Cut It in Half / Style - Short Story Blog 2 (Popular Mechanics)

"In this manner, the issue was decided."

~ Raymond Carver, Popular Mechanics


Style is the focus of Popular Mechanics, so I guess we will start there. The biggest thing that I see is the ending. So the couple is fighting over the baby, and it actually gets physical, so the author describes the two as leaning back while both holding on to the baby. The story ends with the sentence, "in this manner, the issue was decided." So the major stylistic thing is the possibilities of the open ending.

I think that the most reasonable ending is that the baby was injured - from prior events, that seems most likely. But then there are all the possibilities of who gets the baby. That was the question throughout the story. The last sentence says that the matter was decided, but it doesn't actually tell what that resolution was.... so we are left hanging. Did one parent get custody? Did neither parent get the baby (were the injuries so bad that the baby was taken away or suffered death)? Did the couple get back together? WHO KNOWS? I wish this story was as straightforward as its biblical counterpart, the story of Solomon. My best guess is that, because neither parent let go, neither parent loved the baby enough to let it live, so neither parent got the baby. That's how I see it, especially if we are going off the Solomon story.

Holding Out for a Hero (Chapter 2/ Pages 19 - 29)

"Books and loud noises, flowers and electric shocks - already in the infant mind these couples were compromisingly linked; and after two hundred repetitions of the same or a similar lesson would be wedded indissolubly."

~ Brave New World, page 22

Everyone has heard of the classic "Pavlov's Dogs" experiment - a scientist trained his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell by feeding the animals each time it rang. There has even been a reproduction of this scientific discovery in a popular TV show. (Sorry about the quality)

In the novel, this type of conditioning is taken to new, extreme, twisted levels. In the "Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Room," babies are taught to hate things such as books and flowers by not only shrieking bells and sirens, but also by electrocution. I, for one, find this quite disturbing unlike the observing students, one who found this practice admirable. Ironically, the only unpleasant thing found in this chapter to the people living in this world is the thought of a family - not growing up in a public, controlled environment. We often fear and reject the unfamiliar, but I am pretty sure I would still be reluctant of shocking those babies if I lived in that era. What will they do next, serve them on a platter?

This chapter also stimulates thought regarding something called Hypnopaedia, or repetition of phrases that penetrate the subconscious. This technique is used to teach children morals (ha) and to love, love, love their predetermined conditions. If all the children are taught to think that this new world is perfect and are conditioned to love it, then how could anyone present another perspective? The people living in this world aren't even allowed to think independently. I predict that the protagonist will be someone who rebels against the structure in this society - perhaps Henry Foster (he could have an experience that breaks his spirit and confidence in the system and somehow could prove that it is wrong)? Or maybe another character will be introduced and become the hero. Someone needs to reveal society's "stability" for what it truly is.