decisions, and the right for an education. Rights are so much more then what I have ever realized. It is unfair to not allow others to be unhappy because that is their personal choice.

Throughout my entire life I have been raised as a catholic. I go to a catholic school and to a catholic church. I am able to learn about religion and choose what I personally want to believe in. My parents have never forced me to believe exactly what the church teaches and I know that I am free to believe in any faith that speaks to me. The citizens in the New World do not even get the option to learn to have faith. Books are hidden from the world in order to prevent questions and cause unhappiness. I think this is completely unfair because religion is a part of each and every one of all the individuals I know. Faith can help me get through hard times and not believing or having the chance to believe in God is horrible. I have personally witnessed family getting through hard times because they pray and believe that God will help them get through the situation. John has a right to be able to learn about the bible, God and choose his faith. John understands that the New World is not a reasonable world and understands that each individual needs to learn about religion.

Human beings are very judgmental of others around them. In our society today appearance is the biggest factor. I personally have experienced watching teenagers and friends judge one another on physical appearances rather then personalities. In high school females are pressured to be pretty and slender and males have to be muscular and handsome. I cannot change my personal features and to be judged by how pretty my face is and how slender my body is doesn’t seem fair. This judgment also causes self-consciousness and low self esteems.

Linda was unable to leave the savage reservation and grew old and wrinkled. When she returned to the Hatchery she was judged and called monstrous. This is cruel because growing old is part of life and just because she was old and wrinkled does not mean she is a different person. I think it is extremely unfair to judge others on just their appearances. Every individual should be given an equal chance to make friends and live a good life, fat or skinny, pretty or ugly.

There are numerous reputations that I work really hard not to receive. As I have grown I have learned of reputations given to teenagers by their peers from the choices they make. When females sleep around with countless males they start to get a reputation of being whores and sluts. These names I feel are incredibly harsh and rude. Males pressure girls to sleep with them but as soon as they start sleeping with numerous males reputations start. How is this fair? Females are not the only ones that are given reputations when sleeping around. Males are pressured from their friends to sleep with as many girls as possible. Sleeping with countless girls gains respect from some friends but causes a reputation of being a player with the females.

All these reputations are made judged on actions and decisions. Linda was given a bad reputation among the savage reservation. Just like today Linda had a reputation of being a slut and a whore. I think that even though it was wrong of Linda to sleep with so many married men she was only doing what she was taught was right. Before I judge my peers I always try to listen to their life stories and not judge from reputations I heard from others.

I personally interpret Bernard Marx’s odd behavior as being very respectful and passionate. The Society of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre is focused very much on not falling in love and just being promiscuous. I admire the fact that though the society pressures this way of life he still wants to experience deeper feelings with a women other then just sleeping around. This situation reminds me of teenagers in today’s culture. In relationships generally the males pressure their girlfriends into sleeping with them. Without spending quality time with each other I don’t think you care deeply at all for your date. Not getting emotionally attached is exactly what I consider as being promiscuous and having flings. Bernard wants to experience more then just sleeping with beautiful women that he does not care about. This quality in a man is very admirable and rare throughout Brave New World.

Choosing who I want to date, marry, and have a family with is all part of my personal human rights. I have a right as an individual to decide what I do throughout my life and I am very grateful for this. I cannot imagine having my family choose who I was to marry. Arranged marriages have been very common in the past in cultures like Muslim and Hindu people. An arranged marriage is when parents on both sides of the family arrange for their daughter and son to be married. The bride and groom have no say in the arrangement. I would absolutely hate having an arranged marriage because to me love is important. I may learn to love my husband but probably just as a friend and not ever be in love. I think every individual has the right to choose who they want to date and fall in love with.

Lenina Crowne wants to be with Bernard Marx even though her peers pressure her to stay away. There were rumors that stated Bernard Marx as had been given alcohol causing irregularities from the rest of the alphas. Lenina does not believe this to be true which I think is very respectful. Lenina has the right as an individual to decide who she wants to be with as much as I do.

Judgment and accusations are a huge part of the world in this century. I personally judge my peers almost instantly by their physical appearances. I feel horrible forming this judgment because it is unfair to judge by looks. Not only do I judge on appearance but also what qualities I value in others are very important to me. The values I have of others include trust, respect, faithfulness, honesty and other numerous qualities that I have grown up learning to value. As I meet new individuals I look for these values in order to decide if this was an acquaintance that I could learn to respect.

Not all cultures have the same values of their peers. What I value in my friends is definitely not what the characters in Brave New World value in their friends. The difference in cultures allows individuals to have different ideas about what qualities to respect in their peers. I personally may not agree that the decisions valued in this book are respectful decisions but I completely understand that it is a cultural difference. I can have my own values as can Lenina Crowne. What I value in my peers may be completely opposite to what Lenina Crowne values but that does not make either thought unimportant.

As I have grown I have realized that the society catholic school, church and just pressures individuals to live a certain way. From growing up going to a living in today’s world has taught me what is expected for my life. I have always been taught to grow up knowing right from wrong. As a young women society has pressured me to know that it is wrong to commit adultery at a young age. I was encouraged to grow up with a good education then get married and have children. This is what today’s society pressured along with what my family and friends teach.

In a Brave New World every pressure my society gives is the complete opposite. In this book the pressures from the society on young women are to be promiscuous at a young age. I reacted very strongly to this portion of the story because it is wrong to pass women around every other night like they are a good movie. I understand that the women don’t know any different in their lives but I think this is cruel and unfair. Women today that are promiscuous usually have no confidence in themselves and look to men to make them feel special. I personally think that in order to become my own individual I need to be by myself and learn about my interests. Every human being needs to find himself or herself and gain confidence about who they are. As a teenager I still need to find my own voice and beliefs in society. I don’t think the women in Brave New World are freely able to discover their personal interests because of what their society pressures.

I remember my first day of kindergarten when my parents told me to be nice to all my classmates. Every boy and girl needed to be treated equally and I went to school knowing that I was not any better then my classmates. The way my family raised me was to treat boys and girls of all races, heights, and weights the same. Throughout my teenage years I began to realize that there was classes of individuals that were wealthier or at higher power then other classes. This reality in the world has never changed how I was raised to treat others. Whether my classmates were rich or poor I treated them as equals. I cannot even imagine being told repeatedly in my sleep that I was better then other Only playing with friends with the exact same clothes, amount of money and never talking to others peers for the fact of only class is unbelievable. Why can’t these children just grow up thinking not about what class they are and who they can and cannot play with but just about having fun? This reminds me of movies like “Cinderella” where there was a rich class and a poor class who were forced to not interact. Though Cinderella was not allowed to marry a prince they fell in love and ignored the rules. Children should be allowed to spend time with every class, learning and developing through these interactions.

Throughout chapter two of Brave New World I have found a few scenes disturbing. As I read I really try to look at situations in a book and decide whether there is a focus of equality and fairness in the decisions made. In the factory there is a room call the Decanting Room where children are shown books and flowers. After giving the opportunity to enjoy the books and flowers nurses turn on loud explosions and electric shocks for the children to cause fear. The process allows the children to assume the terrible experiences are connected to books and flowers creating a fear in each child. When I first read through this scene I interpreted this process as cruel and unfair to the children. Fear should be discovered by personal experiences throughout lives and forcing fear in children is wrong. The more thought I put into the situation the more I realized that I had some similar experiences to this process. I began to compare my personal experiences as a child to what this factory was doing to the children. I remember my parents would send me to the corner not allowing me to talk or play when I slapped my sister. By giving me that punishment as a child it allowed me to realize that slapping my sister was not worth the punishment. Children do need directing in order to discover what is right and wrong. Though there are similarities equality is so important to me. This process, though children need guidance, is not giving equality to all individuals. In a Utopia world all human beings deserve equal rights in how to live their lives. These children are not being given those equal rights and are being forced to fear nature and intelligence in order for the higher class to have stability in the workplace. The decisions being made in Brave New World are very selfish not focusing on equality or fairness.