Blog #19: Topic Selection and BNW Quotes

Essential Questions

Culture Norms- What Impact does culture have on ourselves and others?

Technology and Science- Can humans be trusted in their use of scientific developments?

Consumer Culture- How does modern society manipulate/ take advantage of people’s desires as it relates to the following topics?

I will be writing about the adverse effects of one’s concept of self due to drugs and depression on the body. Dr. Adrian Lloyd, lecturer and honorary specialist registrar in psychiatry, says that depression and the use of recreational drugs are both common and occur together by chance as individual problems. There is an interaction between the two and this can take several forms. Because most types of drugs produce a short-term feeling of well-being, it’s easy to see how they might be used by someone who is feeling down to remove their symptoms.

Drugs are huge topic in both today’s culture and Brave New World. In the Brave New World, the civilians relieve depressed, not idealized thoughts by taking soma as a way to temporarily remove the pain and provide immediate satisfaction. Soma is a way to physiologically keep the characters happy and act within the norm of society, and raise their self-esteem and feeling of fitting in. This paper will explore the effects drug have on the individuals both in Brave New World, and today’s life as it pertains to depression.

Topic/ iceberg

Research

Maslow

Quotes in BNW	Maslow	Iceberg
“…and if anything should go wrong, there’s soma” (151).	Physiological, belonging	Food, drama, celebration; concept of self, obscenity, patterns of handling emotions
“[Soma is] poison to the soul as well as the body”(144).	Physiological, Safety	Drama; concepts of food, patterns of handling emotions
“…he dropped to the chair…began to weep. A few minutes later, however, he though better of it and took four tablets of soma” (118).	Self-actualization, esteem	Food; patterns of handling emotions, concept of self
“I’d rather be unhappy than have a false, lying happiness” (119).	Self-actualization	Celebration, drama; concept of self, future and past, notions of modesty
“The holiday it gave was perfect… the remedy was to make the holiday continuous” (103).	Safety, physiological	Celebration, food; concept of self, concept of cleanliness, social interaction rate
“…there she remained; and yet wasn’t there at all…” (104).	Physiological	Food, celebration; concept of self, problem-solving, patterns of handling emotions
“’Hug me till you drug, honey; kiss me till im in a coma; hug me, honey, snuggly bunny, love’s as good as soma’”(111).	Love/belonging	Games, celebration; nature of friendships, attitudes towards dependents
“As soon as they got back… [they took] tablets of soma.. [it was] 18 hours before she was in time again” (95).	Physiological, Safety	Celebration, food; patterns of handling emotions, concept of self
“[she felt] ashamed, now that… the soma had worn off…” (76).	Esteem, self-actualization	Celebration, food; patterns of handling emotions, concept of self
“’Too awful!’ She shuddered, ‘Oh, I wish I had my soma’”(78).	Physiological, Safety	Drama; patterns of handling emotions, concepts of self