I will be writing on the wonderful prompt that Allyson found.
It isn't a new concept that where we lives affects how we live but the extent of that effect isn't as clear. A person's surroundings can have either a positive or negative effect on that character's traits and this is definitely illustrated in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". In this novel, Lenina is a character whose entire personality is sculpted by a futuristic society. In Brave New World the surroundings create the characters and show the dangers of an all-powerful state. Huxley is able to create a setting that in itself, creates characterization.
Lenina is a product of this new society that Huxley produced in Brave New World. She is pretty much just like everyone else in the novel. She does her job that she was assigned and she is happy in her social class. She responds well to the social customs of her society and lives the life that she is expected to. Lenina did not gather these characteristics on her own volition. She was programmed to have them due to her environment. She grew up in this strange society being programmed to do her job and live within her caste and be content with that, wanting nothing more or less. Lenina would not feel the way that she feels without her upbringing. Huxley was showing how manipulative an all-powerful government could be. The environment of the novel creates an atmosphere in which characters cannot think for themselves. They rely on the government to tell them when they are happy and what makes them content. There are of course some exceptions to this programmed society, but most of the characters are completely trapped out of individual thinking. Huxley created characters like Lenina this way to show how malleable people can be. How in a few years, a government completely rewire a population to think and act differently.
The cultural surroundings of the characters in Brave New World determine their mental status's and moral traits. That's because the society's entire purpose is to mold and oppress the citizens. Huxley was precisely trying to show how environment effects human nature. Lenina was just one example of how people are receptive to their environment.
I did my essay on the same prompt! I talked about Bernard and John so it was cool to see how you answered it with Lenina. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you used Lenina as an example to describe how the all-powerful government takes advantage of the public as a whole. It was interesting that you chose Lenina because you could have used Bernard and John but instead you picked a more "average" character.
ReplyDeleteThe first 3 paragraph essay I read and it was a bad thing you condense your point into a concise message. This working better than a drawn out dissertation so good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat essay! I agree with Micaela, I like how you answered the prompt with Lenina.
ReplyDeleteYou answered the prompt really well, and I also liked how you were able to bring Lenina into the essay, which was difficult for me.
ReplyDeleteNice job Rebecca! I like that you chose Lenina because most people chose Bernard!
ReplyDeleteMy only critique would be that I think the main body could've been separated into two.
Really well written. Good job describing the characters. By the way when you say your essay sucks and I say mine does too make sure yours actually does hahah.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on using Lenina as a great example. Your main points and thoughts helped describe why Lenina was a great example and how characterization can be molded and can be defined by the setting/surroundings. Great job Becky!
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