fandomhigh | Heroism, Humanism & Hijinks: Literature in Action

Once the class was settled, Thursday launched straight into the topic. "Brave New World presents a future where the masses are placated by a drug called soma, where Henry Ford's mass production assembly line elevated him to god-like status and where literature is suppressed because it brings out too many emotions.

Literature has been feared in the past in both fiction, such as in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and in real life incidents such as bannings throughout the world and the Nazi book burning. As I understand it, the War with the Nazis in this timeline finished much earlier than in my own. I can assure you, it could have been - and was - much worse. Many works were lost forever.

For today's lesson you all have the power to change the world for the better. What drastic measures would you take to make people happy and less aggressive toward one another? What would you take away to calm people down? On the other hand, if there could only be one book left in the public world so that all other literature was suppressed in the name of a better future, what would you want to keep around?"

At the end of the class, Thursday addressed them all again. "Don't forget your final project is coming up. Next week is Dickens, so if you haven't started reading, start now. The week after we'll review and I've pushed the final project back to exam week. It won't take longer than the normal class period."

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What drastic measures would you take to make people happy and less aggressive toward one another?

What would you take away to calm people down?

If there could only be one book left in the public world so that all other literature was suppressed in the name of a better future, what would you want to keep around?

Lana was just shaking her head. She couldn't imagine doing any of those things. She just... wouldn't.

Door frowns through the lecture much as she'd frowned through reading the book. She knows Thursday's having them play Devil's Advocate, but the idea of trying to think that way even as an exercise runs up against everything she ever learned from her father.

"I don't think you can make people more peaceful by taking knowledge or ideas away from them," she says afterwards. She thinks of the Cybermen they learned about in the Doctor's class, who took out all the bits that felt anything. They weren't very peaceful. "Not and have them still be people."

"Let them kill each other off," Alec said, not exactly sympathetic. "They may not be happy, but maybe they'll figure out how stupid it is."

"No they won't." Billy replied. "How long have people been killing each other and they haven't figured that out."

"If they manage to make an endangered species of themselves in the process, they might." Alec shrugged.

"Some people already think we are an endangered species."

"That's stupid," Alec said derisively. "You're an endangered species about as much as cockroaches are."

Billy only paused for a second at Alex's comment about not being human. he hadn't known the guy was an Alien, but he couldn't be surprised by something like that anymore. "I didn't say we were. i said some people think we are. comparing us to cockroaches isn't bad though. Except we won't survive a nuclear explosion."

Alec snorted. "No, but there's still more than enough of you after one goes off that it doesn't make much difference."

"Oh please like it's gonna be limited to one?"

"There was only one I know about," Alec said, shrugging again. "Knocked the US back to the Stone Age, practically."

And from the future to boot. "Where'd they hit the US where only one bomb managed that?"

"I think a lot of aggresion stems from ignorance, I think education's probably the key."

"It would be hard to make a decision as to what to take away or force on the people, because any decision made would have unforeseen consequences. In every story where an individual or a group attempts to control the rest of the population for good or ill, there is always an opposing that rises to challenge the action. So long as there is no complete control over human nature and free will, we will never achieve a full utopic or dystopic society."

He paused, and then supposed that he might as well add a concrete example too. "They say that television is the modern opiate of the masses, and I suppose that's the closest society has come so far to pacifying the people."

Dawn may have looked a little bit horrified at the idea of having to choose only one book. "How can you have a good future without books and ideas? What kind of world would it be if people were happy and calm and happy? Boring, that's what kind."

"And also, I can't think of anything that would accomplish those things."

Z looked horrified at the ideas being put forth. And then she looked even more horrified at the realization that 'sticking people in what amounts to solitary confinement for minor offenses' might be a pretty good first step toward this kind of world. And, oh yeah, she worked for those people.

She raised her hand. "Um. Ms. Next? May I be excused?" She looked like she might be actually physically ill.

Thursday looked concerned for a moment, but nodded.

Z grabbed her things and fled.

She was halfway back to her room before she realized that she'd been under high stress and managed not to create a replicate. Well, that was progress. Except she'd finally managed to get that under control now that she wouldn't be pelted with erasers for it. Go figure.

Layla looks kind of horrified at the idea of having to choose one book to keep, and at the "drastic measures" that come to mind first.

Heroism, Humanism & Hijinks: Literature in Action - Week 12, Period 5

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