Brave New World -- Second Entry

How would a "savage" woman react to the sexuality of One State?
Seeing how John reacts to One State and it's workings, the feminine point of view would be much more reserved. When John sees Lenina on a soma holiday and reaches out to touch her, he didn't "dare to profane [her] with his unworthiest hand," (Huxley 153). This starkly contrasts Lenina's reaction to her want as she shamelessly undressed herself in front of John. In a society where men and women are both equally proactive in their desire, the reservations of the savages are unheard of. Where John, a man, is embarrassed by sexuality, how would a woman even dare to think of desire? When the tables were reversed and John's mother lived by her sexually driven on the reservation, the women "made a scene" for sleeping with her husband (Huxley 130). However, in One State where there doesn't seem to be exclusive relationships. The woman would most likely be mortified at the forwardness of the men and the transparency of relationships. In One State, it isn't that men don't respect women, it's that everybody is available. The savage woman would see the advances of these men first as flattery, but then as disgust. This is due to the fact the John shows the relationship is valued and true emotions are considered rather than sexual gratification.

If one grew up in One State without any class conditioning, how would he/she view One State?
Though all children are conditioned during conception to their caste in One State, what if an egg was overlooked and grew up without the hindrances given to children upon birth (such as oxygen deprivation and alcohol treatment) or hyponoædia? This person would be free of pre-implanted ideas and a free thinker, seeing as the brain was untouched. If this person were to have grown up in One State and only seen One State, the person would most likely see the castes as the way everything is and should be. The castes indeed provide stability and accountability; there is never a question of who does what job. In John, we see his skewed views of One State from the stories his mother told him and his life growing up on a reservation (Huxley 131). However, there is the possibility that as a free thinking individual, the person would question the ethics of a predetermined fate, which would then lead to political instability and turmoil for One State.


What if Linda returned to One State pregnant?
This is a pretty loaded question because it deals with many facets of the One State society. To start with the obvious, John wouldn't been conditioned as a fetus for a certain caste, causing a disruption in the early process of deciding a caste for him. Linda would probably have been subjected to more criticism and embarrassment seeing as how the Director was laughed out of the room and resigned his position (Huxley 159,160). John would most likely be more of an oddity being raised in One State knowing his mother and father, seeing as those words are classified as obscene (159).