King Lear Act I - #5

Loyalty is usually inherent personality trait, but it can also be learned. Kent is very loyal to the Lear, which is shown by the fact he comes back to serve Lear after he is banished. Lear doesn’t realize that it’s Kent when he returns as Caius, but because of what Kent says and the way he acts, Lear accepts him because he likes being treated like he’s the most important and that people like him. I think there are many personality types that are likely to be loyal. It could be an insecure person who just needs something to latch onto or something to make them feel their life has purpose. Or it could be a secure, devoted person who really believes in the person or thing they are loyal to. Kent seems to be a secure person, while Lear is a very insecure person who desires loyalty. The same loyalty that existed then is present now, just in different settings. For example, a group of athletes on a sports team are loyal to each other and their coach. They have to be so that they can be successful. Even though Kent is very loyal to Lear, I don’t think Lear realizes how important this is. It may mean something to Lear because it adds to his ego and attempts to take away some of his insecurities, but this is just superficial.

King Lear Act I - #3

Cordelia’s relationship with Lear is very different from Goneril and Regan’s. Lear makes each of his daughters give a speech proclaiming how much she loves him so that he can decide who deserves the largest part of his kingdom. While Goneril and Regan have no problem manipulating their father with excessive flattery and exaggerated terms to express their love for him, Regan doesn’t speak because she is unable to “heave her heart into her mouth.” She says, “I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less” meaning she loves her father as much as a daughter should. She questions her sister’s words by asking how they can only love their father and not their husbands and how when she gets married, she will love her husband and father. Cordelia is unable to speak when her survival depends on it because she has morals and virtues, unlike her scheming sisters. She’s honest with her father, which is shown by her response unlike her sisters. Money, power, and prestige are not the most important aspect of her life. She isn’t as superficial and conniving as her sisters. She loves and respects her father and doesn’t make up lies about how much she loves him just to get the largest part of the kingdom. Cordelia is Lear’s favorite daughter and he loves her too. She’s dedicated to him, but when she doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear, he banishes her because she doesn’t flatter him, which is what Lear is really looking for. He can’t hear her truth because of this.
I’ve seen situations similar to this. For example, when I was in boarding school, a lot of people tried to manipulate so that they could go home. They would tell people in authority what they wanted to hear for their own benefit even though it was usually a lie. I have used manipulation to get what I want and at times it was successful, but most of my attempts failed.

Brave New World #4

Even though the idea of people being happy without pain or suffering sounds appealing, the means to achieve that are disturbing. Individuality and knowledge are important parts of being human, and these qualities are taken away. It's possible that a utopia can only be achieved by taking away knowledge so that people can't be happy and rebel, but it's a bothersome thought. People should be able to feel different emotions and not be brainwashed or placed in a part of society without any choice. I think scientific knowledge is abused by making all those test tube babies and then putting them in different societal groups and conditioning them in certain ways to fit the society. Ignorance and lack of knowledge fuels the success, if you can call it that, of the utopian society. People have no reason to be unhappy or question standards if they can't think for themselves. Although the idea of a utopian society in terms of everyone being happy sounds nice, I don't think it can be achieved in a way without taking away basic human rights such as thought and individuality. 

Brave New World #3

In chapter 17, Mustapha Mond and John Savage discuss civilization. Mond thinks that society is fine the way it is and that it's necessary to keep people occupied so that they don't think about thinks and rebel. He thinks that there's no need for a god and people only think about god when people are alone thinking about death. People in this society aren't alone and don't fear death. Savage says, "If you allowed yourselves to think of God, you wouldn't allow yourselves to be degraded by pleasant vices." Mond says that there's no need for civilized people to  bear anything unpleasant. When Savage says, "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." he doesn't want to live in a constant state of happiness and wants to feel emotions and be able to think individually. He wants change. Mond also says that "civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism" because it shows political inefficiency. He says that conditions have to be unstable for these opportunities to become available. People have to obey the rules that society gives them and aren't allowed to be individuals or think for themselves. 

Brave New World #2

Sex and games are used as a method of control by keeping people from thinking and questioning the society. If they begin to question and think about things, they might want to rebel and bring down the society. By controlling the people, the society is stable, which is crucial to its survival. Sex is very impersonal and it's used as a way to keep people occupied. There isn't any real connection between people and people switch partners to avoid connection. Both sex and games are used to keep people happy. Also, things like hypnopaedic sayings brainwash people so that they can't think independently. Individuality is a threat to their society. The saying "ending is better than mending" means that it's better to just die or get rid of something than to try to fix it. People aren't scared of death in this society. World State doesn't want people to find truth because it poses a threat to society, so they keep people occupied, happy, and distracted to avoid potential rebellion. 

Brave New World #1

I think that some of Huxley's predictions are partially true, but are taken to the extremes. 

There are class differences, but in today's society, people are allowed to move up or down. Although they're born into a certain class, or caste in Huxley's book, they aren't brainwashed into thinking that's the only place they can be in society, even though some people in today's world may feel stuck. 

One of the most relevant aspects of Brave New World is the science that's used to create babies, but the way that they are used is less reasonable. People today have test tube babies, but the science isn't used like a factory. It isn't used as a way to produce people for a controlled society with no individuality. Also, people have mothers and fathers unlike in the book. Also, people are genetically modified to create desirable results, and a lot of work is being done in genetics to do similar things. 

The most far-fetched part of the book to me is the general idea of a utopian society, especially one run in that way. I don't think it's possible to take away all individuality and strip people of all knowledge with the end result being happiness for all. The U.S. is known for freedom and the society in Brave New World is the exact opposite of freedom. 

Poetry Response - Unveiling

"In the cemetery 

a mile away

from where we used to live

my aunts and mother,

my father and uncles lie

in two long rows almost the way

they used to sit around 

the long planked table

at family dinners."

Pastan is comparing her family member's graves lined up in the cemetery to them sitting at the table for family dinners. She doesn't feel sad because it's like they're sitting around the table like when they were alive. 

"I don't feel sad

for them, just left out a bit

as if they kept

from me the kind

of grown-up secret

they used to share

back then, something

I'm not quite ready yet

to learn."

Grown-up secrets being kept from the author makes it seem like a kid wrote the poem even though that may not be the case. Pastan is looking back and remembering what it was like to feel like there were secrets being kept from her. The end "I'm not quite ready yet to learn" could either mean that she still views herself as a child and is still not ready to learn the adult secrets or that she's not ready to die. My impression, considering her parents and family are dead, is that this person is older but still considers herself a child.