Some Theories and Speculation/Foreshadowing (Chapter 4/ Pages 37-48)

"That's why that afternoon by the pond, when Tommy was telling me about his talk with Miss Lucy, about how she'd said to him we weren't being "taught enough" about some things, the memory of that time in the library - along with maybe one or two other little episodes like that - started tugging at my mind."

~ Never Let Me Go, page 41

Remember the "other things" I mentioned in my last blog? Well, I have some theories about them now. I feel that Kathy's emphasis on Miss Lucy's seemingly unimportant ramblings is foreshadowing something quite important. So what aren't the students taught enough about? I believe it's the donations. I have this idea that the students are going to this school (Hailsham) to grow up to be donors or carers. At the beginning of the book, Kathy talked about her experiences as a carer and the "donations" that her patients had to make. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except that they had to make a large number of donations (the largest I remember was four which seems like a lot); I'm thinking organs, but there does reach a point where one must stop so his own body can function. (You could donate a kidney, blood, a spline, part of a liver, or an eye, but what else?) Anyway, I think that students go to Hailsham and other similar institutions with a very controlled environment to be taught proper behavior and social etiquette - along with academics, of course - so they can one day become a donor without opposition. I think that, as children, they are taught to be creative and to contribute their artwork to the school so that they are conditioned to give to society without question. Maybe this isn't the main goal of the school, but I think it definitely has significance.

Protagonist (Chapter 4, Part 2/ Pages 63-71)

"With eyes for the most part downcast and, if ever they lighted on a fellow creature, at once and furtively averted, Bernard hastened across the roof. He was like a man pursued, but pursued by enemies he does not wish to see, lest they should seem more hostile even than he had supposed, and he himself be made to feel guiltier and even more helplessly alone."

~ Brave New World, page 63

It looks like we've finally found our hero - a "strange" fellow named Bernard Marx. Bernard is the protagonist simply because he is different. Despite being born of the highest class, Bernard is physically imperfect, unlike his Alpha peers, and therefore is outcasted. However, he possesses several amiable qualities that the others have been taught to lack. In some ways, he resembles a human from today's world and not his own. He has a great gamut of emotion, especially including "bad" (but ardent) feelings like jealousy, insecurity, apprehension, and sensitivity; yet, behind these feelings are good intentions. Different from every other character in the novel, Bernard understands the flaws in the society's system, perhaps because he is an outsider. His instincts guide him towards monogamy, and he recognizes stronger, more intense emotions than the other citizens (especially regarding Lenina, the object of his affections). Bernard is definitely an underdog, but he could have the answer to fixing this new world.

The Social Hierarchy/Epithets (Chapter 4, Part 1/ Pages 57-63)

"The liftman was a simian creature, dressed in the black tunic of an Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron."

~ Brave New World, page 58

There is indisputably a social-class hierarchy in Brave New World, and the amount of prejudice and discrimination based on that seems as if it would be contradictory to the society's goals and ideals. The community is supposed to be based on every member giving what they can to every other member, but what is really happening is the working class (Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons) giving to the intelligent class (Alphas and Betas) without any compensation. However, socially the two separate classes give to each other. The discrimination even goes as far as degrading epithets like the "black Semi-Morons" (Epsilons). This is used as a way to describe skill or achievement (or lack of in the Epsilon case). Other epithets found in literature are Homer's "Swift-footed Achilles" or "Wide-ruling Agamemnon." These prejudices are so integrated into the minds of the citizens that even Lenina, an especially kind person who will oppose her peers to defend an outcast, says repeatedly, "What a hideous color khaki [representing Deltas] is," and, "I'm glad I'm not a Gamma." It is clear that the society does not value every person as its leaders claim it does.

                                                               









<--- Swift-footed Achilles