When the World State
is broken down into individual parts, you have the Alphas, the Betas, the Gammas,
the Deltas, and the Epsilons. Each being contributes to society, whether they are
dead or alive. An example could be found in the beginning of Part 1 of Chapter
5 when Henry and Lenina are on a helicopter ride. He explains to her the
process of phosphorus recovery, when after the cremation of a body, the remains
of phosphorus are used to help plants grow and benefit the society. “Every one
works for every one else. Everybody’s happy now.”
Some flaws are clearly notable in the early chapters of the
book. In this world where everyone contributes to society by increasing the
rates of consumption, there still are distinct roles that each person plays in
the World State. These roles remind of the caste system in India, leading to
compare the lowest of the caste, the untouchables, with the Epsilons. In the
World State, the Alphas are the smartest, most attractive of the bunch;
although there seems to be a defect in a man by the name of Bernard Marx. He is
much shorter than most Alphas, less attractive, and holds unorthodox beliefs
that differ from the rest. There is also Helmholtz Watson who seems to have too
much to offer. Since the World State does not rely on natural birth, but rather
on genetic manipulation and cloning, are the clones of Bernard and Helmholtz
slightly defected as well?
One last thing I’d like to add is if anyone noticed how
Lenina wears the color green, which represents the color of Gammas, even though
she is a Beta. Was this just a careless mistake that Huxley made or an
intentional flaw for us to find?
Probably Huxley wanted to point out the technical flaws of cloning. Remember, cloning is just science, and thus trying to make a person to a certain design is pretty delicate. One screw-up in a clone's genome can have consequences. Either that, or just to show that even when everyone is happy, or perfect in a sense, it is in our nature to make mistakes. To make mistakes is to progress. Someone has to test the water out in order to swim into the ocean of human advancement.
ReplyDeleteI see flaws in the World State because perfection could never be achieved. The inhabitants of the World State were on a monotone note. They didn't make goals for themselves; instead, they mostly relied on what they been told since birth.
ReplyDeleteStill they were capable of free will, and not completely brain-washed. Bernard Marx was one of the few people who preferably did not take the soma, which proved to be an advantage.
No matter what, there will be flaws because it wasn't the perfect system.
In fact there are flaws everywhere, no matter what ideology is in place. Capitalism bring freedom in the market, but eventually the strongest will undermine the middle class. Communism bring forced mass production of goods, but without anyone to bring in food for the people. Like what Postman said about technology having benefits and drawbacks in society, the same principle is applied here. It's the way the universe works.
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