Reading Log Brave New World

chapter | Who? | Where + When? | What? | Chapter I | Director, students, Henry Foster, Lenina | Central London Hatchery and Conditioning CentreYear A.F. 632 | - World State’s motto: ‘Community, Identity Stability’ - The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C.) shows some new arrived students the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre–> introduces them to the principles of the mass production of humans- There are groups of ‘alpha’, ‘beta’, ‘gamma’, ‘delta’ and ‘epsilon’ - Work with the ‘Bokanovsky’s Process’–> one of the major instruments of social stability - Mr Foster, an avid employee, tells the students more about the Centre- The embryos are prepared for their later life and work | Chapter II | Director, students, infants, nurses | Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (Infant-Nurseries – Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms) | - The tour continues in the Infant Nurseries-Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms - Example of conditioning: low-caste babies are offered books and flowers which they want to reach; suddenly there are loud frightening sirens and the babies get a slight electric shock –> they should learn to associate books and flowers with negative experiences –> lower caste humans are not supposed to read because it is a waste of time and flowers are useless- The Director explains hypnopaedia (sleep-teaching) –> children listen to tapes that permanently repeat slogans about behaviour and attitudes during their sleeps | Chapter III | Director, students, Mustapha Mond, Henry Foster, Lenina, Fanny, Bernard Marx | Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (outside in the garden), the lift, Girl’s Dressing-Room | - In the garden the students observe children playing erotic games -> they are encouraged to play sexual games- The Director tells the group about the suppression of erotic games in former times -> it is incredible to the students- Mustapha Mond, one of the ten rulers, appears and gives a lecture