Literary Associations: Does this text call to mind any other
associations literary work (poem, play, film,
story-any genre)? If it does, what is
the work and what is the connection
you see between the two? (Prompt from Probst's "Dialogue with the Text")
Shakespeare. The text is replete with Shakespearean references. Many have noted the title reference to Shakespeare, but on this latest re-reading, I noticed dozens and dozens of allusions to Shakespearean text. These lines most notable occur in John's thoughts and words (not surprising considering his affinity for Shakespeare), and John's end echoes that of a Shakespearean tragic hero.
Brave New World is such a pivotal piece for twentieth century literature; the dystopian ideas presented are echoed in many later texts: Fahrenheit 451, 1984, The Giver, The Hunger Games, The Road, Gone -- the list goes on and on. Also, films have taken the concept of the dystopian/utopia idea and the themes found in Brave New World are evidenced across a wide variety of recent films and television shows: Wall-E, Oblivion, even Total Recall -- the idea of sacrificing personal identity and comfort for the good of the communal society is one that has resonated with audiences since Huxley published his masterpiece 85 years ago.
I think the dichotomies that Huxley addresses are profoundly human fears and worries: individuality vs. community, reality vs. perception, safety vs. control, happiness vs. apathy, personal identity vs. social conditioning, acceptance vs. authenticity, freedom vs. security... there are so many significant spaces for discussion and dialogue. It is a novel that some might consider "difficult" to teach, but the benefits of discussion topics, dialogue, and authentic learning and talking make it WELL worth any vocabulary or structural difficulties. It is definitely on my short list of "must teach" novels.
I had never read Brave New World before, and I think that the room for dialogue in these topics is one of the coolest things about it. A lot of books are not black and white of course, but Huxley presents this dystopia as something that is objectively wrong and I think that these topics have a lot of room to be discussed and debated. It would be a great text for a Socratic seminar, or debate.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare--a very intriguing connection and comparioson. Last week in class we also started transitioning to writing (which is coming)--how these units and subsequent methods can lead us to writing as a culminating unit project--could students write a comparison between a core text and another text? Obviously a YA novel read in book clubs but more interesting, a personal connection as you have just made.
ReplyDeleteI love that you noticed all these connections with classic literature, because it makes for an interesting message considering all these works were banned in this society. It seems to me to convey the message that even if literature is not familiar to the members of a society, it still played a major role in the structure and philosophies of that society (even if that role is sinister).
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