ISU Blog Post

The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley depicts an ideal world in which the society is fully empowered by technology and leadership. In the beginning of the novel, the reader learns about three words "Community, Identity, Stability" that comprise the slogan for the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. In today's world, "community" is understood as a group of different people, however in World State, people are essentially produced and are sorted into one of the five social castes. The modern reader understands "identity" as one's individuality and distinctiveness, while in World State, the caste system prevents anything by uniformity which in short means that stability of the community is basically achieved at the expense of humanity. Even though, the World State is fully controlled, one can argue that is it anything but stable. It is impossible to achieve stability in the society, if in individuals do not have nay their rights and are not allowed to develop their own unique identities. In such world, individuality is useless and uniformity is bliss, because social stability is everything.

ISU Blog Post

"Our identity has already been chosen for us; but it is up to us if we want to accept it, or fight and change it." by Afnan Ahmad. In modern society- by which we mean not 'society today' but 'society where modernity id well developed' - self- identity becomes and inescapable issue. Although, we define ourselves by the groups we belong to, we also define ourselves by comparison and contrast with others. The size of gaps also matters. For example: if we have a lot more that we feel superior and motivates other to complete with it. However, excess of sense of competition, jealousy or superiority in order to develop their own self dominating identity can lead to unpredicted and ruthless consequences. Regardless of these results, individuality and distinctiveness is something that leads to the advancement and progress of the society and helps in maintaining stability. As a matter of fact, perfection is impossible to achieve. Our society accepts the individuality and allows everyone
to show their own creativity but what creates difference among its people is that we are somewhere backing off in unity among the citizens which is still developing.

ISU Blog Post

The ISU book that I have chosen "Brave New World" also discuss about the acceptance of individuality. Every word thought, every sentence written and every conversation spoken nowadays is known as "self-thought" which definitely creates an individuals' identity. However, World state is something we can say-utopia or perfect world gone wrong that is shown through the character of Mustafa Mond and John. Mond is one of the ten world controllers in Brave New World and is the sole figure who is allowed to create rules and regulations such as bans for practising any religion, reading books, freedom rights etc. in order to maintain stability as already discussed. As a leader of the society, he believes that happiness refers to the immediate gratifications of every individual's desire for food, sex, drugs and other consumer items and is shown in the beginning of the novel. But the inadequacies of this world are made evident when an outside (John, the savage) with an alternative views arrives and feels alienated from the World state is multiple levels. John was always looking for an opportunity to be a part of the World state. But when he gets to know about the hidden flaws of the society, he is unwilling and unable to be part of it. For example: the overdose of soma in order to face unfamiliar and challenging situations in life as his mother (Linda) did her entire life, in other words, it basically creates a barrier that keeps the citizens away from the reality; various methods of brain  washing kids at early age and ban for reading books, citizens and enslaved by powerful technology, etc. The most interesting and shocking part of the novel is during the argument of John and Mond about the World State where Mond admits that their society is far away from perfect and said "who makes the laws is free to break the laws" which shows that leaders of the society themselves do not believe in their own rules. Meanwhile, John's suicide at the end of Brave New World because of no room and acceptance of individuality confirms that World State is utterly chaotic, regardless of all the efforts to maintain complete social control.

ISU Post

Another main social issue in the novel, "Brave New World" is discrimination, as the novel represents concerns about the position of women in society. It specifically shows an Utopian future with a class system (castes), in which there are specific castes i.e Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Alphas are a part of the highest social class, they run the big factories. While Betas are intelligent and do not require training for work. Gammas are semi skilled workers and low risk professionals. Deltas work for the Alphas by manufacturing their products.  While Epsilons are illiterate and do jobs like sewage labor. They are also referred to as semi morons. People were upset with the government, the economy and their inability to provide for their families, as the government was the one who created the class system. The class system created by the government allows discrimination to occur, as the lower classes are thought to be useless and a waste of space by the higher classes. This novel also examines the role of women in a futuristic world, for example Lenina represents the ideal woman in this text, her role in society as a woman is to be used sexually by all men. However, the "savage" John regards her as a true equal, as someone to be respected and admired for her inner beauty. Therefore, the text also questions the role of women, and why are they discriminated against. In current events, Steven Harper and his ministry of citizenship believes that face coverings for women creates in-equality. However opponents of the current governing party have pointed out that true equality would allow women to wear a veil over/on their head if they chose to and the government is discriminating against women. Therefore the novel shows discrimination as a main social issue, as it was opposed on the characters in the book and women in today's society. 

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Retell: The movie "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas", was about a boy and his wealthy family who were relocated to a new area. The dad was given the position of a Nazi General for the German army during WWII. In the movie, the main character, Bruno, his mom, dad, and sister moved near a Jewish concentration camp. Throughout the story the father isn't honest with the kids about the reason that they moved. Bruno was exploring his new surroundings and stumbled upon the concentration camp. He met a boy named Shmuel who was Jewish, and befriended him, finding himself enjoying the friendship. Everyday Bruno and Shmuel played on opposite sides of the fence at the concentration camp. Eventually Bruno decided he wanted to see the inside of the Concentration Camp and ended up dying inside a gas chamber.

 

Reflect: I though the movie " The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" was a sab movie. I enjoyed watching it very much. I felt this way because it was nice to see the compassion love and twist of fate that was displayed in the movie,. Bruno was very compassionate towards everyone including the Jewish kitchen helper. All Bruno wanted was to play with his new friend on the other side of the fence. He didn't understand what was going on. The end of the movie was most upsetting. I feel that his parents could have prevented his death by warning him and educating him about the dangerous of the outside world. Overall I would give this movie 7/10 because it was really depressing and had me in tears.

 

Relate: I can relate to the discriminated people in the movie because I have had a racist experience myself. When my family and I immigrated from Italy to Canada, I was at the Airport in Vancouver. During a connecting flight to Toronto and my family and I were asked out of the line and interrogated for several hours just because of our background. Also, they didn't had our finger prints in there file and they thought we have a criminal record. I felt bad because the border guards had a disrespectful and threatening tone. While all my family and I wanted was a peaceful beginning in Canada.

The 4C's

Connections: The main connection in the video and the article was child soldiers. Ishmael Beah had many similarities until he got in the war like family, going out with his older brother, very similar to what teenagers do in their lives. He was running from one village to another and finding his family but suddenly he lost his family. Violence is learned behavior; people learn what they see or they get influenced by others. In order to train someone in violence the first step is desensitization. They would kill people in front of them. We start exposing kids to violence when they are six or seven and they don’t know anything about real life and fantasy in video games. It also emphasizes impact of adults on children and role and responsibility of adults to children. Child soldiers are very purposeful. It is very clear about what they are doing.

Challenges: Indicating not all are affected by video games. There are a number of variables which create violence in kids. For example; the family they are raised in, if they are victims of abuse, if they witness abuse, and as well family values are that have an impact on life.  Nothing in life is never, and nothing in life is always. You cannot paint every child with the same brush because every kid is unique.

Concepts: Children can be shaped and modified. Therefore, the adults in their lives have a huge responsibility. Someone once said “do as I say not as I do”. They watch the adults. The video shows the concept that we have no right to take advantage of child soldiers. We need to protect our children and others too. Whereas for text, caregivers need to be aware of proper care of children so that they grow up into emotionally healthy adults. Child soldiers are horrible and need to be avoidable.

Changes: We should be aware of what is happening in the world and we should help to get rid of child soldiers. We should be investing money specifically for the protection of the children in the country. They need to be protected and educated.

Summary of The Sniper by Liam O' Flaherty

Lian O' Flaherty's short story "The Sniper" focuses on the central character, an unnamed Republican Sniper stationed at night, on the roof near the O'Connell Bridge. This young man decides to take a chance and have a cigarette. This results in him being seen by an elderly women on the sidewalk. She then alerts a soldier in an armored car. The sniper proceeds to shoot and kill both of them. This causes return fire from a Free States sniper on a nearby building. When the Republican sniper is wounded in the arm, he uses this to his advantage by pretending that he is seriously wounded. This causes the other sniper to move in for the kill. When he does so, the Republican sniper is able to shoot him. Out of curiosity he turns over the dead sniper only to discover that it is his own brother.