In his response, Mond accepts the virtues of Christianity - kindness, patience, long-suffering - as reasonable and even socially valuable, but points out that soma can do as well as years of painful self-denial in producing virtuous behavior. A life of constant amusement and pleasure, he argues, is "degrading." Where Mond sees comfort as the pinnacle of human experience, John sees it as a barrier to growth and spirituality. In contrast, John's argument stems from a belief in self-denial and suffering as a means to the good - by which he means virtuous - life. Thus, Mond argues, God is irrelevant in the brave new world. But if age and discomfort are banished, the physical, material world never loses its pleasure. According to Mond's view, people turn to religion only when age and discomfort impel them to look beyond the physical world. Mond's argument against religion in his world is materialistic - the main point being that the culture of comfort has made God obsolete. John, in contrast, has actually lived a religious life in Malpais, surrounded by the rituals of worship and purifying himself in fasting and suffering. Mond knows about God and religion from the forbidden books he has read - the Bible, the medieval Imitation of Christ, and the relatively modern works of Cardinal Newman and William James. Mond and John's experiences of religion oddly complement one another. With Bernard and Helmholtz gone, Mond and John concentrate on the issues that distinguish the traditional world - John's Malpais as well as the reader's world - from the dystopia, especially a belief in God. In this chapter, Mond continues his discussion of the practical philosophy of the world he controls. John's formal acceptance of all the horrors of sickness, poverty, and fear - capped by Mond's terse "You're welcome" - ends the chapter. Mond counters that John is claiming "the right" to be unhappy, and John agrees. As their discussion unfolds, John expresses his disgust at the casual ease of living in a society where science and conditioning abolish all frustrations. Citizens of the World State take a tranquilizing, hallucinatory drug called soma, and on an Indian reservation, residents drink mescal and use peyote during tribal initiations.In this chapter, Mond and John discuss the brave new world - especially the absence of God. Although there are no explicit descriptions of sexual acts, promiscuous sex is the norm, and there is a violent orgy. Set in a society given completely over to pleasure and consumerism, it is both humorous and chilling, and ultimately raises questions about what makes us human. Parents need to know that Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World is one of the most famous dystopian satires in the English language. A major character's mother succumbs to the slow deterioration brought on by soma.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. On the Indian reservation, mescal is drunk by the residents, and peyote is used during tribal initiations. It is addicitive, and prolonged use inevitably leads to physical deterioration. It seems to be a tranquilizer with hallucinatory effects. In Brave New World, "soma" is the drug of choice for nearly everyone.
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