The Road: First Reading

The novel is obviously a work of post-apocalyptic literature: it has very descriptive images of a world that's had a fallout and it also includes references to God (however negative). A novel that also fits in with this genre is The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell; it depicts a world ravaged by zombies and a young woman who seeks redemption in this wasteland. Post-apocalyptic literature is similar to dystopian fiction by how they both depict a cruel and evil world and different in that a post-apocalyptic literature society is nearly non-existent, if its existent at all, and in dystopian fiction society is very prominent. A novel that combines dystopian and post-apocalyptic sub-genres is The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell. I think both sub-genres address comments, values, philosophies, and political topics specific to their sub-genre in their own right; of course, if a topic dwells outside of the sub-genre it might not do so well addressing those outlying topics. The style in which The Road is written is mostly syntax, so far. The sentences seem to be ended early, as if they were thoughts that come and go to another topic quickly and i think its written this way to show the reader how fragmented the character is, since the sentences, thoughts, are fragmented. I personally like this style of writing, for this genre of course, because it shows how disillusioned the character is about the world through the fragmentation of the sentences.

Brave New World: So, the book is equating organized religion to soma?

Soma is used by the government in Brave New World to oppress the people by keeping them in an ignorant bliss. Yet in the novel, Mustapha Mond equates soma to Christianity: "Christianity without tears, that's what soma is."; In this quote Mustappha Mond says that taking soma is much easier than being in a religion. When in a religion a person has to go through hardships to get what soma gives easily, happiness. But soma is a false happiness, and even oppressive to those who take it. Using Linda as an example, soma, more quickly, kills its user the more the user takes it; the happiness is short and cheap. And soma oppresses the population by keeping them in a childlike state of mind, making people seek an easy way out.    

Brave New World: Chapters 11-15

Lets talk about soma (in context of the article Can Science Be Ethical?):

Soma is the drug of choice in Brave New World (probably the only drug) and is itself a technological/biological advancement: its able to rid a person of all emotionally negative things in their life, for a short time. In the article, it is said that scientific advancements are only useful if it further polarizes social classes or directly threatens humanity; also that a scientific advancement works for evil if it is a toy for the rich and works for good if it helps the poor. In soma's case, it does not further polarize social classes but does, however indirectly, threaten humanity; it is a way from keeping people from truly thinking and experiencing feelings crucial to grow as a person and being individuals. And it does not necessarily work for good or evil since the drug is equally rationed out to all social classes, yet the drug does oppress the masses subtly. So, how should soma be classified? Is it even ethical?

Well, if we look at its classification from an ethical perspective then soma is evil; it is not a toy for the rich at first, but if we think about how people like the Mustapha Mond, a world controller, and how they use soma to oppress the masses, then soma sort of does become a toy for the extremely rich and influential like Mustapha Mond, who controls people with this seemingly innocent drug.

Brave New World: Chapters 6-10

There is one prominent pattern in the story that I've noticed so far: the use of those quick rhymes, taught hypnopaedically, as an excuse for feeling emotions and a what to do to get rid of them for only a moment, take soma.
You can tell that Bernard will, at a point in the story, rise up against his government in some form and will definitely have help coming from John, once he is disillusioned about the "other world", and probably Hemholtz, who yearns for something more and truly does care for Bernard even though he doesn't truly understand how Bernard feels. A possible obstacle in this (probable) coup d'etat will be Lenina, who seems to be slowly moved by Bernard's yearning of individualism, but constantly fights against it when her mind starts to soak it in and may possibly turn Bernard into higher authorities.

Brave New World: Impressions on First 5 Chapters

Chapter 1: The world is definitely technologically advanced and the business talked about in the story is into "super breeding" humans and predetermining their lot in life. I can already see how seemingly controlled the society is. But what if there are defects that don't follow what they are made to be?

Chapter 2: What you wear is who you are, in this story. Also, there is a candid look into the social conditioning the facility does.

Chapter 3: The author introduces the main characters of the story; the structure soon after becomes broken up between the different views.

Chapter 4: A more in depth look into Bernard Marx's insecurities.

Chapter 5: An even more descriptive look into this technologically fantastical world.