Text 1 O Brave New World Pages 40-41

Text 1 O brave new world pages 40-41

A) Warming-up

The picture, which represents six identical babies, sitting in the same position, is quite striking. They look like baby dolls on display in a toy store. They might be sextuplets. They are so alike that they seem to have been cloned. The picture may be a photomontage aimed at illustrating cloning.

B) Understanding the text= corrigé du workbook pages 14-15

2) Explain why the DHC gives the students a tour of the Hatchery

To explain how the human beings who belong to the Gamma, Delta and Epsilon groups are mass-produced. The process is called the Bokanovsky’s Process. It involves stopping the growth of an egg which respond sby dividing and forming up to 96 identical embryos which will become 96 identical human beings, in other words 96 clones.

He explaisn that the process is a way of achieving social stability as the clones are predestined to perform identical tasks. He makes them understand that the Bokanovsky’s Process is a way of enforcing their society’s motto : « Community, Identity, Stability ».

C) Going further

3) Describe the DHC’s attitude toward the students

He seems very pleased to show the students around. He sounds like a proud teacher happy to give a detailed explanation of the process which makes creating identical human beings possible. He speaks of the results enthusiastically. He is convinced of the importance and value of the experiment. He becomes authoritarian and haughty when a student asks a question about the advantage of the Process. He talks the student down and makes a fool of him. (line 30) . No questions or remarks are allowed.

4) What about the students’ attitudes ?

They are disciplined and studious. They listen attentively to the DHC’s explanations and write down everything he says. They even write down trivial details such as « Begin at the beginning » (line 2). The only student who dares to ask a question is immediately ridiculed. The students appear to be obedient and submissive as if conditioned into believing anything said by the ruling class.

5) What is the goal of the Bokanovsky’s Process ?

It is to produce scores of identical human beings belonging to the lower groups in society. The Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons are mass-produced just like cars on the assembly-line of a car factory. In the lower classes, people are no longer individuals – theya re just submissive, standardized human beings created to perform a specific task. They never criticize the system, they don’t stand up for their rights and have no idea what rebellion is. The fact taht technology can create a multitude of clones enables the system to remain stable.

6) What kind of society did Huxley devise ? What for ?

The technology-based society devised by Huxley is a totalitarian society in which an elite rules over the lower classes. Far from being a utopian society in which access to hi-tech achievements enables people to become equal, the Brave New World society is actually a dystopia. Huxley’s intention was to warn us against the dangers of a society in which the use of technology allows the ruling classes to manipulate other people. This satirical novel aims at denouncing the excesses of a technology-based society in which developments are not under control.

7) What scientific discoveries anticipated in the novel have become possible in today’s society ?

In Brave New World, Huxley anticipated two major scientific breakthroughs. When the director shows the students the incubators and racks of test tubes containing eggs which will become embryos and later babies, he evokes an in-vitro process of human reproduction which can be compared to today’s IVF, in-vitro fertilization.

As for the Bokanovsky’s Process, by which the Hatcheries can produce 96 identical babies from one egg, it is an anticipation of modern-day cloning.

YOUR TASK:EE Write a page in a student's diary dated 2495

The student who asked about the advantage of the Bokanovsky’s Process writes a diary. Imagine and write down the entry he wrote on that day.

METHODOLOGIE: Ecrire une page de journal intime page 171