Nowadays, the increase of the intake of food is apparent on the overall health of America. In some cases, such as my own at times, people consume food to eat away their everyday issues. The more the problems, the more the food, and the fatter the stomachs.
As we see in movies and media, some adults use alcohol as their form of coping. Some tend to think they would find the solutions to their problems in the bottom of a beer can. Either way, no one ever deals with their problems head on.
It is the same instance with drugs. Adults, and sometimes even teenagers, take advantage of the euphoric effects that drugs produce in order to eschew their odeals.The characters in Huxley's world and the real people of ours, are finding excuses and other means of dealing and coping with problems, when in fact they should be taking control of them straight away. They hide behind their booze and their Cheetos and their soma, when they should be confronting and healing in totally different means.
I think that is an interesting way to see some of the continuing issues with society in the “Year of our Ford”. Yet we are so accomplished in technology in the future, we still have some of the same issues we’ve had since forever. However, in Brave New World EVERYONE takes soma, and today not everybody is overweight, a druggie, or an alcoholic. I know there are a lot of people in the world that do not drink alcohol or do drugs because they are upset. People do eat food when they are sad, but it’s not the same as soma. It does not necessarily help you feel better, whereas drugs and alcohol supposedly do. However, you are correct, it is still an issue and people refuse to face they’re problems straight on, and need to face they’re problems in a totally different means.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment completely; however, I did not say that everyone is overweight, or a druggie, or an alcoholic. I mentioned food, alcohol, and drugs as an example of my point. My point is that all of the characters in Brave New World take soma when they are distressed or when they are not completely happy with their mood status, instead of dealing and coping with their issues like Bernard Marx did in the beginning of the book. If one were to compare Huxley's form of the future with our present, one would notice that he is quite accurate, for some of us do not cope with our problems straight away, like the characters in Brave New World.
ReplyDeleteIn the defense of the characters in Brave New World I know how hard it is to cope with things you feel you can't change but still would like to. So instead of feeling like you have no control some people want a false sense or relief. A relief that can be achieve through drugs, alcohol, or even food. I mean it’s not right but it’s harder to admit the your you need help than just to masked the pain you feel for a while.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides of the story both make sence. I think I would be caught in the middle in this one.Like Aly said not EVERYONE is a druggie or fat. Some people actally find away to cope wth their depression, or angery, or anyother emotion other than eatting or drinking or doing drugs. It just seems like everyone does drink and do drugs because media makes it seem like the world is a horrible place where everyone is doing it. But it's not completely true. And as for the people that DO eat, drink or do drugs because of their emotions they probably saw n the media (hint hint media can send the wrong messages about dealing with stress) that if they eat, drink or do drugs or party hard that the problems can go away. And who knows, Maybe they do go away for awhile, and that's probably why they turn to all the negitive soultions to "solve" their problems. However on the other hand, those who cope "healther" (one can say) they probably learn from the media a different way to approach their stress. So either way you see it the media can have a huge effect on how people live their lives, and how they might handle stress. I think that's one of the points that Huxley was trying to show the readers, and he might have been using Bernard in the begining of the book as an example. Bernard just chose not to take soma as much as the others because he dealt with his problems differently from the others which made him "odd". At the end people get to choose how to handle their stress, problems and lives. The media is just the one trying to help us make up our minds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amber. The characters in Brave New World have no choice. They were specially made according to the government. From there they went through years of conditioning where they were taught what is right and wrong. To them soma is right, and it feels good. We cannot judge them for this, for it is all they have known.
ReplyDeleteThe people in our societies however know better. We have a choice. If individuals decide to drink or take drugs to escape or simply for the pleasure, it is up to them. We have not been conditioned, at least not completely, and we can make our own decisions.
I do want to add that however I don't judge those who are in horrible situations, and feel they must drink or take something to escape. We are no ones to judge.
I understand and agree with what everyone has commented. If the characters in Brave New World were nurtured from their very beginning to take soma instead of dealing with their issues, then we cannot blame them for it, and I was not.
ReplyDeleteMy only point was that Huxley's imagination is not far from our reality. In example, SOME of us nowadays take drugs and drink alcohol to mask our emotions. Although there are some people that do not take drugs and alcohol to cope with themselves, I was not talking about them.
But yes, I agree the media is involved in our world like the government is involved in Huxley's world. I also would not dare to judge the people who are in horrible situations.
However, in the case of my point, I am sure that we can all agree that Huxley's make-believe society is quite similar to ours, in that SOME of our people choose to deal with their problems by taking their own version of soma.