Education Factories

                The video posted on Mr. Dominguez’s blog (D, by the way is super cool :D)draws many parallels with regards to education with Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World.  I was actually really amazed by the similarities between the two.  What’s more I actually agree with most of the things said in the videos.  As we move forward in life the education system we currently have becomes increasingly outdated and alienates more of the world’s children. 

                First of all, I was amazed by the comment made in the video about how today’s education system is very similar to the workings within in a factory.  Split into groups based on age, “batches” of children are bussed into schools that operate according to a bell schedule and split into specific pieces, also known as subjects.  What’s more education, according to the video, is resulting in losing its subjects by splitting students into two main groups, those who succeed and those who do not, and by assigning ‘grades.’

                In Brave New World, children are produced, much like supposed intelligence and individuals are produced in school, in “hatcheries”.  Within these hatcheries, the children are put on an assembly line, for Henry Ford, whom they worship, created this noble device.  Just like there are desks in which each student is confined to at school where they develop, in the novel there are “racks upon racks of numbered test tubes” in which the children develop.  What’s more each learning process in the novel is separate, just as subjects are in school.  There’s a room for birthing, a room for establishing a fear of books and flowers, and there’s a room for erotic play, and so forth and so on.  Furthermore, the people are split into groups during the “pregnancy” based on how dumb or successful they are supposed to be.  These groups are Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons.  These groups are similar to grades.  There are even pluses and minuses within each grade.

                All in all, there are so many similarities between the views of education and the happenings within the novel Brave New World.  It is made very obvious how detrimental these practices are to society, regardless of the good intentions that may be attached.

               

Assembly LIne for Embryos

                Chapter 3 of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley paints an apt picture of the morals and values in this society.  Let’s begin by considering the quote from the text, “Wheels must turn steadily, but cannot turn untended. There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, and obedient men, stable in contentment."  This quote is super meaty, so there are so many places you can go with it.  Plus, the book itself is meaty.

                This quote, which is said by Mond, who is the Resident Controller of Western Europe, has a great deal of significance with regards to why the society is run the way is it.  The society itself can be compared to a machine through this metaphorical quote.  The wheels are the way the society operates.  Thus, when the quote says, “wheels must turn steadily”, it is comparable to saying, and “society must operate steadily.”  The quote goes on to say that these wheels cannot turn untended.  What this means is that society needs a government and people to make sure it operates steadily.  The remainder of the quote, “There must be men to tend them, men as sturdy as the wheels upon their axles, sane men, obedient men, stable in contentment” goes on to reveal the purpose behind the mass production of human beings as is told of in Chapter 1-4.   According to this society’s mind set, in order for them to be successful and productive they need to have massive amounts of men who are strong, not necessarily physically, but in terms of their usefulness.  These men need to be sane, obedient, and always content.  This will allow them to work more efficiently, which is the purpose of this society: to run as efficiently as Henry Ford’s Model T production assembly technique.

                Through the chapter’s skipping of point of view, you gain a very good sense of how the value system works on different personal levels in the society.  For example, in efforts to make sure that people serve the government to the best of their abilities, they eliminate emotions, such as those between a parent and child.  With regards to monogamy, the view point of society is ever so clear with the case of Lenina.  Her friends scolds her for going out with Henry again.  She goes so far as to say, “ ‘It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man.”  Current society is a proponent of monogamy; however, if this quote is taken seriously, then she has said anything. 

                What’s more, impulse, feelings and desires are also frowned upon.  According to Mond, they there outrageous and led only to government failure.  For, once again, the money is crucial to the security’s success.

DIscussions of Post-Colonialism Within The Tempest

I wasn’t here on Friday, so I’m very unsure how to do this, but here is my best shot.  If it’s wrong then I’m deeply sorry. 

In discussions of The Tempest, by Shakespeare, one controversial issue has been the appearance of post-colonialism within the text. On the one hand, critic George Will argues that it is unfortunate that all literary works, such as The Tempest, are subject to the liberal victimization of all minorities.   On the other hand, Stephen Greenblatt, a critic who directly challenges Will, contends that it is the very purpose of literature to highlight such injustices so that society can become increasingly aware.  He argues that if literary criticism is checked as Will would like then it will enslave people in unawareness outside their own life. Others, such as Aime Cesaire’s in his parody of The Tempest, which is also called the The Tempest, maintain the same views as Greenblatt, by portraying Prospero as a disgusting slave driver under which both Ariel and Caliban stuggle.  However, my own view is a blend between those of Will and Greenblatt/Cesaire.

In discussions of The Tempest, the traditional view is to condemn Prospero for his conquering and enslaving of the island and all of its inhabitants.  However, there may be other ways to think about this text. For one thing, I believe that Shakespeare is portraying post-colonialism, which explains the events throughout the play. The existence of traditional European post-colonialism is clear afterall.  I; however, am not convinced that Shakespeare is portraying this to necessarily condemn the Europeans.  Rather, I believe that he is portraying it more as a way to show that it happened.  And Greenblatt also contends that literature’s purpose is reveal things about the past, whether they be injustices or triumphs. Therefore, taking these positions into account, we can see that, while The Tempest does expose European post-colonialism that does not mean by any circumstance that they do so out of criticism.  It may have been done merely to tell a story.