In the society we live in today there are always things that are inappropriate for people to bring up. For our society it would usually involve something about ones personal life or personal health. However, for Brave New World's society, the use of the word mother is just enough to get people blushing. Two very obvious examples are when (a) Lenina is told that Linda is John's mother when she first meets them on the Reservation, and (b) when John asks the nurse in the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying to see his mother (Linda).
Especially Lenina in this situation felt uncomfortable, for she was not only in the presence of a mother and son, but was surrounded by a whole community of people who had families consisting of mothers and fathers, and brothers and sisters, horrible things that would never exist in her world. They do not want to face the existence of families especially because this would bring feelings of love and happiness that should not even be apart of their complex society.
So, this very common and freely used word in our society is very differently seen in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World society.
-Alexa Moore
At first I thought it was odd that the people of Huxley's Brave New World would blush or even cringe at the term mother. I could not understand how such a common word in our society could have such an effect in another. As I read further into the book however, I became aware that because of the people's lack of emotion and attachment, the word mother was strange and new. Motherhood could not be understood because in their society, there was no such thing as family and love. Because they could not understand "mothers," the concept was different and scary. A common theme is seen in the novel. Anything different or going against the status quo in their society was dangerous. Everyone was afraid of change and attachment, fearing that it would allow society to descend into chaos.
ReplyDeleteTo us this seems absolutely ridiculous. In our society, when someone says "mother," we usually think nurturing, loving, and sweet. Because we are influenced by our surroundings, the people of our world value mothers. Likewise, the people of Brave New World are influenced by their society. They were brainwashed to think that mothers were horrible and an outrage. This allowed the people to have such a strange reaction when hearing the word "mother."
In retrospect, the oddities in Brave New World don't seem as odd as they did in the beginning. I've gotten used to the idea, just as the characters in the novel have, though the customs of that strange world have not lessened in their peculiarity. I find it interesting in the way Aldous Huxley chose the most common things in our world and modified them, so as to let us question and wonder at such an ordinary concept.
ReplyDeleteHe chose aspects of our everyday lives, and gave a new comprehension to them. Things such as sex, family, and emotion were all given different characteristics and new understanding. The word "mother" in this story, gave us the sense of bafflement and disgust instead of warm and familiar. This way, readers are able to expand their minds to think outside the box.