1. Tara Siri<br />English IB SL1<br />Period 2<br />Brave New World Pastiche<br />“Community. Identity. Stability. Community. Identity. Stability…” recites The Great Mustapha Mond to his fellow followers as they peer up at him intensively, basking in every word he speaks. Faces still, no one dares to move when it’s their Ford’s time. <br />There are no longer hospitals; the Hatchery and Conditioning Centers serve the purpose of reproduction now through Bokanovsky’s Process.<br />There are no longer upper class, middleclass, or lower class, just Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons.<br />There are no longer naptimes offered in children’s classes, but hypnopaedia.<br />There are no longer people celebrating their birthdays, but their decanting.<br />There are no longer religions; all you need to know is to believe in Ford.<br />The ocean, calm one minute, and wild the next. First sneaking up quietly, building up weight, then all of a sudden rising up then rolls down with a boom. Close by, a man, patiently looking out into the body of water as if trying to find peace, yet hoping for those waves to come and pull him down. The wind is strong today, blowing in all sorts of directions as it messes up the man’s hair. But he stands without any movement, like stone, not bothered one bit by the wind, nor anything around him, including the woman behind him. She’s got her eyes fixed on him, not the ocean, fidgeting with her hands and shuffling her feet as she waits for attention to be given to her. She struggles with her hair, trying to manage it to one direction, despite the wind’s stubborn ways. The man pays no attention and doesn’t move, he waits for her to reply.<br />She begins to talk to his back, “Oh, don’t be foolish Bernard. This is happiness. This is the way for everyone to be happy. I see nothing wrong with this world of ours. If anything, I even feel somewhat of pity for those who lived before Ford, could you imagine? Everyone trying to find happiness on their own terms, individually, not needing everyone else around them, how lost they must have-“<br />“You pity them?” He interrupted, with a surprised yet irritated tone, finally showing sign of movement not only with his facial expression but also with his whole body turned to her direction now. <br />He continues, “How could you pity them? You aren’t the least bit interested in what it’d be like to be on your own? Independent? Free? Lenina, imagine if you could think and do and say for you and only yourself!” After recognizing the look of hurt on her face he inches closer. She doesn’t move, she merely stares back at him with confused and overwhelmed eyes. Bernard draws himself in even closer, and Lenina sees the guilt in his face. <br />“I’m sorry Lenina,” he says with a voice so small she had to lean in to hear, “I didn’t mean to offend or scare you. I just, want to know what it’s like. What it’s like to feel, to be passionate.”<br />She begins to realize his vulnerability. She looks up at him, hoping to meet eyes, though he once again, he was looking out into the distance of the ocean, with the same expression he wore earlier. She shuffles around in her pockets, and pulls out some soma. He breaks his gaze and stares into her hands, expressionless now.<br />“Don’t you ever grow tired of that junk?” He questioned, neither sounding angry nor disapproving, only as if he was reflecting to his own situation towards soma.<br />“Grow tired of soma? Of course not.” She helps herself to a couple tablets of soma. “You look bothered. Out of the two of us, you should be taking some, no doubt will this stuff take care of your problems and misery.” She extends her hand out to his face.<br />Bernard doesn’t hesitate, and neither does he reach for the soma right away. He seemed to be pondering about this decision, which would normally seem obvious to anyone else. After a few long breaths, he takes the somas in her hand, and consumes one quickly, followed by a dissatisfied face. He then grabs two more to consume from Lenina, and quickly consumes those as well, now with a more relaxed face. He thanks her, and reminds her about the Orgy-Porgy they’ve got scheduled soon. They both without linger, begin to head back to attend to their business. <br />