Distortion in Brave New World
In Brave New World, Huxley exaggerates the fact that a world that strives for stability must eliminate individualism and relationships.
One major distortion in Brave New World is the prevention of individualism. In order to live in a Utopia, a person cannot be an individual. Huxley makes this clear from the first page of the novel, revealing the World State’s motto of “Community, Identity, Stability.” Conformity is what this society strives for. Individuals cannot make up a community, which is why these people are made identical in many ways. From the beginning, the identical fetuses are bred solely to serve the community. They lack personal identity in order to sustain the stability of their society. Huxley uses this distortion to allude to the lack of uniqueness in our society and our willingness to conform.
The level of control the World Leaders have on their citizens is also distorted. Huxley satirizes the idea that it is easier to control people by occupying them with detail and distracting them from major issues. The people are distracted by simple things, such as Electro-magnetic golf or the feelies. Huxley uses these in comparison to our countless and unnecessary distractions like sports and entertainment. Another example of a distraction is death conditioning. The citizens are taught to accept death as a natural process. This process of death conditioning, however, is used to distract them from true emotions like sadness. This is not only a distraction, but it also causes the people to lose value of human life. Lastly, the main example of this is hypnopaedia. From infantry, children are brainwashed in sleep school, subconsciously remembering different phrases. They are taught this so there is no need for original thought. These ideas are permanently ingrained into their minds so the whole society thinks exactly the same. Hypnopaedia is the ultimate form of control because it literally takes away the citizens’ sense of individuality. Huxley amplifies
One major distortion in Brave New World is the prevention of individualism. In order to live in a Utopia, a person cannot be an individual. Huxley makes this clear from the first page of the novel, revealing the World State’s motto of “Community, Identity, Stability.” Conformity is what this society strives for. Individuals cannot make up a community, which is why these people are made identical in many ways. From the beginning, the identical fetuses are bred solely to serve the community. They lack personal identity in order to sustain the stability of their society. Huxley uses this distortion to allude to the lack of uniqueness in our society and our willingness to conform.
The level of control the World Leaders have on their citizens is also distorted. Huxley satirizes the idea that it is easier to control people by occupying them with detail and distracting them from major issues. The people are distracted by simple things, such as Electro-magnetic golf or the feelies. Huxley uses these in comparison to our countless and unnecessary distractions like sports and entertainment. Another example of a distraction is death conditioning. The citizens are taught to accept death as a natural process. This process of death conditioning, however, is used to distract them from true emotions like sadness. This is not only a distraction, but it also causes the people to lose value of human life. Lastly, the main example of this is hypnopaedia. From infantry, children are brainwashed in sleep school, subconsciously remembering different phrases. They are taught this so there is no need for original thought. These ideas are permanently ingrained into their minds so the whole society thinks exactly the same. Hypnopaedia is the ultimate form of control because it literally takes away the citizens’ sense of individuality. Huxley amplifies