Concepts in Brave New World

10/11/12
Journal Entry #5: HTRLLAP Concepts

The concept of “vampires” is present in Brave New World because the men and women don’t respect each other in the area of romance. Men like Henry Foster just use girls like Lenina for sex. But having sex with multiple people is socially accepted in the World State. In Brave New World, symbolic vampirism is used because the men and women use each other to get what they want which is sex. They do not care about what the other person wants. An example is Lenina trying to seduce John, when he makes it clear he does not just want to have sex with her. John is the opposite of the men from the World State because when he was thinking about how pretty she was he told himself that it was a “destestable thought” (145). Acts of Communion, was shown in Lord of the Flies when the boys were having a feast after Jack had killed the pig. This was a failed meal because towards the end Simon gives his piece of meat to Piggy who asked for some, but Jack denied saying he didn’t hunt. Piggy replies with, “no more did Ralph, nor Simon” (74) and Simon, being the inherently good person, gives Piggy his piece of meat. The meal is a failure because Jack becomes furious over Simon’s actions. At the end, Ralph becomes “envious and resentful” (75) which shows that he is upset with how the boys are acting and later in the book, hunting becomes a negative thing because the boys end up killing Simon, mistaking him for the beast. The Bible is used in Lord of the Flies to describe Simon and Roger. Simon was the Christ figure throughout the book. He helped Ralph build the shelters when the other boys were off playing, he gave Piggy his food when Piggy asks about having a piece of meat and he is killed like a martyr. He is murdered by the boys and he is the first boy to die at the hands of the others. Simon was carried away by the ocean and the description of how he was carried away portrayed him as an angel. The snake of the Garden of Eden was represented by Roger. Roger was always quiet and in the background. He threw rocks at the young boys, purely for fun and he was the boy who pushed the rock that killed Piggy and shattered the conch shell. The concept of “It’s All About Sex…Except Sex” is shown in Brave New World because Huxley uses sex as a way to show the character’s desires to have power over another person. Because all of the Alpha’s are equal, they want to feel somewhat above the other person. Sex throughout the story is also used by the women as a sense of freedom. They can be with any man and people do not make any judgment of them. Sex is also used as a release and freedom for the people. They take the soma and then the characters don’t have a care in the world and do whatever they please because of the effects of the soma.