"Everything felt suddenly perfect: an hour set aside, stretching ahead of us, and there wasn't a better way to spend it. I had to really hold myself back from giggling stupidly, or jumping up and down on the pavement like a little kid."
~ Never Let Me Go, page 171
The mood in this chapter is very refreshing. Up until now, most of the book has been heavy and pretty dramatic. This chapter provides its readers a break from that. The mood in this chapter is like the comic relief in a drama - something to lighten the the intensity of the viewing (or in this case, reading) experience. Therefore, the mood is contrasted to the atmosphere in the rest of the book. We've been unraveling the mystery of the donations and the Hailsham students' futures, which can be very suspenseful at times. The new mood can be compared to certain times in one's life. Even when life is stressful, we still have those little moments that bring us happiness and laughter, which makes all the anxiety and struggle worth it.
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Verbal Irony (Chapter 17/ Pages 230-240)
" 'In fact,' said Mustapha Mond, 'you're claiming the right to be unhappy.'
'All right then,' said the Savage defiantly, 'I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.'
'Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.' There was a long silence.
'I claim them all,' said the Savage at last."
~ Brave New World, page 240
This whole portion of the discussion between Mustapha and John is verbally ironic. This verbal irony is that John is saying he wants to be unhappy, but he really means that he knows he must accept this unhappiness to experience true joy. The other citizens of the Society would look at these things and be repulsed. But they live with false happiness. Those people can't understand that there must be pain with joy. When John says he claims all the horrible things, he literally is claiming them, but more importantly, he is also taking all the good things that counter them. This irony reveals one of the themes of the book. We can go through life pretending to be happy when we are actually numb and simply avoiding our problems, or we can suffer through those pains, solve our issues, and also experience the real pleasures in life.
'All right then,' said the Savage defiantly, 'I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.'
'Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.' There was a long silence.
'I claim them all,' said the Savage at last."
~ Brave New World, page 240
This whole portion of the discussion between Mustapha and John is verbally ironic. This verbal irony is that John is saying he wants to be unhappy, but he really means that he knows he must accept this unhappiness to experience true joy. The other citizens of the Society would look at these things and be repulsed. But they live with false happiness. Those people can't understand that there must be pain with joy. When John says he claims all the horrible things, he literally is claiming them, but more importantly, he is also taking all the good things that counter them. This irony reveals one of the themes of the book. We can go through life pretending to be happy when we are actually numb and simply avoiding our problems, or we can suffer through those pains, solve our issues, and also experience the real pleasures in life.
What Just Happened... ? (Chapter 16/ Pages 217-229)
"And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
~ Brave New World, page 221
So, whenever my friends and I are watching a movie, we play a game. We call it "The Twist Game," and what happens is that after something happens in the movie, someone will yell "twist" and say some outrageous, virtually impossible scenario that could happen next and change the whole plot. Or if a twist actually arises, we all get really excited and start yelling enthusiastically. It sounds stupid, I know, but it's quite entertaining, especially if you are watching a slow or predictable movie. Anyway, this is pretty much what happened to me during this chapter.
When Mustapha Mond (whose name sounds like Mufasa from The Lion King, by the way :) ) took John, Helmholtz, and Bernard to his office, I expected him to be angry. I expected him to make some great big speech about how they think they have the world figured out, but they don't know anything - he does, and he will show them how cruel the world can actually be, then he would torture them or get rid of them or something, and then the novel ends tragically with a warning to future generations about over-stabilizing their communities and so on (that is one long run-on!). But, alas, no. Mustapha is actually a pretty cool guy. He appreciates literature and art, he's religious, and he had crazy ideas just like they do. But then we find out that he is selfless - he sacrificed his own happiness so that everyone else could be happy and live in blissful ignorance. Now, that's what I call dedication. The whole time I've been reading the book, I have had a rebellious outlook against the government, and I thought that they were the antagonists. Now I know that they are just giving people what they want, and I can respect that, even if I still don't agree with it and think it's wrong. I bet right after Aldous Huxley wrote that chapter, he reread it and said, "My God, I am good."
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this twist is so good that it beats Letters to Juliet when we found out she was dating her cousin - and we had a field day with that one.
~ Brave New World, page 221
So, whenever my friends and I are watching a movie, we play a game. We call it "The Twist Game," and what happens is that after something happens in the movie, someone will yell "twist" and say some outrageous, virtually impossible scenario that could happen next and change the whole plot. Or if a twist actually arises, we all get really excited and start yelling enthusiastically. It sounds stupid, I know, but it's quite entertaining, especially if you are watching a slow or predictable movie. Anyway, this is pretty much what happened to me during this chapter.
When Mustapha Mond (whose name sounds like Mufasa from The Lion King, by the way :) ) took John, Helmholtz, and Bernard to his office, I expected him to be angry. I expected him to make some great big speech about how they think they have the world figured out, but they don't know anything - he does, and he will show them how cruel the world can actually be, then he would torture them or get rid of them or something, and then the novel ends tragically with a warning to future generations about over-stabilizing their communities and so on (that is one long run-on!). But, alas, no. Mustapha is actually a pretty cool guy. He appreciates literature and art, he's religious, and he had crazy ideas just like they do. But then we find out that he is selfless - he sacrificed his own happiness so that everyone else could be happy and live in blissful ignorance. Now, that's what I call dedication. The whole time I've been reading the book, I have had a rebellious outlook against the government, and I thought that they were the antagonists. Now I know that they are just giving people what they want, and I can respect that, even if I still don't agree with it and think it's wrong. I bet right after Aldous Huxley wrote that chapter, he reread it and said, "My God, I am good."
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this twist is so good that it beats Letters to Juliet when we found out she was dating her cousin - and we had a field day with that one.
An Epiphany Followed by Disappointment and Abandoned Hope (Chapter 12/ Pages 172-185)
" 'Well, I'd rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here.' "
~ Brave New World, page 179
I have had some MAJOR revelations in this chapter. It was actually quite exciting - that is, until I realized what those epiphanies entailed.
First: Bernard. I had so many hopes for him in this book - that he would overcome his insecurities and he would expose the horrible nature and ethics of this Society, but then I was naive. I expected this book to have a happy ending, but it probably doesn't, and I guess that's why it is a classic. Bernard gave up his ideas of being bitter and angry and actually showing emotion, the very qualities that made him different from everybody, and overdosed on soma like all the rest of his thoughtless, numb peers. And when John calls him out on using him as a way to achieve false happiness, I realized that parallels an earlier scene where Bernard tells Lenina that he would rather be unhappy than take soma and avoid his problems. How the tables turn...
Secondly: John. When I realized this parallel, I saw Bernard in John, which both excited me and worried me. Let's start with the bad stuff so we end with a positive possibility. When I saw their similarities (having independent ideas, being an outcast, and refusing to partake in ritual practices that they recognize as unnecessary or dangerous) I feared that John may have the same downfall as Bernard - that the ways of Society may be too much for him to continually reject, so he would eventually give in to it. However, I feel that John has a strength that Bernard doesn't, and he could end up doing something drastic or extraordinary.
~ Brave New World, page 179
I have had some MAJOR revelations in this chapter. It was actually quite exciting - that is, until I realized what those epiphanies entailed.
First: Bernard. I had so many hopes for him in this book - that he would overcome his insecurities and he would expose the horrible nature and ethics of this Society, but then I was naive. I expected this book to have a happy ending, but it probably doesn't, and I guess that's why it is a classic. Bernard gave up his ideas of being bitter and angry and actually showing emotion, the very qualities that made him different from everybody, and overdosed on soma like all the rest of his thoughtless, numb peers. And when John calls him out on using him as a way to achieve false happiness, I realized that parallels an earlier scene where Bernard tells Lenina that he would rather be unhappy than take soma and avoid his problems. How the tables turn...
Secondly: John. When I realized this parallel, I saw Bernard in John, which both excited me and worried me. Let's start with the bad stuff so we end with a positive possibility. When I saw their similarities (having independent ideas, being an outcast, and refusing to partake in ritual practices that they recognize as unnecessary or dangerous) I feared that John may have the same downfall as Bernard - that the ways of Society may be too much for him to continually reject, so he would eventually give in to it. However, I feel that John has a strength that Bernard doesn't, and he could end up doing something drastic or extraordinary.
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