Brave New World: Conformity as a Threat to Society

Be Original People believe if everybody was equal, the world would be a happier place. In reality that is far from true because it can create many problems that are not visible at first. It has been thought that if there was no rich or poor and everybody was the same, war would not exist and people would be better-off. There have also been many arguments as to why people need to be different and the need for social classes is essential. Conformity and individuality are very important in society. Aldous Huxley uses the lack of uniqueness, the dangers in group decisions, and the lack of innovative ideas to display how conformity is a major threat to society. Huxley uses the lack of uniqueness when he mentions the test tube babies to show that there is no individuality in the World State. To support this, “One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before. Progress.” (Huxley 6). All of the citizens from the World State are basically grown and cloned. They are all taught certain aspects of this society depending on which class they will belong to. None of these children are given a chance to believe what they want to believe, they are programmed to follow certain rules. The fact that they also look the same, since they come from the same exact embryo shows the lack of uniqueness. It is necessary in society for people to look different and think their own thoughts Also, in today’s world, cults strive to make people believe in one thing as a group and to stick to what they believe in. If these people in the cult refuse to follow what they are told, they are exiled. From birth, the children in these cults are also brought up to believe that everything is right the way it is and to not question what is going on in the cult. Another example of how conformity can be detrimental is also portrayed in the novel. Huxley uses the dangers of group decisions throughout the novel when everybody partakes in what others are doing in order to show that conformity and individuality is not present. The novel consists of many group activities, everybody wants be where the crowd is and nobody wants to be alone. The World State teaches unity to its citizens and that together is the way it should be done. Helping support this is, “Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, kiss the girls…” And as they sang, the lights began slowly to fade-to fade and at the same time to grow warmer, richer, redder, until at last they were dancing in the crimson twilight of an Embry Store. “Orgy-porgy…” In their blood-colored and foetal darkness the dancers continued for a while to circulate, to beat and beat out the indefatigable rhythm. “Orgy-porgy…” Then the circle wavered, broke, fell in partial disintegration on the ring of couches which surrounded- circle enclosing circle-the table and its planetary chairs. “Orgy-porgy…” Tenderly the deep Voice crooned and cooed; in the red twilight it was as though some enormous negro dove were hovering benevolently over the now prone or supine dancers.” (Huxley 85). In the World State is it a very common thing for everybody to take part in Orgy’s. The one’s that refuse to partake in them are looked at differently and not accepted. The citizens are programmed to believe that being in an Orgy is normal and that it should be done without questioning and is enjoyable. The novel constantly expresses the idea of togetherness and that it is the way of life. Much like in today’s society children decide to do what the crowd is doing and tend to fall into peer pressure very easily. Adolescents think “if they are doing it, why shouldn’t I?” For example, some kids might see a kid getting bullied and a few of them might join in just because the “cool kids” are doing it and a few will not join in because they know it is the right thing to do. If the world just followed what others did, it would not be a good place to live in. People need to be able to make their own decisions in this world in order for it to be successful. The ability to free think is also limited. Huxley utilizes the lack of innovative ideas when he displays how free-thinking is limited to convey that there is no sense of individuality in the World State. In the World State, the citizens are taught into what they should believe and to not have their own opinion. Supporting this is, “Free, Free!” the savage shouted, and with one hand continued to throw the soma into the area while, with the other, he punched the indistinguishable faces of his assailants. “Free!” And suddenly there was Helmholtz at his side- “Good old Helmholtz!”-also punching-”Men at last!”- and in the interval also throwing the poison out by handfuls through the open window. “yes, men! Men!” And there was no more poison left. He picked up the cash-box and showed them its black emptiness. “You’re free!” (Huxley 213). This supports how John believes that soma is not a good thing to live by and that everybody else disagrees with him and they become infuriated because he is tossing out there precious soma. John’s mother had died from being addicted since she needed a substitute for soma and he did not want everybody else to have the same fate. Very similar to the military, you are forced to keep your mouth shut about certain things. You must not talk about what goes down in war or else you will be punished. For example, a veteran knows some Intel on somebody, they must not give that information out for many certain reasons and if they object towards and ideas of the military they must also keep those objections to themselves. There are many aspects that contribute to a society and conformity and individuality are a couple of them. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley displays that conformity is a major threat to society by showing the lack of uniqueness, the danger in group decisions, and the lack of innovative ideas to show how detrimental conforming can be to a society. The world does not need to conform. It is not necessary to become a communist sort of society for the reason said above. There will always be a few people that do not think things are the way they should be, everybody should have the freedom to be who they want to be and become happy, independent individuals.