Monday, July 28, 2008
Drugs & Soma
I finished the book Brave New World and I found it very interesting. In the beginning of the book, I had no idea if it was reality or not. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be able to understand the book at all. I got to read about many characters like, Bernard, Lenina, Hemholtz, and John. When I read about the Bernard and Lenina situation I finally thought that this book is getting interesting. When they started talking about Soma I thought that they were talking about a type of food or drink. Then, I figured out that the Soma is a type of New World drug. The book even said that Soma can take years off of your life. When the citizens feel unstable emotionally they take soma to erase how they feel. Sometimes, the citizens even have Soma holidays. That is when they takes a large quantity of soma at one time. Soma is very similar to our world's use of drugs. There are many drugs in our world that have that same effect on us. There are prescription drugs, cocaine, PCP, and crystal meth. They have the same effects. They clear your mind and damage your bodies. They can even become addictive. There is even alcoholism. I think that the citizens are addicted to soma. When John was attacked by the Delta's, that demonstrated that the citizen's would do anything to have the Soma. Am I wrong? Is Soma really a harmless drug? The book clearly makes me think that Soma is very harmful.
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4 comments:
It's not that it is not a harmless drug; it's just another form of relaxation like television. They seem to find the outcome so relieving; they don’t perceive it as an addiction after many uses, but rather a simple problem solver. I do agree it is a modern example of a negative addictive because after a while, it becomes a necessity instead of an option. While reading about soma, it reminded me a lot of ecstasy because they both give false contentment. Then again, all drugs give similar results. The characters in BNW, use it loosely as we would drink water.
I think it is a harmful drug. If it cut part of your life off in the process of using it there is something wrong.Don't forget that Linda died from overuse of the drug.In BNW the charaters seem to be highly addicted to Soma and it takes over there lives.
Unfortunatly they don't want to change because it make them feel good for a while.
I feel that soma seems safe to the "civilized" in Brave New World, because many were conditioned to take death lightly and disregarded the fact that they will die quicker. Soma doesn't seem lethal unless someone overdosed, which was rare, knowing that they only used when one feel gloomy or experienced in pain, which is not often due to conditioning and the conditions of the "civilized world."
I think soma is a harmful drug that the Brave New World doesn't know about. They have been told that it is a good thing that relaxes you and gives you a good mood. I think the way the book describes it is false, because its like drugs kids take today. I saw my old friend without drugs and saw him after drugs and it made his life horrible. He can't even talk right.
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