Entry 6: Collage

I gathered some photos for this collage that I felt embodied an aspect of the society in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World. On the upper left is a picture that depicts the practice used in the book to synthetically grow fetuses in a factory-style setting. This part of the book is very symbolic and, due to its early appearance in the story, sets a precedent or context for what this society is like. Below this image is one that represents the idea of conditioning. The inclusion of this type of control shows the extent of the power held by the controllers and the near impossibility of escaping their plans as people are, in essence, brainwashed. To the right of this image, in the bottom center, is a view of a compact, very industrial landscape. This picture is meant to serve as a representation of the close quarters people in this society live in and the importance of technological advancements and industry. The almost unbelievable proximity of the buildings and sight of only metal and no nature is comparable to how I pictured London while reading Brave New World. To the right of this photo, on the bottom right hand side, is an image of 4 men who look very much alike, are dressed the same, and have a similar expression on their face. This image is meant to highlight the idea of everyone looking and acting the same, and not only having striking physical similarities, but also conforming so much so that they are almost interchangeable and have little to no individuality which is found throughout the novel. The image in the  upper right corner and the image in the center of the collage serve the purpose of showing the importance of the role of Soma in the story. The population’s dependency on this drug is great and is a pivotal part of the story’s overall meaning. In the upper center of the collage is a photo of a collection of Shakespeare’s works like the one’s belonging to John in Brave New World. The inclusion of Shakespeare in this book struck me as important as it not only served to include something much older than society but also to cause the reader to think about the messages, plots, relationships, and human behavior in these Shakespearean stories and compare them to the happenings in the novel.