Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Domino Theory/ Pun (Chapter 7/ Pages 107-122)

" 'But cleanliness is next to fordliness,' she insisted.
  'Yes, and civilization is sterilization,' Bernard went on."

~ Brave New World, page 110

The pun in this chapter, "civilization is sterilization," has two different meanings. The first, literal meaning is that civilized people are clean and keep their living spaces neat. The second meaning is that healthy, powerful civilizations figuratively sterilize their population. If there is anyone who rebels against the system or behaves differently from the rest of the people, they must be removed to have a "clean" body of citizens. This is especially applied to Bernard because of his unwillingness to conform like the rest of his peers. The second meaning is displayed when the Director threatens to relocate Bernard to Iceland; if he could move him away from his society, he would also be rid of one more hazard to the stability of the community. The situation is somewhat comparable to the Domino Theory during the Cold War - if the U.S. could keep Asian countries "clean" of Communism, then they might prevent the other countries from following and avoid creation of more enemies.

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