Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What kind of name is "Aldous"?

"'Going to the Feelies this evening, Henry?'" (Brave New World, 35).

Admittedly, as the point of view got really choppy and annoying at the end of chapter three, I wasn't very interested in Henry Foster's story as much as I was with what the Controller was saying. BUT there were a ton of cool allusions that I liked.

The quote up there is a reference to the "Talkies" of the Roaring Twenties -- movies with sound. I suppose they're "Feelies" in this book to make the world seem more advanced and (I don't think this is too far fetched) sexually free. Before that, the Director sat on a bench made of "steel and rubber" (33), two industries that thrived in that decade because of Ford's automobile. Then, near the end of the chapter, there was a huge focus on consumerism ("'I do love having new clothes'"), which was a defining aspect of the 1920s. All of this really makes sense with the idolization of Ford -- and the "Ford" thing really keeps getting more and more over-the-top.

I have one more quick reference that I enjoyed: "Our Ford -- or Our Freud, as, for some inscrutable reason, he chose to call himself whenever he spoke of psychological matters . . ." (39). The reason was inscrutable to the notebook students because they don't know anything about history, but luckily, I can tell you that Freud (who was influential during the 1920s -- go figure), was a psychologist who studied sexuality and impulse.

Fast forward to abooouuut . . . 2:05. It's number 23.


Also, if anyone was curious, "Aldous" is actually a legitimate name that comes from the German word for "old."

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