Boulle

Week 5

Boulle’s Planet of the Apes has a resemblance to our own civilization. This is most likely the reason why readers can relate to Planet of the Apes more than 1984. In Planet of the Apes, there are various topics explored; such as, Social Behavior, Self Identity, Power and Authority. And in the original film there are similarities in the book that are addressed and there are also differences.

Social Behavior and Self Identity are key topics in our own society because we are conscious beings that have the need to analyze why we behave the way that we do and the need to figure out our own existence. In Planet of the Apes, the apes experiment on humans to identify social behavior. At this point of the book, I wonder to myself if experimentation is the only real way to identify behavior? In my own interaction with people- I’ve experienced that we can also identify characteristics of behavior through friendships and ties built over time.

Power and authority are also huge topics in our own society. In Planet of the Apes, the Gorillas, Orangutans and Chimpanzees have a certain type of power. Power and authority makes me think of how all civilizations need to have some sort of control to be able to run a certain way. And with this notion- I think that types of labels will be put into effect because there is always going to be a need for someone with authority to lead and others to follow.

The Planet of the Apes book has one key difference to the original film that I’d like to address. In the book Ulysse still needs to learn the language of the apes to communicate while in the film Taylor talks English which is the same language the apes use. This is probably due to a limitation of the film perspective but I think is important as the complexity of language is used for communication. Overall, language being key factor to what makes us dominant from life forms that are not able to talk or speak.

Eugenics

Week 4

There many questions we need to ask ourselves with regards to Eugenics and New Genetics. The idea of perfection evolves over time. Sciences boost up plastic surgery and our need to reach perfection. Although with Science comes inventions that can also be advantageous for humans. For example, the invention of hybrid cars that are environmentally friendly. It is important to acknowledge the part of science that is beneficial and the part of science that is not as beneficial. I do agree that acceptance of our own selves is important when judging what is important to change about ourselves and what is best to leave in its original state. Overall, we live in a type of society that will always push to be greater and grander. What is important is to know is what is valuable and hold on to this value regardless of what is found new.

Utopia reversed- Howe

Week 3

I think that sex and sexism will never go out of style. I also think that sexism is always going to be controversial because the sexes have differing roles and personalities. And ‘speaking of the mind’ happens with controversy especially when self-interests are put into play. As far as the future, I also hope that sexism or racism is less of an issue. However, it will take a lot of awareness and consciousness amongst peoples in various societies for the issue to decrease. And I’m sure there will be another issue to tackle if it’s not the issue of racism or sexism. It is a good point that being a “housewife” used to be a style and now women have careers. Although women still get paid less than men in the corporate world. Back to my previous point, that there will always be something that we need to tackle as changes in trends occur over time. Overall, I do agree that it’s important to take into account history so we can all have better mind sets in present time. And although there will always be challenges to overcome- we as society I think learn something important for the future from generation to generation.

A Type of Writer

Week 2
Upon reading O’Flinn on Orwell I contemplated about the kind of writer/poet people choose to be in a society. People either choose to be the kind of artist that reflects the current events in a society or the kind of artist that expresses the conflicts they may be going through in a society. I would like to believe that artist, writers or poets choose to express themselves on what they have experienced from society and at the same time reveal any challenges that he or she maybe facing in a society. The artist or poet who conveys the current events of a society is a poet that depicts a subjective historical point of view. This type of writing reveals the feelings and emotions of what he or she is experiencing at that given time. From this perspective it maybe one-sided to the experiences of the poet; nevertheless, still can be useful to the understanding of an individuals experiences of that time. The artist or poet who conveys the conflicts of a society also provides some sort of context to the reader because he/she is giving an insight on the experiences that has occurred. For example, if a poet is to write about economical problems that occur at present day- he/she may express about the difficulty of keeping a job and reveals the economical status of people in current society. At close, a poet can express occurrences of a society and the conflicts he/she is experiencing- and can be valuable to the reader because it provides awareness on past societies and individual experiences. Overall, poetry and literature is influences by a society one way or another.

Is Utopia Possible?

Week 1

After reading The Politics of Utopia by Jameson- I find myself asking if Utopia is really possible. Utopia is defined as a perfect place. The world we live in is not close to perfect. We have emotions such as- anger, sadness and jealousy that lead to quarrels and misunderstandings. Overall, I think that people are too different and it is too difficult to find a "perfect state" with so many differing views. I actually think that living in a world with so many different people makes the world that more interesting. If everyone was the same then it would be an uninteresting and mundane world with no excitement. Of course I would always push towards world peace and harmony but having people that have no emotions or choose to have no knowledge on political views would be boring. In the movie Sleeper- this is mundane way of life was depicted. The characters represented a life with the need for instant gratification and a language that was simple and dry. I think Utopia is not possible because there are too many different people in the world and if it was ever to be a reality- it would only cause a dreary way of life. Utopia is a good ideal that we can all strive for but never really achieve.

The Dystopia of Apes

The world that we live in can have many challenges; such as the budget crisis in education or the economic recession. Can you imagine a world in a worse state than the one we live in today? Boulles Planet of the Apes is such a world that has Apes rule over Humans. It’s a science fiction novel that mirrors our own society. Crucial topics are presented in this novel; such as, the role language plays in our existence, to behavior that is learned through interaction, power and authority in all forms of culture and the inevitable fate of man. I pose that the dystopia of apes ruling over humans depicted in Planet of the Apes made such an impact in literary history because it is a reflection of our own society that addresses issues that we are faced with in relation to government control to the inevitable fate of humanity that is developed in language and learned behavior.

Language in our own society is a key element of communication with one another. In a lot of ways what makes humans different from animals or other living beings is our ability to speak and the level of intelligence that it takes to articulate language. In Planet of the Apes- Ulysses has to learn the language of the apes to be able to create a connection with Zira (female ape who helps Ulysses). In the original film, Taylor is not able to speak because of an injury in the beginning and then after healing connects with Zira through speaking English. It is this form of intelligence that allows both Ulysses and Taylor to communicate to the apes and shows the apes that he is a human who is different from the other humans who cannot speak. Ulysses states, “I have found in Nova and that I now saw in all others: a lack of conscious thought; the absence of intelligence” (41). Just like in our own world- intelligence is key and often times are represented by language.

Nature and nurture has been questioned time and time again. Do we learn what we learn through nurture (our own environment)? Or are we born with what we know (through nature)? In Planet of the Apes, a type of learned behavior is apparent through the science experiments and through imitation. When Ulysses encounters Professor Antelle in a cage, he sees that Professor Antelle has adapted to the other humans as a non-intelligent being and states, “I watched him while he was doing this, and there was nothing in his attitude to reveal his true nature” (160). At this point, Professor Antelle imitates the other humans in this Planet and behaves unlike his true nature. I find this disturbing in a sense that the same way the apes imitate our own world by putting humans in a cage is the same way Professor Antelle imitates being an animal in this dystopic world. Ulysses, further states, “My self-respect notes with satisfaction that apes have invented nothing, that they are mere imitators” (217). Here, it is pointed out that the apes in this planet have imitated what they have seen in the past from human behavior. This is similar to infants who imitate language through their surroundings and parents. At the end of the book Nova learns from Sirius (her son how to speak), Ulysses stating “today Sirius talks fluently and Nova almost as well” (264). Ulysse is proud of himself and sees Nova developing language as a miracle. In our own society, an infants first words are also a proud moment.

Power and Authority are also seen in Planet of the Apes, as in our own world through government. Ulysses while trying to connect with the apes states, “But there was nothing I could do to convince the orangutan” (103). Here the orangutan does not want to believe that Ulysse really is an intelligent being. In the book and the film the orangutans want to preserve ape hood and are not open to humans being intelligent because are afraid of humans taking over. In our own society, the government also keep certain information away from the public as a form of control. I think that sometimes not knowing may be helpful so the public will not go into chaos especially in emergency situations. But overall I think that it is best to be conscious of all forms of knowledge because this is the only way to know the truth no matter how harsh.

The inevitable fate of man is an interesting topic both in our own world and in The Planet of the Apes. I often reflect in our own world that we are doomed to create our own self destruction through our own pollution of earth or our own need to go into war for whatever reason deemed appropriate. In the film Taylor sees that humans destroyed themselves as he sees the Statue of Liberty and knows that he was in earth all along. In the book, Ulysse travels to another planet only to encounter more advanced apes. In my own opinion both endings bring up interesting perspectives. In the film the perspective that humans destroy civilization causes the rise of the apes. And in the novel, that apes eventually rise to higher level and humans in this sense are not the lower being. Here, the reflection of our own world makes me think of how we treat animals. We find reasons to do experiments when in another dystopic worlds apes can have that possibility of being the higher form of intelligence.

At close, language is key in identifying self in both our world and in the world in Planet of the Apes. Overall, I do think that we do learn through our environment; either through imitating each other or through learned behavior in interacting with others. Power and Authority are in all aspects of any formed civilization. And the fate of man is dependent in the will of man.

The Authority to Condtion Goodness

Ideology has no history, which emphatically does not mean that there is no history in it (on the contrary, for it is merely the pale, empty and inverted reflection of real history) but that it has no history of its own (Althusser, 34). In A Clockwork Orange, the narrator Alex is imprisoned for 14 years after murdering the lady with the cats. While he is in prison, he reads the bible and thinks to himself how he would be one of the people torturing Jesus. From an outside point of view it looks like Alex is really trying to be good but we see through his narration that he is still bad (or at least what is deemed as bad). Here, the ideology of Alex’s character having no history of its own is due from Alex coming from a good family and background. The reality of it is that Alex is his own twisted individual despite growing up from a good background. And from a cultural perspective he is deemed as being bad and an individual who is in need of transformation to fit into the ideal. Goodness initially comes internally and the environment from authoritative factors plays a part in the management to be good.

In A Clockwork Orange, the government maintains a new treatment where they take bad individuals and make them good. Alex is picked to do the treatment. He is drugged and is forced to watch several films that have bad acts (for example, rape, Hitler, etc) and every time he experiences these bad acts Alex is conditioned to feel sick. After the treatment Alex is deemed cured and anytime he has thoughts of being bad he gets sick. I pose the question is Alex really cured or is he just prevented to do bad acts because he is conditioned to get sick? I think that Alex is not really cured and has no real choice to be good or bad.

Those capable of embracing it, investors all, would be the managers if not masters of their own lives. Those who could not would be cast as populations “at risk,” and be the targets of all manner of domestic wars (Martin, 2). In the beginning of the film Alex does bad acts with his friends at night. In one scene these ‘friends’ decide to take over and deem George as General over Alex. Alex plays along at first but then shoves George over and cuts him down. In the article Martin talks about the population that is able to control their own lives are masters of their own lives and those that cannot are considered “at risk.” In A Clockwork Orange, I observed that power and authority were really important and for Alex to survive he had to take control of his life. Although it was his own friends who left him to be caught by the detectives, Alex does try to take control of his own life by always being the one in charge.

More so, one of the lasting impressions I obtained from A Clockwork Orange is that there is always some higher authority that do acts for personal gain. As an example, the treatment for Alex was supposed to be for his transformation towards becoming a better person. Instead, he ends up at a worst state and at the hands of other powers who takes advantage of his condition.