"The Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley
The Doors of Perception, written by Aldous Huxley in 1954 was the first essay of its kind to deal with not only the physical effects of mescaline but also attempted to rationalize the fundamental needs satisfied by the drug by its takers. Mescaline is the active chemical in peyote, a wild cactus that grows in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Huxley volunteered to boldly go where few Americans other than chemists, native Americans, and researchers dared to go by ingesting synthesized mescaline in a controlled experiment to measure it's psychological effects. The idea was that since Huxley was an accomplished writer he would be well suited to catalog the effects of the drug in a way few researchers would have. The story of Huxley's journey to the center of his mind is well told and is highlighted by rational and logical observations on the nature of madness, perception and the very human need for such occasional hallucinogenic departures from reality.
Huxley's expected hallucination included lying with his eyes shut, visioning many colored geometric shapes, animated architectures, rich with gems, and landscapes with heroic figures of symbolic dramas. This was realized quickly by Huxley as an absurd expectation. When being asked about spatial relationships, he states this as a difficult question to answer. Yes, the room did not appear to have 90 degree angles, but the perception of shapes seemed to him as really unimportant facts. He realized his mind was not perceiving the world in terms of spatial categories, as we are taught to perceive the world. When asked about time Huxley replied " there seems to be plenty of it". Time had lost any real meaning and he was not co...
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...emical transcendence are all happily united in one common ritual.
Aldous Huxley was a unique individual in his thinking and in his courage to express ideas not always popular within mainstream media. His views were seen as extreme by many conservatives and inspirational by the new breed of free thinkers coming up in his shadow. His influence can be seen in many prominent "Beat" generation figures and 60s icons such as Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsburg and others. It is this deification by his successors that have led many to discount him as a quack the same as the others. But for one who has truly read The Doors of Perception with an open mind, it becomes readily apparent that Huxley was no drug fiend or pseudo-psychologist. He is rather a brilliant writer with a good sense of history and the needs of man who found in a substance something more than Dope.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.
”I’ve always said poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness; all that mush!” exclaimed Mrs. Bowles to Montag in Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451 (103). Mrs. Bowles thinks written words can make an individual really gloomy and disconsolate. Because the goal of this society is to always be satisfied, and to stay satisfied people watch TV, made up stories, which never makes them think or wonder, that is why Mrs. Bowles is convinced that poems are nasty. How does banning of books affect a whole community? Does the human civilization really differ without them? According to Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury assembles a civilization that is affected in three ways from having a lack of books: more brutality is among people, preternatural relationships cultivate, and intelligent capabilities decrease.
The novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer goes into great detail to describe the main character, Chris McCandless, who died traveling alone into the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless, whom in the novel renamed himself Alex, left his home and family to travel to Alaska in 1992. In Alaska McCandless planned to live an isolated life in the desolate wilderness, but unfortunately he did not survive. This non-fiction novel portrays his life leading up to his departure and it captures the true essence of what it means to be “in the wild”.
What is sense perception? Everything we perceive in our senses can be misleading and an illusion. In the article “Perception and Reality” by Keith Wilson (see Article 1), the author goes over some of the aspects of how our perception deceives us to believe in things that aren’t there to begin with. For example are colors real? Well that is relevantly dependent on what is considered real, because real again is a perception of a single individual collecting information and making “sense” out of it. A color being real or not is dependent on how we see it through our eyes, we can 't say that my blue is the same as your blue. We can 't know for sure if what we are seeing for ourselves, is the same as what the person that views that same thing sees
The tone is set in this chapter as Krakauer uses words to create an atmosphere of worry, fear, and happiness in McCandless’s mind. “The bush is an unforgiving place, however, that cares nothing for hope or longing”(4). McCandless is on the path of death, which creates worry and fear for the young boy. “He was determined. Real gung ho. The word that comes to mind is excited,” (6). Alex is very excited and care free, which Krakauer used to his advantage in making the tone of Alex’s mind happy. The author creates tones to make the reader feel the moment as if the readers were sitting there themselves. Krakauer uses dialogue and setting to create the mixed tones of this chapter. As one can see from the quotes and scenery the author uses tones that are blunt and are to the point to make the reader feel as though the emotions are their own. Krakauer uses plenty of figurative language in this chapter. He uses figurative language to support his ideas,to express the surroundings, and tone around the character. To start the chapter he uses a simile describing the landscape of the area, “…sprawls across the flats like a rumpled blanket on an unmade bed,” (9). This statement is used to make reader sense the area and set the mood for the chapter. The use of figurative language in this chapter is to make a visual representation in the readers mind. “It’s satellites surrender to the low Kantishna plain” (9).
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is used to convey information and it contributes to the overall theme of the novel. Written during the era of McCarthyism, Fahrenheit 451 is about a society where books are illegal. This society believes that being intellectual is bad and that a lot of things that are easily accessible today should be censored. The overall message of the book is that censorship is not beneficial to society, and that it could cause great harm to one’s intelligence and social abilities. An analysis of irony in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows that this literary technique is effective in contributing to the overall theme of the novel because it gives more than one perspective on how censorship can negatively affect a society.
Eliezer Wiesel is a 14-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy from Sighet, Transylvania. Elie has one younger sister Tzipora, 2 older sisters Hilda and Bèa, and is the only son. His father is a prominent leader of the Jewish community. Ellie wants to study Jewish mysticism, but his father tells him he is too young. So he befriends Moche the beadle, a handyman, so he can be taught mysticism. Moche teaches him to ask God the right questions even though he will never receive the right answer. in 1944 Germans came to power an occupied Hungary, and soon controlled Sighet. At this point, the Germans begin their plan to get rid of the Jews. They moved Eli and his family into a ghetto. There were two gether does, small one large one. Eli and his family moved to the larger ghetto. They stayed in the ghetto for a while, until they were put on two trains and sent to Birkenau. when everyone was out of it rains, everyone was split into two groups, the men and the women. This was the last time le saw his mother and his sister Tzipora. Eli and his father were put into the same groups and that's when Ell...
Well, our next guest is a man who needs no introduction. He is a literary genius, scientist, philosopher and the author of his times, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. Aldous Leonard Huxley.
In conclusion, Brave New World was likely thought out to be a satire of the American culture and society in Los Angeles at the time of Huxley’s visit. His life experiences, values and ideals can also lead the reader to this conclusion. Through personal anecdotes in Huxley’s articles about his trip, and Firchow and Kings interpretations of his words, the reader can learn much about Huxley’s goals in writing Brave New World. Aldous Huxley was a visionary. While others were following in the footsteps of others, Huxley was blazing a trail entirely his own. Huxley’s dystopia has been hugely influential in the literary world, and will forever continue to affect the way future utopias and dystopias are portrayed today.
In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, he retells the story of a young man named Chris McCandless by putting together interviews, speaking with people who knew him, and using letters he writes to his companions. Chris McCandless also known as Alexander Supertramp is a bright young man and after graduating from Emory University with all honors, he abandons most of his possessions and travels around the west, making long lasting impact on whomever he meets. He then hitchhikes to Alaska where he is found dead. In chapter 14 and 15, both named “Stikine Ice Cap”, Jon Krakauer interrupts the boy's story and shares his anecdote of going to Alaska to climb a dangerous mountain called the Devils Thumb. Krakaure’s purpose is to refute the argument that McCandless is mentally ill because many others, like Krakauer have tried to “go into the wild” but they are lucky to survive unlike McCandless. While describing his climb, Krakauer exhibits through the descriptions of and uncertainty about personal relationships.
One of England’s greatest literary figures, William Shakespeare, expressed the truth about coveting knowledge by saying that “ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven” (William Shakespeare Quotes). One must assume that Ray Bradbury, Author of Fahrenheit 451, learned from this. Bradbury’s novel shares a similar portrayal towards coveting knowledge. In the novel the protagonist realizes that he is living in a world where knowledge is lost. People abide by rules and restrictions given to them by the government. There is nothing in this society to make people think about how valuable knowledge is, except for books. The protagonist is a fireman whose job is to seek out books and destroy the contents. The mass population believes that books are a waste of time and useless. The protagonist also believes this until a change of heart leads to a journey of identity and curiosity. Bradbury believes that this type of world will eventually turn into our own. Clearly, Ray Bradbury’s outlook for the future of man is grim because he represses intellectual endeavor, lacks critical thinking, and becomes destructive.
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is the story of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless who ventured off to Alaska and tried to survive in the wild. McCandless grew up in Annandale, Virginia where he attended school and made very good grades, rarely bringing home anything below an A. His father, Walt worked for NASA for a little while, before starting his own business with Chris’s mother, Billie, out of their own home. They worked hard and for long hours to get the business up and running and it finally paid off. The McCandless family was wealthy, but had many emotional problems. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, Chris McCandless donated twenty-four thousand dollars from his savings account to charity, changed his name to Alexander Supertramp, and then disappeared. This book tells the story of his life and travels. Some critics say that Chris McCandless was a very admirable person. He was a brave man that followed his dreams. However, given all of his flaws, attitudes, and actions, he is un-admirable. McCandless walked into the wild very unprepared and stubborn. He also treated his family poorly as well as anyone who got emotionally close to him. Chris was additionally too impressionable in a way that he admired authors along with the books they wrote, and tried to imitate them. He was very rebellious in his actions as well, and did not try to change the world or help others.
Monsters under the bed, drowning, and property damage are topics many people have nightmares about; nightmares about a dystopian future, on the other hand, are less common. Despite this, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984 display a nightmarish vision about a dystopian society in the near future. Fahrenheit 451 tells of Guy Montag’s experience in a society where books have become illegal and the population has become addicted to television. Meanwhile, 1984 deals with Winston Smith’s affairs in Oceania, a state controlled by the totalitarian regime known as the Party. This regime is supposedly headed by a man named Big Brother. By examining the dehumanized settings, as well as the themes of individuality and manipulation, it becomes clear that novels successfully warn of a nightmarish future.
Firchow, Peter. "Science and Conscience in Huxley's "Brave New World" ." University of Wisconsin Press Journals Divisions (n.d.).
Even though the novel, Brave New World was written quite some time ago, Huxley still makes points that are relevant today. By using satire, he warns us on issues such as science, technology and religion. We should slow down our uses of science and technology, especially when using them for abusive purposes. We also need to be careful about letting the government get too involved in aspects of our everyday lives. If we start letting simple freedoms go, we could lose some major ones.