badgig.blogg.se

Brave new world castes
Brave new world castes






The gene pool in an ant colony is limited because the only female genes that are passed on are those of the queen. This control over reproduction is quite similar to the situation in Brave New World, where reproduction is completely controlled by the state. Other female ants may lay eggs, but these are used for food only. In an ant colony, only the queen ant reproduces.

brave new world castes

The most interesting part of understanding caste in Brave New World in relation to caste in an ant colony is the part of the definition that tells us that ants are social insects. are needed to fill the Alpha and Beta vacancies in society.

brave new world castes

The difference in Brave New World is that people are truly sorted by intelligence into their functions, but again, their intelligence level is purely dependant on how many Alphas, Betas, etc. Again, they don't have respect because being engineers or poets means that they have more money, but it is simply their rank that merits respect. Alphas don't have respect because they are engineers, or poets, but because they are alphas. For example “like aphides and ants, the leaf-green Gamma girls, the black Semi-Morons swarmed round the entrances, or stud in queues to take their places in the monorail tram-cars”(BNW 49), “he approaches to the monorail station were black with the ant-like pullulation of lower-caste activity”(BNW 56), “swarming like lice across the mystery of her death”(BNW 190).Īs far as being differentiated according to your specific function as opposed to your profession, one's profession in Brave New World is simply a specific function done over and over again, like a part of an assembly line, or a machine. While it may be unseemly to equate human beings with insects or vermin, one can hardly ignore the fact that Huxley does so repeatedly throughout the novel. My first and third points merely support the argument that it is this definition of caste that should be applied to Brave New World. Third, as opposed to the earlier definition, castes are differentiated by the specific function they perform for their society, rather than by rank, profession, or wealth. Second, the definition makes it clear that this term applies to social insects or animals. First, this would mean equating humans with insects. There are a few important things to note if we choose to utilize this definition for the castes in Brave New World. It is this last definition that I would like to stress. A specialized level in a colony of social insects, such as ants, in which the members, such as workers or soldiers, carry out a specific function”. A social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank, profession, or wealth. One of the reasons for this is that the actual definition for caste is “2. The caste system in Brave New World is one of the most striking features of the novel for me.

brave new world castes

Contributed by Michelle Smith, UR English 05/04








Brave new world castes