MIRANDA
a hypertext of Huxley's Brave New World

Questions for Chapter XIV

1) What is the nature of death in BNW and what does this tell us about that cultures values? What is the nature of our culture's "death conditioning"? What is our attitude towards death? How might our attitude towards death affect the quality of our life? Why is death important?

2) How does the Head Nurse respond to John and what is her main concern? Are there any modern parallels to this scenario?

3) What kinds of behaviors are considered "anti-social" in BNW? What is the function of this concept? Do we have similar concepts in our culture?

4) Discuss the meaning of John's words: "back into the present, back into reality: the appalling present, the awful reality--but sublime, but significant, but desperately important precisely because of the imminence of that which made them so fearful."