Theme Of Identity In Brave New World

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World addresses the theme of identity in a myriad of different many ways. Huxley addresses the issue of identity from the very beginning of the novel, opening with a description of how they create 96 identical humans through a process of splitting one fertilized egg called ‘Bokanovsky’s Process’. Proceeding to talk about the ‘creation’ of humans via an in vitro process involving manipulating them to like or dislike certain conditions depending on their predestined place of work, the first chapter dehumanises people from the very beginning. I believe it was Huxley’s intention to show the reduction in value of human life in his Dystopia as early on as it gives readers a sense of the lack of individuality and it allows
We see this as when he falls in love with Lenina, he is constantly rebuffing her attempts to sleep with him as feels as though he needs to prove himself worthy – no doubt a need inherited from his partially Native American culture and reinforced by Shakespeare. “’Oh, you so perfect (she [Lenina] was leaning towards him with parted lips), ‘so perfect and so peerless are created’ (nearer and nearer) ‘of every creature’s best’. Still nearer. The Savage suddenly scrambled to his feet. ‘That’s why’ he said, speaking with an averted face ‘I wanted to do something first… I mean, to show you I was worthy of you” A quotation from The Tempest also brings many aspects of John together. His love for Shakespeare is prominent as what he is saying is an abridged version of a quotation from The Tempest. We also see his want for marriage in his denial to sleep with her, he later quotes The Tempest again by saying “If thou dost break her virgin-knot before all sanctimonious ceremonies may with full and holy rite…”. Adding to this hectic cocktail of identity is his love for Lenina, which he has to deny himself any indulgence of (it is later suggested that they had sex and John kills himself after ‘remembering everything’) which drives him further towards anger at her lack of understanding. It’s because of all of these
It seems inevitable then, that people generations apart share a single, community identity. Perhaps this is what is meant by the World Hatchery’s slogan ‘Community, Identity, Stability’. It is not the identity of the individual, but the mass identity that is conferred and shared; identity is literally central to the slogan, contained within the boundaries of Community and Stability. The slogan reflects the reality that community and stability provide the boundaries that dictate identity. Thus the motto exists upon two levels, the literal and the