Tuesday, July 7, 2009
First Impressions
In Chapter 11, John, a boy who lived on an Indian reservation was brought to The Centre by Bernard Marx. Immediately upon stepping into the city, John was labeled “the savage.” He was called this because he looked different, acted different, and decided not to take the soma pills. This relates to modern day life. People are judged on their appearance and first impressions can influence how others judge them. This brings to mind the phrase,” You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” For example, we all have been in a classroom where a new kid is introduced and everyone judges them before getting to know them. The kid is labeled as “the new kid” in school. Nobody would speak to John’s mother, Linda because she was old, and looked different. Haven’t we all judged a person solely on their appearance before we got to know them?
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As this can be true, it also shows what kind of world they live in and have been raised in. This is also a frightening reality in our world, because we have made history from these foolish acts (i. e. segregation of the Blacks, the Ku Klux Klan ). It shows how proud people can be and how they easily look down on anyone who is different. It is very possible that a person has quickly judged someone at least once in their lifetime because no one is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI say we do it self-consciously.I am not saying this is the greatest thing we all do but most of us have done this action a couple of times in our lives. Most of us need to remember that even though we have met someone like we just saw does not mean that they are the same type of person. Everyone is unique as they can be.I think it is great that Huxley brings this up in the book because when we read it we start to realize that we should not do this action.
ReplyDeleteThink about it just because a guy looks really good does not guarantee he is very funny or if a girl looks like a shy book worm does not mean she can not be very outgoing. I hope that one day we will stop judging people before we get to know them because we can really start to understand everyone a little bit better.
I believe that the reason we all do this is because we are very insecure with ourselves. We are afraid that the new kid will come in stealing our thunder and be taking all of the popularity for him or herself. With this in mind, we label them and attack them (figuratively speaking) so they are unable to make that first impression. Yes, I do agree with Kelly about how you might not get a second chance for a first impression, but what if you do not even get that first chance? The reason John was labeled as “the savage” was because he was like a rebel against their society. If one person refuses to take the soma, than one by one, more people will start to refuse as well which leads to chaos in this utopian society.
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