Decanting is the process of drawing off (a liquid) without disturbing the sediment or the lower liquid layer. This can correlate to why Huxley chose this word. The World State uses punishments as a way to draw off human curiosity to abide to their society. In this society, there are three different social levels. There are the Alphas and Betas who hold the highest roles, and the Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons who hold the "peasant" class. They are all bred carefully into each of their roles. Deltas must hate books because books create curiosity and individualism which is the World State's enemy. The World State decants the Deltas without disturbing the sediment. The sediment being in question, is the Delta's brain. Trying to destroy something psychologically can be devastating to the human brain. Yet the World State succeeded in only taking out the "books and flowers" from Deltas and other classes in Brave New World.
Huxley provides another supporting fact that this society supports the thought process not unlike other communist countries where individualism is hated and the sake of the society is greatest. Brave New World's society did the one thing other countries couldn't do today. They genetically and psychologically created the citizens.
So, would the hypnopædia fall into your take on this decanting issue? To pull a quote from a hypnopædia speech to
ReplyDeleteI would say that the World Society already puts in physical deterrents for class separation. Deltas and Epsilons have stunted growth to represent the differences between the Alpha's and Beta's longer height. Alongside height, there is a vast difference between the intelligence of the class ranks. Epsilons are born with a lack of oxygen to stunt their own intelligence enough to make them do the janitor work of the world without discontent. After all, Epsilons means "useful idiot."
DeleteHello Ranson,
ReplyDeleteI too noticed the use of Huxley's description of the room as decanting and couldn't quite understand why it is he chose this word. Although, now that you have made this post I can see where your theory is coming from! It makes great sense and you made a good point about the way the World State has created these peoples lives for them without giving them a chance to create their own opinions about the world around them including their likes/ dislikes. The mere reason of books and flowers not being useful to Deltas and the roles they are forlorn to take in this society is an unjust reason to restrict them of things that are most commonly enjoyed in the real world.
Yeah, I wouldn't like to live in that society. However, I can still see the allure to join that society. If I was hypothetically born as an Alpha, I wouldn't have to work hard to become that rank if I was in our own society. I also wouldn't have to worry about losing my rank because I was genetically bred for that role. Nevertheless, I would have to loose my creativity and imagination to join their society. I wouldn't have any opinions to voice out because I would just be in a hive of bees; I would always be listening to the mother bee without a thought of individuation.
DeleteThat definitly makes sense :). I didnt think about it at first, but books can lead to individuality. I dint understand why they wanted the Delta children to hate roses though. (I feel that was explained in the book). Anyways, it's crazy how they have the technology to create people. It's somewhat like everyone's a clone of everyone else :|
ReplyDeleteI was somewhat reminded of Star Wars with the technology to create clones; yet, the biggest difference between the two clone technology is the fact that clones in Star Wars have free will. What I mean by free will is that clones can move up in rank to achieve what they want. Meanwhile, the people in "Brave New World," are bred specifically into one rank. This creates what I feel is a lack of dedication and hard work. The clones in Star Wars are alike to our own people in our society. We have the ability to rise up in class with hard work and dedication. We can achieve to be what we truly want if we strive for it. Sadly, this cannot be said for "Brave New World."
DeleteI would not say that the people in Brave New World work any less hard than people of reality. Perhaps, the illusion comes from the fact they have less worries. Plus, a lot of things in their world are automated, so their is not a ton of work required. Still, you still see people working to advance, though. It is seen in the beginning that people are working to produce more people from one batch. The reason we work to advance is because we are unsatisfied with our current situation, but these people in the book are always satisfied. There is no desire for a better situation. Also, I am not trying to be nerdy while I say this, but the clones in Star Wars are also bred into a caste.
DeleteAfter reading your post, I can say that I glanced over why Huxley chose that word to describe the room. Ever since, I've read your post, I've been noticing his word choices. I also agree with your opinion of the relationship with Huxley's society and other communist countries. It's strange how Huxley wrote about this utopian like society with rapid advances of technology in a time where there wasn't anything like phones or computers.
ReplyDeleteHey! I also found out about this word choice that Aldous Huxley picked. I didn't quite know what "decanting" meant so I searched it up and found the same definition as you. I thought about why Huxley chose that word and it suddenly punched me! After this incident, I've been trying to notice more words that Huxley chooses to describe things also!
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