Near the end of Chapter 2, you will find this short paragraph:
Not so much like drops of water, though water, it is true, can wear holes in the hardest granite; rather, drops of liquid sealing-wax, drops that adhere, incrust, incorporate themselves with what they fall on, till finally the rock is all one scarlet blob.
Explore this simile and decide what it signifies.
Then find examples in the Brave New World in which the rock nearly breaks through the wax, or where the wax layer is so thin that the rock can be perceived, even if only for a moment.
PS: for Monday's class, be sure to re-read the last three chapters of the book! We will continue our discussion based on your reading and new insights.
27 comments:
The drops of liquid sealing wax encrusting and adhering to the rock represent how conditioning within the World State seals the individual’s will and freedom of choice.
Hypnopaedia, the various conditioning that occurs within the Embryo Store (such lowering the amount of oxygen in Epsilon embryos), and the pavlovian methods used upon infants in the nurseries, are all examples of the World State’s attempt to control and seal the individual’s instincts, will, and thought via conditioning. The rock represents a person who has freedom to think and act for himself, basically a “raw” human being. However, in Brave New World, such a person does not exist because through conditioning, one’s natural impulses are sealed and cannot be expressed.
Throughout the book, there are instances in which conditioning has not been perfectly applied and where one expresses “natural” impulses that are against their conditioning. These are the instances where the rock breaks through the wax or where the wax is worn thin. One example where the rock breaks through occurs early in the book when the Director is showing the new students around the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. They are outside in the garden and a nurse informs the Director that a little boy is reluctant to “…join in the ordinary erotic play” and that he had “…started yelling just now,” even though enjoying erotic play is normal and expected, due to their conditioning (20). Lenina is also an example of the wax wearing thin. Showing strong emotions is prohibited and this doctrine has been drilled into kids ever since they decanted. But, after meeting John, Lenina’s natural impulses for love reveal themselves. She becomes depressed when John is hostile towards her and shows no interest in other men except for him. Even though she has been conditioned her whole life to abhor and denounce intimate feelings, she can’t help her intense feelings for John.
I believe this simile is trying to imply that when someone is slowly pushed in a certain direction, they will eventually destroy the limits and constraints that confine them in whatever the situation may be. An example in the book that signifies this simile is Lenina. Although she is an obedient citizen of the World State, there are points within the book where she does, somewhat, break through the wax. The first is when she spends time with Bernard; she is softly nudged into a different perspective. Then eventually after she visits the reservation, she becomes extremely attached to John, and has an intense desire to be with him, unlike any other man before, let alone any other experience that she has encountered. Through her actions, she grows an immense attachment towards John, which is a significant emotion that the World State strives to abolish. Once someone is attached to certain objects, they become vulnerable to others and are the "weak" link in society. Therefore, I believe that she is breaking through the barriers and rules that have held her down as a "normal" citizen.
I agree with michelle in that the drops of wax represent conditioning through hypnopaedia, shock treatment, and whatever other methods the World State uses. The rock stands for humanity.
Just as the wax covers the rock, conditioning covers civilization. Where the water would wear right through the rock, the wax drops "adhere, incrust, incorperate themselves with what they fall on..." Conditioning has engulfed almost all of humanity. Only the savage reservations remain free of conditioning, and it is at these reservations where the wax sealant on the rock is at its thinnest. I don't think that even the savage reservations are untouched by conditioning. They are not directly conditioned, but the conditioning effects everywhere around them, forcing them to live a certain way (on a reservation.) This is why I say the wax is thinnest there, as opposed to non-existant.
I believe that 1984 more reflects water dripping onto a rock, where the water is big brother andthe rock is humanity. The water not only wears through the rock, the rock eventually becomes completely submerged. The wax almost is the rock, while the water simply covers the rock up. Conditioning has fundamentally changed humanity, while in 1984, Big Brother simply overwhelms the populace.
I believe that the simile of impact of water on rock and society on people could be inverted. The drops of water represent individuals- fragile and insignificant in themselves, but if you get enough people moving in one direction they can break through the hardest granite- or the most impossible social barriers. Water wearing holes in rock it is symbolic for social change brought on by the movements of many people working for one cause, strength in numbers overcoming strength in material, or natural power. Water cannot be stopped or made to conform to society, just as people will always fight for progress and change. To stop the ability of people to overcome society, people need to be changed. People are made into wax, by conditioning and genetic engineering, now they cab be molded and shaped around the rock, or government/society, instead of breaking through. Wax is much more pliable and controllable than water just as the citizens of the New World State are much simpler and manipulative. The people
"in cooperate themselves with what they fall on" as wax they are powerless and the "rock" is impassable. In brave new world some drops of wax almost breakthrough the rock, when individuals regain their "water like" properties of nonconformity. Helmholtz, for example, wants to explore restricted ideas, such as isolation. He joins John in a protest against Soma and, just as the people of our time would to begin a social revolution. They are drops of water unable to make a great impact alone, but able to start small indent that could break through the rock, if other people would have joined. But the government removes all "non-wax" citizens who would upset the settling of wax onto the rock.
“Drops of liquid sealing-wax” can signify multiple things. At first glace for me, it represents ideas to which a being becomes subject to. In this case, the rock is essentially a susceptible mind which is overrun by intelligently controlled influences. The thoughts that the children/infants are told in the new world are not their own, rather they are instilled upon them in many fashions including, but not limiting, hypnopaedia and the electric-shock treatment which becomes part of their ‘natural’ instincts (as previously mentioned). They are still capable, to a certain extent, of diminishing their ‘inborn’ mentally to strive for other desires. A couple examples are Lenina’s strong feelings toward John and Hemholtz’s longing to experiment outside of the designated boundaries.
The simile, as I see it, can be taken two ways.
The drops of sealing-wax represent hypnopaedic teachings day by day, night by night, until at last the "rock", i.e. the psyche of the subject in question, is completely covered with the teachings, and no natural thought processes may pass through the thickness of said teachings. The "water" mentioned, that it "can wear holes in the hardest granite", I believe is referring to the early hypnopaedic teachings, those which drilled a lesson into a mind, but the subject hadn't learned anything (example: Little Tommy and the longest river in Africa, pg 26). One may be taught anything and everything, but one's knowledge won't have increased worth anything. The Brave New World's teachings envelop the entire mind, and mixed with psychological conditionings, force a certain path of thought.
On another level, the rock may represent an entire social class, where the water may drill through and break them apart (the water being... non-conforming individuals?), whereas the wax of conformity and teachings brings them all as one, "till finally the rock is all one scarlet blob". As known through Milgram's Stanford Prison Experiments, loss of identity can be achieved through conformity, and things that one would not do on an individual basis, would occur in said conformed unity. When the conformity of the social class is acheived, it is all one large scarlet blob with no individuals screwing with the system.
Now for the examples of those who pass through the red wax and peer out: for the first construal, individuals such as Hemholtz, Marx, or even John, may stand out and be seen through the wax. They have evaded, or rather taught themselves beyond, the NWO's teachings. Marx with his pompous air of self-confidence of being the benefactor of the Savage, Hemholtz with his personal poetry imbued with feeling, and John by being the complete antithesis of the BNW's model persona.
For the second interpretation of the rock, the entire Alpha class would stand out through the crimson cover of the rock. As Mustapha Mond had stated somewhere towards the end of the interview, all Alphas see themselves as different, and thus they must try harder than all others to fit in because of this, and if the Alphas do not recognize that they must try, they get the horror of knowing that they are to be sent to an island.
Just my pair of pennies.
To me, the drops of liquid sealing wax represent the citizens of the World State and the granite rock upon which they fall the society of which they are a part. They know of no other truth than what they have been conditioned to accept, and, as result, unknowingly adhere to the mold of World State society, like the wax encrusting upon the granite. Those instances in which the rock is revealed, when the “scarlet blob” of wax encasing it is punctured or worn thin in places, are symbolic of those few enlightened individuals able to recognize what is being done to them by the State and to escape the prison of homogeneous thought set upon them by their conditioning.
One example of such an individual would be Helmholtz Watson. In the book’s opening chapters, he appears restless and pensive, tormented by the same sort of inner conflict suffered by his good friend Bernard – a malaise of sorts, a certain dissatisfaction with his role within society. It is that dissatisfaction that sets both Bernard and Helmholtz apart from their contemporaries, as few others can bring themselves to question what they’ve so longed believed true, lest they ruin the happiness brought about by their self-delusion. It is that dissatisfaction that also suggests a kind of higher-order thinking, a greater awareness of self and place, beyond what other World State society members are capable of, as it requires a faculty they lack through their conditioning, through their blind acceptance of their caste and the path decided for them. Helmholtz made clear such thinking through his poem about being alone and thus established himself as a threat to civilization’s foundation, due to his ability to see the granite rock that others ought to ignore.
Another example of such an individual would be Lenina Crowne, who goes against her conditioning by falling in love with John the Savage. Now it may not have been her own intention to pierce through that scarlet blob, and she may never have been aware of doing so, but she still did, as she proved that those intimate feelings natural to all humans, those impulses that the State sought to suppress through conditioning, did exist, and that they could still re-emerge given the right circumstances. In Lenina’s case, the face of the granite rock that she exposed was the true humanity society had long forgotten, the humanity that was believed to be dead, and thus makes her as much a danger to social stability as either Helmholtz or Bernard, for she can see and feel as they do, in more ways than others of that society can.
In the simile the rock signifies a individuals identity. The water represents life in general, in that while water can eventually erode away at rock, certain life experiences can leave a lasting impression on a persons identity. The sealing-wax however, stands for the conditioning undergone by everyone in The Brave New World's 'Civilization'. While certain things in life can easily be washed away and forgotten, conditioning is nearly impossible to undo. It smothers the rock to the point where ones identity is rarely able to be seen.
But there are those whose conditioning was not able to cover up their identity completely. The rock is either able to break through or the sealing-wax is so thin that it is nearly able to. An example of this is Helmholtz, who had a nagging feeling that there was more to life and writing than just making up silly jingles. He eventually began to write poetry, and found it as a way to express himself. Another example is the Controller, Mustapha Mond, who was almost sent away to an island because he had started to study real science and perform experiments of his own. The majority of those whose identity is able to break through their conditioning seem to be Alphas. This is likely due to their higher level of intelligence that some of them get the feeling that there is more to life than 'Civilization' tells them.
I thing the similie signifies the way by wich the hypnopaedia works to help the reader understand how it works. To start off his similie Huxley brings up water to add a sort of contrast to the wax. I feel the water signifies truth; it has the power to change and shape our minds in what ever way it wants. Plus it takes longer and is more unprodictable. Not ideal things for a person to use if they wanted to morph the mind. But wax simply covers up the mind. It creates a facade that the mind ends up believing and almost becomes. The rock looks like one scarlet blob, and therefore believes it is all one scarlet blob. This doesnt mean the rock tries to peek through and assert itself upon the wax facade. This can be seen through Helmholtz and his desire to write poetry, and feel lonly. It is natural for Helmholtz to feel lonly, and want to write a poem about it. This is a feeling that comes from his inner rock and not a feeling that came from the wax of hypnopaedia. His rock is showing through the wax coating. But just as soon as this feeling came and he acted upon it, it was soon covered up by his peers and more wax was added to that side of the rock to try and fix the outlook and idealy fix Helmholtz.
In this simile, the drops of sealing-wax represent the World State and the conditioning that the people get. The rock represents humanity and human nature and instincts. The sealing-wax (the World State) creates a layer over the rock (humanity). This shows how the World State controls and suppresses human nature and the natural instincts of people by conditioning them through hypnodaedia and shocking.
One example of where the rock breaks through, or nearly does, is when Helmholtz writes the poem about being lonely. In the World State, everyone is happy and content and feeling lonely is something of the past, so when Helmholtz writes about his feelings it shows that he broke through the sealing-wax and was feeling emotions that existed only before conditioning started.
Another example of the rock breaking through the wax is Lenina. From the first time Lenina is introduced we see evidence of her human instincts appearing. First, when she is talking to her friend Fanny, we see that she has been only having one sexual partner, something that is frowned upon and not seen in the World State. Another example with Lenina is when her feelings for John Savage are expressed. She becomes depressed and moody when he ignores her, and she finds her self thinking of only him. These feelings of love are examples of how Lenina broke through the sealing-wax and felt true human instincts.
‘Dripping water wears away the stone’ is an international proverb that is used in comparison with a simile that Huxley conjured. He compares the lessons of persistence and collectively fighting for what is right, with an analogical description of the World State’s robotic society. Huxley shows that the people of the World State are not like water, they do not stand up for themselves or against the moral injustice of the World Controllers (even though this is mostly unintentional). Instead, they act like sealing-wax, conforming to the rock, and adopting each and every one of its imperfections. The people are completely unaware of the sacrifices they have made in order to live in a society of absolute stability, thus make no effort to betray this ideal.
The concealing nature of the wax can also represent the concealment of emotions, differences, consequences, history, risk, choice, etc. (the rock) by technological advances. These technological advances would include feelies, the bokanovsky process, soma, hypnopaedia. All the problems or factors of instability are eliminated, and the people live in a state of preserved contentment… not genuine happiness.
In the book, we can see a thinned section of the wax when we observe Lenina’s love for John. Even though the love and passion that Lenina has for John does in no way equate to the love experienced in our world, it shows a weakness in the foundation the World Controllers have always used for emotional stability. Lenina’s love reveals that the people of the modern society have not been completely converted into robots, but have a little human in them.
Characters in the book who obviously symbolize parts of the rock that have been exposed, are Bernard and Helmholtz. They had recognized that there was a wax coating above them, and made a conscious effort to break out of the mental state and behavioral pathway they were told to follow. Bernard didn’t agree with treating women like meat, and Helmholtz yearned for the freedom of personal expression, but their pull to believe in these causes was counteracted by a push, of equal strength, into the modern society. Bernard starts to take advantage of his popularity and sleeps with dozens of girls, and Helmholtz can not bring himself to certain aspects of Shakespeare. These lapses remind us that even though the rock had been exposed, the dripping of the wax is constant and will always be there to cover up the hole.
I think that the simile means that as conditioning is forced upon the people, and as it builds upon its self to become stronger, it becomes a part of who the people think they are. It covers up the individuality of humanity, just like the liquid sealing-wax covers the rock over time. While the sealing-wax is the different conditioning methods used (i.e. hypnopaedia, death conditioning, shock therapy, etc.), the water is general knowledge, and while intelligence can harm, it doesn’t force us to accept it. Knowledge can simply roll off of us as the water does to a piece of granite, however, the conditioning clings to us and hardens upon us as does the wax.
I think a big example of the rock breaking through and being seen is when John decides to throw out the soma and Helmholtz joins him by fighting off the people and even throwing some soma himself. This shows his connection to his friend as a stronger connection than his to soma or even his loyalty to civilization. In this example, Helmholtz choosing his personal relationship is, in other words, his breaking through conditioning and siding with his own personal feelings- the rock breaking through the wax.
This sentence explains the basis of everyone's contentment and of the results of physical and psychological conditioning. These lessons of their social class become humanely "incorporate[d]" into each child's mind. They do not question what has been deeply ingrained into thir consciousness. Punishment is like the water wearing away at granite. While it appears to get the same result, changing a person's mindset works much more effectiely when trying to insure total compliance from the populace. Most of the time, this holds true. In chapter 13, Lenina gets a blow that should have made her notice the rock beneath all her conditioning. Previously she has never thought much of any erson except as "erotic play" yet suddenly she wants no one besides John Savage. For the first time in her life, Lenina feels insecure when her ingrained seduction attempt fails and the one she truly desires for leaves.
To me the metaphor of the drops of liquid wax on the rock, and the encasing of the rock in the wax is symbolic of the power of hypnopaedia to overcome the free will of the individual, to entrap their mind, or the rock. I think that the way that we are influenced by the world around us today is much more relatable to the drops of water, however with the advancements in technology in civilization allows them to influence the brain of individuals on a higher level. Creating a system that is more relatable to wax than water.
Helmholtz is the first concrete example that comes to mind when thinking of someone who was able to break through the wax. Despite all of the hypnopaedia and training he had, and despite his significant status in civilization, he was too strong. His desire and strong personality were able to beat through the pressures of society and expose its true character.
Lenina I think is an example is someone who had a seemingly thinner wax layer. For example, when discussing her sexual relationship with Henry Ford, she had no desire to be with anyone else. That kind of radical thinking, in comparison to the state of mind at the time, would suggest that she was not entirely converted to the opinions of society. However, as a Beta and because of her need to conform she was unable to entirely break through. Even when she realized that she only wanted John, she could not understand his desire to wait and keep her chaste.
And finally Bernard is an individual who, I think, was never truly encased by the wax altogether because of abnormalities. Being different and further away from everyone else made it impossible to conform and therefore caused his brain to develop differently. I think that because of this he resented society and everything they stood for. However, he still had a desire to conform and be part of society, despite an outward desire to rebel. When he was told that he was going to be sent to the island, he simply could not understand that it was a good thing, unlike Helmholtz who had already broken through his wax.
I believe the wax in this simile represents the information the children (the rock) have been given in their sleep. The information slowly seeps over them until all they know is what has been repeated to them over and over again. It isn't like a real education (the water), where they take what has been taught to them and build upon it and discover their own thoughts and ideas. An example of this is when Linda was teaching John how to read and she couldn't explain how to make chemicals or what they were exactly except for their names and what order she used them in her job. If something can make the wax break apart, there is still a chance for everyone to be normal, free-thinking people. Helmholtz is an example of this. He has been conditioned to think a certain way, but through poetry and reading what he is not supposed to, he breaks through his conditioning and wants to be a poet and free of the society he lives in.
I think that there are three important aspects to this simile. First, what does the wax represent, second, what does the rock represent, and third why does Mustapha Mond not want his society to be like water? To me, these together help to form the complete picture of Huxley's simile.
I believe that the wax is, as many have stated before, the conditioning and molding of the individuals in the World State. However I also see a deeper meaning within this symbol. Wax is often used to seal or cover something and it is my belief that this wax is supposed to be sealing off that which the World State has gotten rid of. In other words the wax is the time that separates this world, our world, from Huxley's. Sometimes things from this time creep into the future, such as John's copy of Shakespeare or Mustapha Mond's collection of religious books, but history no longer has relevance. By doing that, the World Controllers have created a utopia that is "sealed" off from the past.
The rock represents humanity as it is right now in 2008, and anything that has happened before. It is slowly being covered up by the wax, and in time it may be completely covered in wax with no hope of ever breaking through. But in Brave New World, it is still quite clear that some of the rock remains uncovered. That is to say humanity exists. Malpais for example is an area that has been nearly untouched by civilization and still clings to the ideas of love, families, tragedy, and aging. Those things represent what is at the core of humanity right now and they are the small bit of uncovered rock that the wax has not gotten to yet.
The third thing I mentioned is why Mustapha Mond does not want the students to be like water, but like wax. He stated his reason why right within the passage in fact. He said that "water...can wear holes in the hardest granite" where as wax will, "adhere, incrust, and incorporate themselves" What I think Mustapha Mond was saying is that he doesn't want to destroy the foundation the humanity has already built but to take that foundation of rock and build on it. Water would eventually destroy the rock, but wax will build up and, essentially, make the rock bigger and hopefully better.
To me this simile has a ton of depth and meaning to it. There are many things you can pull from it, and it can mean many different things. But to me, it is the three aforementioned aspects that are truly critical to the simile and it’s meaning.
This simile can represent the society as a whole and also each person part of a society. The wax is a symbol of the conditioning put upon each and every person of society like the hypnopeadia and the predestining of humans “ ‘We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Elipsons, as future sewage works or future…’”-(Huxley10), poured upon the people of brave new world in order to make them all similar covered with the governments teachings making them unable to break free into the world represented by the word “blob”. The rock can be seen as many things but most of all it can be perceived as independence as a human and an intellectual being, a right that citizens of BNW are deprived of completely. At times though the rock can be perceived but most times it is quickly covered up again for example, when Lenina was with Henry “’ No there hasn’t been anyone else,’… ‘ And I jolly well don’t see why there should’ve been’”-(Huxley24) this quote from Lenina shows the emergence of her natural instinct to love someone, which is against the rules of society and concerned indecent, therefore is quickly covered up again by going out with Bernard. No matter how hard a person in such a society tries to escape they will never be able to break free, like Helmholtz who though the most independent a person can bee he is still covered with wax because though Helmholtz is captured by Shakespeare’s verses he is still amused by some of the ideas present such as the though of having a family. Therefore once a rock is covered with wax there is no absolute way to clean the rock of all wax, and therefore the conditioning put upon people.
I think that the wax in the simile represents the leveling effect of the hypnopaedia, especially in the way that it contrasts with the water wearing away the granite. In our world, individual drops of water wear away at the world and shape it into something entirely our own and society conforms to ideas from individuals. In the world of Brave New World the wax all melds together, rendering the individuals all as one regardless of the size or placement of the drop. Everyone is sealed together, becoming a mold of society and not shaping the society to be their own creation.
When the rock pokes through or the wax is stretched thin, the society is expressing its natural need for change and evolution, but the indoctrination of more and more citizens and the removal of thinner weaker parts of wax makes way for the rock to be covered correctly. Bernard is a free thinker, but then he eventually gets the adoration he has scorned when John's presence gets him all the attention he has ever wanted. This transformation is complete when John and Helmholtz move beyond him and his journey from scorn to contentment to jealousy is complete and his free thinking ideals are destroyed. John also is a good example of the rock peeking through, because he is different and society craves this difference. However, the setup of the society is such that while part of everyone craves the changes he brings, their molding to the community created by the World Controllers causes them to still fear his grief and his sorrow. There is always extra wax to patch up the rock, and if one part of society is changed, then another will bring it back to equilibrium.
The rock that is being dripped on, encrusted, and adhered to by the liquid sealing wax represents the mind and the individuality of the mind. The liquid sealing wax covers and suppresses the rock as the World State suppressed and covered the minds of the Alphas - Epsilons.
Through hypnopaedia, soma, and conditioning the World State clouded and suppressed the individuality of the clones. Although there was immense success in covering the rock, there were some cases where the layer wasn't as thick.
Helmholtz seeked out his individuality through his writing. In fact he recognized that he was a better writer than he thought suiting for a hypnopaedic sayings. He even took it a step further by writing and reading his own poems about being alone, something the World State looked down upon, to his students.
Another instance where the rocked pierced the wax was in the case of Bernard. Bernard sought out being alone, and enjoyed feeling different. In fact, he took Lenina to the Channel where the water was vast and the feeling of seclusion made Bernard feel good but made Lenina feel sick, she hated it. Also Bernard loved being recognized as a rebel, in fact, when he was first threatened to be exiled he relished the fact that he was considered a rebel.
All of the rocks that were thinly covered were either exiled; Helmholtz and Bernard, or killed; John and Lenina. The wax was thick but it could not cover all of the rocks and suppress their individuality.
The rock represents the insanity the children would grow up into, and the wax the truths that has become undeniable logic to hide the natural illogical passion and irrational feelings that is natural to man. The wax is a mixture of hypnopaedia, chemical interferences with embryos, shock treatment, peer pressure, each which allows the wax to dry harder than normal, smothering, smothering insanity.
But just as this is no regular wax, this is no regular rock. This rock is insanity, the thing writer have written about, satired, and cherished for centuries. Something doesn’t get a reputation like that for being weak and controllable. It is for that reason, that this rock has probably been seen before, before John Savage, before Helmholtz Watson, before Bernard Marx, but After Ford, of course. But what happened before Huxley introduces us to this Brave New World isn’t of our concern now, so I’ll begin to focus in on the assignment at hand and point out when this rock can be seen through the wax. Many of these examples have already been pointed out by my clever peers, but perhaps it’s the twentieth time that really hits it home.
This rock can be seen every few pages in this novel. First we see it when Lenina looks to be desiring a monogamous relationship with Mr. Foster. This is fueled by, if nothing else, infatuation, which is the textbook, or dictionary, definition of insanity. A little later we meet Bernard Marx, who dislikes the fact that the men treat the women like “meat.” After all he has been taught, this also fits into the category of insane. Then there’s Watson, who feels lonely when constantly surrounded by people; Savage, who hates a life of extreme comfort; Linda, who comes back to Tomakin thinking he’ll accept her and her son; back again to Savage, who denies his sexual cravings; then Marx for being dissatisfied when all his dreams have come true; Savage, when he punishes himself for comfort; Savage, for believing that it’s possible for things to go back the same way; Savage, for killing himself when all he had to do was say “yes.” It’s all fueled by passion, mad, insane, passion, despite the ultra alloy of wax.
There is one problem I have with my version of this metaphor. The fact that the rock is, well, a rock. If this rock is something so unpredictable as insanity, then this rock would have to ever-changing multicolored, that’s warm to touch, with a slight pulse. Perhaps that’s what it was to begin with, but it got fossilized as it was buried under this strange wax. Even if that were the case, that brilliant rock must still be alive, still pulsing and glowing, just encased in a fossil as well as wax, but even through it’s crust, it still finds a way to burn in the hearts of men.
In this paragraph, the rock represents the human mind without any external influences set in place. It represents the mind not yet afflicted by hypnopaedia and the conventions of the World State.
In the society established by Huxley, the entire world population is under the control of the directors of the hatcheries and the world controllers. As soon as the children are born, they are conditioned into instinctively accepting the values of the society. "...drops of liquid sealing-wax, drops that adhere, incrust, incorporate themselves with what they fall on, till finally the rock is all one scarlet blob." The drops of wax represent the myriad of actions taken in order to conceal the true values inherent in each individual. however, despite the omnipresent pressure to stick to conformity, there are some exceptions in which the rock nearly breaks through the wax.
Helmholtz Watson is a perfect example of an "Alpha plus" of the society. However, his quality that causes him to "break through the wax" is that he is too smart. From our introduction to Helmholtz until the end of the book, he is depicted as a very deep thinker and a romantic. He frequently complains about how he has an unexplainable feeling of which he is not satisfied by his role in society and that through his rhymes, he wants to somehow write something meaningful. As a result of his constant search for his true emotions, at the end of the book, Helmholtz writes a rhyme on loneliness, which signifies that he has finally broken through the wax and revealed his "rock."
Similarly, Helmholtz's friend, Bernard Marx, is another character portrayed who breaks through the wax or has a thin wax layer. Throughout Brave New World, Bernard is always noted for his incongruous nature, both physically and psychologically. It is his small size that causes him to think differently from the conditioned majority. Examples of Bernard's inconstancy can be seen in the scenes with Lenina Crowne in which he talks about the values of true love and monogamy. In these portions, his "rock" is exposed to the readers, but we are still lead to believe that a wax layer continues to exist over his "rock." For example, when he becomes the guardian of John Savage, he goes back to enjoying the conventions of the society and turns his back on his previous beliefs. So, though Bernard has a wax layer, it is thin enough so that the rock beneath can be perceived and expressed.
The simile is used to further describe the process of conditioning the children undergo. Starting from birth to late teens, every kid is fed statements and opinions and feelings over and over. A drop of wax is an experience of conditioning onto the brain (the rock). By adulthood, the brain should "be Suggestions from the State (page 19)." Every rock is an individual - an individual that is a product of the State.
There are multiple instances in the book where a person shows signs of individualism or difference from others. The Western European World Controller is rumored to have old forbidden books in his study (page 23). No one in this new world reads books for fun anymore. The Controller tells John, Bernard, and Helmholtz that he, too, once was considered to be sent to an island (page 153). But, he wasn't, he became a scientist that worked on controlling the people rather than a scientist that worked on his own work.
Bernand asks Lenina on page 61 is she wished she were free. He means free from society. Lenina responds with "I don't know what you mean. I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody's happy nowadays." Bernard's wax layer is much thinner compared to perfectly conditioned Lenina. Lenina fully embraces her Suggested mind, while Bernard despises it. Part of the reason he might not accept his conditioning may stem from being a hypoaeia worker and having a small body. The Director wisely says, "The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray" (page 99).
Another figure that is very talented yet wants more from life is Helmholtz. Although a very textbook Alpha Plus, pursuing many women and accepting community recreation, he reveals that he feel that he should be doing more worthwhile things. "You read and you're pierced. That's one of the things I try to teach my students - how to write piercingly. But what on earth's good of being pierced by an article about a Community Sing, or the latest inmprovement in scent organs? Besides, can you make words really piercing - you know, like the very hardest X-rays - when you're writing about that sort of thing? Can you say something about nothing?" (page 47).
Huxley offers the wax simile in the midst of the Director’s lecture on hypnopædia, to describe the influence and power of the repeated phrases. Thus it seems rather obvious, as others have commented above, that the subliminal suggestions themselves are like the “liquid-sealing wax,” rather than persistent drops of water. The rock of "hardest granite," in turn, describes the natural human mind before environmental influence (be it water or wax)—untouched, independent, free and curious.
The effects of hypnopædia thus act like wax falling onto a rock. The societal suggestions slowly envelop the mind, incorporating it into a “scarlet blob,” shrouding the rock’s natural surface from view. It’s important to realize that the rock is not damaged in this comparison—conditioning in the BNW does not erode the innate human mind, like water would a rock, but instead lovingly swathes it in suggestion until the mind is one with the pleasurable World State. The mind is encouraged to not think for itself, to ignore biological impulse and emotion, to enjoy and desire what the State wishes of it—for the good of all society. “Till at last the child’s mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child’s mind. . . all his life long. . . our suggestions!” The Brave New World thus employs the greatest moralizing and socializing force of all time. (Take that one down in your little books, students.)
If anything, one could take this simile further and say that techniques seen in Orwell’s 1984 are comparable to drops of mind-eroding water, unlike hypnopædia.
But there are definitely places in the book where this wax layer is spread so thin that the rock layer beneath can momentarily be seen, where Huxley has characters behave in ways that defy their conditioning. It’s really all too easy to cite scenes with main characters like Bernard, Helmholtz or the Savage as “prime examples” of such places—they’re explored in great depth as “dissidents” of the society. Bernard has his life of inferiority and great knowledge of hypnopædia, Helmholtz has his expressive rhymes and desire for madness and inspiration, and the Savage has his own unique mix of conditioning and madness. Linda with her age and Lenina with her monogamy are also explored in some depth, as relatively fine cases of conditioning caught up in extremely strange events and influences.
I myself found it far more interesting to look at places where mere side characters had moments of thin wax. Perhaps most notable is the Director’s reminiscence in Part 2 of Chapter VI. “A man so conventional, so scrupulously correct as the Director—and to commit such gross a solecism! . . . the Director disapproved. . . and yet had been betrayed into doing the forbidden thing.” Thomas' own shock at this moment of thin wax, at the careless recollection of such grief, trauma and personal attachment, is enough to exile Bernard to an Island.
Another interesting moment came from Henry Foster, one who others above have cited as the very epitome of wax-assimilation. In Part 1 of Chapter V, there is a paragraph where “Henry’s tone was almost, for a moment, melancholy.” He ponders the significance of the Crematorium and its puffs of smoke, with great emotion. He toys with the idea that all people are identical in death… but quickly returns to his usual cheerful oblivion. But for a moment, there was definitely a bit of solid rock showing through that wax.
Even the lowly Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron has his moments of thin wax, like in Part 1 of Chapter IV. This liftman has some rather strange emotions as the “warm glory of afternoon sunlight” greets his gloomy existence. “Oh, roof!” he joyfully cries. “Roof!” An… interesting reaction, that. But then the speaker commands him back down into "the twilight of his own habitual stupor"…
But among this collection of breakthrough and moments of thin wax, it’s equally important to realize that no citizen in the book can truly be free of the insidious wax that covers their rocks. Just as Henry Foster returns to his normal self after his brief moment of depth, the applied wax stubbornly clings to rock. Even Helmholtz is not completely free from his conditioning—he, too, takes part in the World State’s structure of castes and mockery of family. The suggestions of the State are simply too strong.
(My apologies at the lateness of my post--I fell asleep and just woke up.)
The drops of wax shows how in Brave New World, people’s individualities and personalities are covered, as though by wax. Rather than completely breaking down a person, much as how water breaks down rock, people are instead smothered through their conditioning until there is nothing left of them that wasn’t conditioned. The population is only what they’re made to be and nothing more.
Helmholtz is a prime example of how the wax could be overcome. His job is to come up with the jingles that are used during conditioning and his are some of the most effective used. However, he secretly desires to write poetry. He “breaks through the wax” when he writes his poem about being alone, which goes against all of his conditioning.
Bernard, however, is more of an example of almost prevailing, but not quite getting there. He loves Lenina and doesn’t just want to have sex with her. He deeply loves her, even though he’d been conditioned never to really love anything. However, he doesn’t really defeat the “wax” because when John tries to get the people to revolt and he dumps their soma, Helmholtz rushes to John’s side. Bernard does not, though. He becomes afraid and doesn’t go to help his friends. He couldn't completely free himself from his wax.
This quote clearly exemplifies the process the World State takes to control the community.
The people are mechanically modified and adjusted to become the Alphas ~ Epsilons from their early embryonic stages and immediately after birth, they are conditioned through hypnopaedia and other methods to 'fit' into their classes. These "drops of liquid sealing wax" ultimately set their minds, and does not allow any free thinking or expression of one's will. Where "drops of water" are pure and clear, the "sealing wax" on the other hand conceals the mind from 'pure' thoughts. When the "rock", which is the mind clean from any conditioning, is covered by the wax, it turns into a "scarlet blob" and becomes a person of the World State.
However, there are instances where the "rock" nearly breaks through the wax. This can be seen primarily in Bernard Marx and his friend, Helmholtz Watson. Despite the fact that these two were part of the elite class of Alphas, they were dissatisfied with the community and were eager to expose their "rock." Bernard did this by rebelling against the Director through bringing John and Linda back with him, while Helmholtz on the other hand revealed himself writing poetry. In spite of their efforts to revolt, they are exiled and their "rocks" do not get to fully break through the wax in the World State.
Rock and water signifies nature or natural life, for both are derived from the earth and wherever life leads them, they follow. Wax, however is manmade, an errant element in the simile representing the continuance of the conditioning that the “civilians” in the World State endure every single moment of their life. From the electric shocks that they experienced as toddlers to teach them that literature and nature are useless, to the Solidarity Service Days that teach them to believe in something that’s not there and make reality a dream.
The rock represents the human spirit and the intense emotions that make people unique. Water is life in general; because water is the most versatile liquid on Earth, it has the ability to defy the laws of nature and create it at the same time. Life is built the same way, it shapes a person through the experiences that they go through; every person having a story to tell, and each one different because everyone lives their lives differently. Water has the ability to create and destroy, as life can create a person, but is able to destroy a person through strong, but vulnerable, emotions.
The sealing wax, as said before, is the conditioning that the World State forces upon the people so that their emotions may be kept at bay which enables the stability of civilization to remain intact. Wax is weak and malleable though, only covering the “faults” and not completely destroying it like water. An example of the rock thinning out the wax is with Lenina. In the beginning of the book, we can see that she is a dedicated civilian, but the wax that surrounds her is soft because of her unusual attachment to Henry Foster. However, when John appears in the plot, the wax around her begins to melt and show the emotions that have lain dormant since her conditioning began, “… a sense of dreadful emptiness, a breathless apprehension, a nausea. Her heart seemed to stop beating” (159-160). A person who has ever fallen in love know this feeling, and with Lenina, this was where she discovered emotions.
With each person, the thickness of the wax differs. Helmholtz, we can see that his has been thin for awhile, and he had finally found the strength to break it when he wrote his poem,
“ ‘I feel… as though I were just beginning to have something to write about. As though I were beginning to be able to use that power I feel I’ve got inside me – that extra, latent power. Something seems to be coming to me.’ In spite of all his troubles, he seemed… profoundly happy” (166). Helmholtz was the perfect model for the World State, but his emotions, although they were being suffocated by the wax, still existed, and Helmholtz was able to break free from that coffin.
Sorry for the late post. This blog and I were having problems.
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In Brave New World, the citizens of the society are not worn down over time, like drops of water on granite. They are not slowly eroded away until they are half of what they were before — instead, they are rocks covered by sealing wax. The original person is concealed rather than destroyed until, as the quote says, they are covered as “one scarlet blob”.
Beneath the blob, the rock represents humans when they are pure and uninfluenced. A person, before they are molded by society and those things and people around them. From birth, though, this unaffected mind is subject to conditioning, “drops of wax”, and so the citizens of Brave New World’s society grow up. But everything that humans naturally have — emotions, love, history, differences — are still hidden under the influences of the hypnopaedic conditioning, able to peek through.
An example of the rock showing through the wax can be found in Lenina Crowe. When she is introduced, she is already displaying some “abnormal” behavior by exclusively dating Henry Foster for four months. Then, her consequent interests in Bernard and John (both outcasts in their own way) set her apart from other women in the society. These things show, if only for moments at a time, that there is still the rock beneath the sealing wax, and that it has not eroded away.
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