I wonder: How can Linda attribute these emotions toward her son even though she was unexposed to family actions in the society she used to live in? Although "A Brave New World" is fiction, it does bring up the question of whether nature and animal instinct (such as the need to protect one's offspring) surpasses the teachings and "conditioning" of society (such as in the Utopian society in "A Brave New World"). In my opinion, a human cannot escape animal instincts, but due to the fact that a human in the society in "A Brave New World" is never exposed to parental responsibilities, that animal instinct is subsided.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Animal Instincts vs A Brave New World
In Aldous Huxley's "A Brave New World", Linda, a Beta-Minus from London, is forced into living in a Savage Reservation due to her impregnation. However, she was never "conditioned" with information on raising children. Huxley even states how to even mention someone as a mother is like an obscenity in London society. However when John, Linda's son, recollects on past memories, it is evident that Linda shows motherly emotions toward him in his childhood. An example is when Linda hugs and kisses her son apologetically after beating him for calling her his mother (Chapter 8 page 127).
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I never thought of Linda’s character like that! This is very interesting to me. Now that I think about it, she was able to develop maternal instincts to protect, nurture, and teach him. She was not the best mother to him, of course, but as she was raised in a parent-less society that blushes at the mere mention of “mother,” and is completely against the teachings of society, no one can really blame her, but she did a well enough job to raise John to love the arts and speak for what he thinks is right.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a great point! Being part of society causes you to become civilized and evolve from the prehistoric beings we were believed to be. You can say we are conditioned from a young age to have manners and treat other people respectfully. In a civilized society our animal instincts do not come in to effect that often, but in times of survival they will kick in. Being stranded on an island and facing death, you will do whatever it takes to survive. Killing is only part of our survival instincts. In the case of Linda, she came from and even higher civilized society than which we live in now. Because of this the maternal instincts she shows is her version of survival instincts that we would have now when facing death. Being human being, we can never escape these animal instincts like you said.
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