All Over the Place

Kyle Petras

2/7/16

Gubanich

Western Lit.

Blog #2

All Over the Place

In chapter three, there are three story lines going on at the same time. The text abruptly changes to another story at random times. You will be reading a line and in the middle of the sentence, it will change to another character talking. This type of writing isn’t seen in many stories. It’s an odd choice that Huxley made. Honestly, I could see this type of text as a movie. Going back and forth between characters and all that. But this is not movie talk. This is book talk.

So, I believe Huxley did this because he wanted the reader to feel some way. He wanted the feeling of busy things happening, something looming. A lot of this happens behind the scenes in this world. The creation of life for example. When Mustapha Mond is talking to the director, the reader is suddenly cut off with another story. This creates suspense and a curiosity. When Lenina’s story is being told, it is also suddenly cut off, making the reader want to learn more. This style of writing is unique that it interests the reader to be annoyed, yet eager to read more.

The pace of the chapter is odd as well. In the beginning, the paragraphs are lengthy and explain much more. As the chapter progresses, the paragraphs get shorter and shorter. By the end, each section of story line is only a line or two. I believe that Huxley did this to create a gradually more exciting chapter. He wanted something to be anticipated by the end. By doing this, he created three storylines that all had the same pace. The reader was anticipating where the story would end up.

As each story progresses, each set of characters change. To start, Lenina and fanny begin on a good note. As they begin to talk and discuss Henry, Fanny encourages her to stop seeing Henry and see other people. Lenina mentions Bernard Marx. Fanny warns her that he has a bad reputation. The chapter ends on a darker note than it began. Switching to Mustapha Mond’s story, the director is talking to his tour group about the children in the garden when Mond starts talking to them. He talks about how what the children do in the garden used to be frowned upon back in the day. The same thing happens in this story as with Fanny’s. Henry’s is very similar in that he and Bernard begin talking and he gets mad at Henry. All end on not happy notes. So, this is why I think Huxley wrote this chapter this way.