Self Identity In Brave New World
“To know our refuse is to know ourselves. We mark our own trail from past to present with what we've used and consumed, fondled, rejected, outgrown.”
― Jane Avrich, The Winter Without Milk: Stories
The theme of self-identity is very important to both Headhunter by Timothy Findley and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Against the backdrop of pervasive, ubiquitous and broad reaching societal topics, self-identity aids the audience’s understanding of how the character is thinking, feeling and how they react to certain events that take place throughout the novel. Although both novels are The Theme of Self Identity in Headhunter and Brave New World: A Contrasting Essay written with a theme of self-identity, they differ in how the theme …show more content…
is portrayed. The characters, values and societal structure portrayed in each novel establishes contrasting representations of self-identity. These differences in close examination are written in Lenina of Brave New World, a character not quite sure of her own self-identity, the values of her society, and the structure in which she was raised. The novel Headhunter by Lilah Kemp provides a picture of strong self-sense and identity by constructing a very different cultural and sociological structure.
First of all, Lenina is a prime example of what conformity is. Lenina is shown throughout the novel not quite understanding Bernard, a character struggling to find his sense of self in a world designed to repress any and all individualism. In turn, Lenina tries to understand Bernard’s unusual behaviour but simply cannot fathom the exact nature of his words which differ greatly from those of the Directors. When one examines what it means to have “self-identity”, he comes across the definition: “the conscious recognition of the self as having a unique identity”.(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Lenina is shown throughout the novel as not having “conscious recognition of the self as having unique identity” and one prime example of this is when Bernard asks Lenina if she would like to create her own happiness and she replies: “I don’t know what you mean….I don’t understand anything.”(Huxley, 79). Lenina is so conditioned to the social norms of her society which represses individualism that she cannot even think for herself. Anytime she is unhappy, she ingests soma; a drug which alters one’s brain chemistry to become happier and thoughtless. Lenina never finds self-identity and for the rest of the novel she consistently believes in the idea of “everybody belonging to everybody”. Whenever Bernard is unhappy she tells him to take soma, which he declines and then Lenina says: “I don’t understand anything… Nothing, least of all why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours.” (Huxley, 79) Again illustrating her lack of understanding of what it means to be an individual and thus showing the audience that she does not have much, if any, self-identity. In contrast, Lilah Kemp is a great exemplar of what it means to have a sense of self. Although Lilah struggles with what is real and what is not, her beliefs unlike Lenina differ from her societies. Lilah acts upon what she feels is right and what her own personal morals dictate. Contrary to Lenina, Lilah can identify key aspects of herself that contrast from other people such as her “special abilities” and spirituality. In the novel when Lilah is describing her experience being hospitalized she talks about a doctor, Doctor Baggs who “tried to take away her powers”. Lilah says: “No one understands what I have in here...I am an open door through which the dead can come and go at will.” (Findley, 35) When one reads this excerpt he can see that Lilah regards her “abilities” as something that defines or shows who she is as a person and when that is threatened to be taken from her, she fears she will lose her individuality. When one reads on he comes across when Lilah is talking about the drugs they make her take and if she does not take them she will be hospitalized. To be exact, she thinks to herself: “...Without her drugs, she could become a permanent resident...where they locked the doors. And that would be intolerable. That would be death.” (Findley, 36) This line clearly emphasizes Lilah’s need to be individual. She does not want to take drugs that will alter her own personal, individual thoughts and the idea of being hospitalized and having her “powers” taken away from her forever is one thing she could not live with. The contrast of self-identity within the characters of Lenina and Lilah is clear when discussing thoughts of individualism and their “ideas” or Lenina’s lack thereof - on drugs that would alter individual thoughts.
Furthermore, due to living in different time periods in which the societies have different values and standards, Brave New World and Headhunter do not take on the same ideas of self-identity. In Brave New World, the society does not recognize or even understand the aspect of self-identity. The Directors and people who run the society tend to encourage citizens to see identity as an obscure idea. Throughout the novel, the audience can see many characters laughing at the idea of individualism and mocking humans in the past for ever thinking individualism as well as self identity was an intelligent value to possess. As a result of the society putting technology and consumerism above anything else, there seems to be more control over the citizens thoughts and individual actions. The Directors condition the citizens into wanting to be part of a society, again the idea that “everybody belongs to everybody” - no one is to be belonging to oneself. Nearing the end of the novel after John’s outburst and failed protest at the hospital, Mustapha Mond and the Controller are talking to Bernard, John and Helmholtz. Bernard, John and Helmholtz are the only few people who found individualism - or who came close to it within the novel. Mustapha and the Controller are trying to explain why they do not allow Shakespeare, religion or any other form of individual tastes. Mustapha says: “...And as for doing things - Ford forbid that he should get that idea into his head. It would upset the whole social order if men started doing things on their own.” (Huxley, 209) This quotation clearly shows the belief that self-identity and individualism is perilous to maintaining a steady society. In variation, Headhunter is shown throughout the novel to have a post modernized idea of self-identity and the belief that individualism is very important to a “functioning” society. Unlike the society in Brave New World, the society within Headhunter recognizes the individual issues that many people have. Since the book mainly surrounds itself with schizophernia, pedophillia amongst many other mental illnesses - one could argue that in and of itself those are a few of the things which produce an individual. Doctor Rupert Kurtz is a character that encourages his patients to follow their darkest and most perverse desires. He allows his patients to run the “Club of Men”, a group of men who have a sexual desire for young children. In this aspect of self-identity or individualism Brave New World and Headhunter are polar opposites. In the novel there is a line that reads: “...They have offered me a way of giving up...Sanity which is very tempting. More relaxing. Peaceful.” This quotation is said by Kurtz in relation to his patients. Throughout the novel psychiatrists and doctors are shown to be the authority, the way that they viewed sanity and insanity as well as individualism is what drove the society to imitate this construct . This can also be shown by Kurtz, as he says: “As psychiatrists we must necessarily appear to the mentally ill as being in the nature of gods. We approach them with miracles up our sleeves...” (Findley, 426) Many of his patients viewed Kurtz as being a God. Even one of his former patients dedicated his entire art gallery to him. Kurtz was able to manipulate others around him and exert his power, he even obtained the position of being the Director of the Psychiatric Hospitals, which in many ways was the main society of the book. In summation, Brave New World and Headhunter differ in the way their society views self-identity as a value.
Lastly, the societal structures in Brave New World and Headhunter also display self-identity in contrasting manners.
Brave New World is depicted as a utopian society, a society that is defined as: “any real or imaginary society, place, state, considered to be perfect or ideal” and “any visionary system of political or social perfection.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Throughout the novel of Brave New World the society thrives on political and social perfection. Everyone in the society is to act, think and be like one another. The dictators hold power over the society by conditioning them to be social beings that contribute to procreating and moving the economy along. No one in the utopian society of Brave New World gets disease, is unhappy and almost everything is done in an “efficient” way that assures a place for everyone in the society. This obviously makes it difficult to have a self-identity in a society where everything is about making the social and political world a better place. There are no priorities placed on free will or personal issues because it is viewed that they do not have any. The utopian society is greatly focussed on consumerism and the idea that self identity as well as individualism does not exist nor does it need to exist for the society to succeed. There is a part in the novel where the Director says: “Murder kills only the individual and, after all what is an individual? …We can make a new one with the greatest ease—as many as we like” (Huxley, 133). Even from the beginning of the novel, the audience is forced to question the idea of mass-production and consumption in terms of humanity and the lack of self-identity. On the other hand, Headhunter is set in a dystopian society. A society characterized by: “human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.” This society is controlled by fear of disease, mental illness, death and the fear of losing self-identity in those circumstances. Whereas a utopian society does not
recognize self-identity in any aspect other than it does not exist, a dystopian society uses this need for self-identity to its advantage in gaining power. Headhunter is a great example of a dystopian society. Throughout the novel Timothy Findley’s fictional depiction of Toronto is afflicted by political and cultural corruption. The D-Squads, which stood for Death Squads were created by the government to stop the spread of sturnusemia - a disease said to be caused by birds. The street also had “Moonmen‟ and “Leatherheads” creating chaos in the society. Most, if not all, the rules were violated and the morals and sexual taboos that our society is used to are being broken. Most of the characters in the novel are psychically disturbed, corrupt mentally and morally, a victim of some sort or not able to function properly in society. Findley portrays not only a society devastated by the unleashing of human impulses, but also the effect on one’s psyche. As it says in the book: “Sturnusemia and AIDS were not the only plagues. Civilization – sickened – had itself become a plague. … It could be followed by tracing the pattern of mental breakdown...The Parkin Institute was not alone in being overcrowded, overworked, overextended. Psychiatric case loads, everywhere, carried alarming numbers. Broken dreamers, their minds in ruin. This was the human race.” (Findley, 271) Almost every aspect of a dystopian society is being touched on in this line. They are fearing sickness, plagues, death, mental breakdown and over crowdedness. All in fear of their identities and who they are as people. Thus, Brave New World and Headhunter’s greatly different societal structures allow for as great of a difference in the view and importance of self-identity.
In conclusion, the theme of self-identity is significant in both Brave New World and Headhunter but in contrasting ways. Brave New World does not view self-identity as important for humanity, the characters tend to not understand it, the values of the society do not agree with it and the societal structure just is not made for it. Whereas with Headhunter, the characters, values and sociological structure thrive on self-identity to survive and control.
― Jane Avrich, The Winter Without Milk: Stories
The theme of self-identity is very important to both Headhunter by Timothy Findley and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Against the backdrop of pervasive, ubiquitous and broad reaching societal topics, self-identity aids the audience’s understanding of how the character is thinking, feeling and how they react to certain events that take place throughout the novel. Although both novels are The Theme of Self Identity in Headhunter and Brave New World: A Contrasting Essay written with a theme of self-identity, they differ in how the theme …show more content…
is portrayed. The characters, values and societal structure portrayed in each novel establishes contrasting representations of self-identity. These differences in close examination are written in Lenina of Brave New World, a character not quite sure of her own self-identity, the values of her society, and the structure in which she was raised. The novel Headhunter by Lilah Kemp provides a picture of strong self-sense and identity by constructing a very different cultural and sociological structure.
First of all, Lenina is a prime example of what conformity is. Lenina is shown throughout the novel not quite understanding Bernard, a character struggling to find his sense of self in a world designed to repress any and all individualism. In turn, Lenina tries to understand Bernard’s unusual behaviour but simply cannot fathom the exact nature of his words which differ greatly from those of the Directors. When one examines what it means to have “self-identity”, he comes across the definition: “the conscious recognition of the self as having a unique identity”.(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Lenina is shown throughout the novel as not having “conscious recognition of the self as having unique identity” and one prime example of this is when Bernard asks Lenina if she would like to create her own happiness and she replies: “I don’t know what you mean….I don’t understand anything.”(Huxley, 79). Lenina is so conditioned to the social norms of her society which represses individualism that she cannot even think for herself. Anytime she is unhappy, she ingests soma; a drug which alters one’s brain chemistry to become happier and thoughtless. Lenina never finds self-identity and for the rest of the novel she consistently believes in the idea of “everybody belonging to everybody”. Whenever Bernard is unhappy she tells him to take soma, which he declines and then Lenina says: “I don’t understand anything… Nothing, least of all why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours.” (Huxley, 79) Again illustrating her lack of understanding of what it means to be an individual and thus showing the audience that she does not have much, if any, self-identity. In contrast, Lilah Kemp is a great exemplar of what it means to have a sense of self. Although Lilah struggles with what is real and what is not, her beliefs unlike Lenina differ from her societies. Lilah acts upon what she feels is right and what her own personal morals dictate. Contrary to Lenina, Lilah can identify key aspects of herself that contrast from other people such as her “special abilities” and spirituality. In the novel when Lilah is describing her experience being hospitalized she talks about a doctor, Doctor Baggs who “tried to take away her powers”. Lilah says: “No one understands what I have in here...I am an open door through which the dead can come and go at will.” (Findley, 35) When one reads this excerpt he can see that Lilah regards her “abilities” as something that defines or shows who she is as a person and when that is threatened to be taken from her, she fears she will lose her individuality. When one reads on he comes across when Lilah is talking about the drugs they make her take and if she does not take them she will be hospitalized. To be exact, she thinks to herself: “...Without her drugs, she could become a permanent resident...where they locked the doors. And that would be intolerable. That would be death.” (Findley, 36) This line clearly emphasizes Lilah’s need to be individual. She does not want to take drugs that will alter her own personal, individual thoughts and the idea of being hospitalized and having her “powers” taken away from her forever is one thing she could not live with. The contrast of self-identity within the characters of Lenina and Lilah is clear when discussing thoughts of individualism and their “ideas” or Lenina’s lack thereof - on drugs that would alter individual thoughts.
Furthermore, due to living in different time periods in which the societies have different values and standards, Brave New World and Headhunter do not take on the same ideas of self-identity. In Brave New World, the society does not recognize or even understand the aspect of self-identity. The Directors and people who run the society tend to encourage citizens to see identity as an obscure idea. Throughout the novel, the audience can see many characters laughing at the idea of individualism and mocking humans in the past for ever thinking individualism as well as self identity was an intelligent value to possess. As a result of the society putting technology and consumerism above anything else, there seems to be more control over the citizens thoughts and individual actions. The Directors condition the citizens into wanting to be part of a society, again the idea that “everybody belongs to everybody” - no one is to be belonging to oneself. Nearing the end of the novel after John’s outburst and failed protest at the hospital, Mustapha Mond and the Controller are talking to Bernard, John and Helmholtz. Bernard, John and Helmholtz are the only few people who found individualism - or who came close to it within the novel. Mustapha and the Controller are trying to explain why they do not allow Shakespeare, religion or any other form of individual tastes. Mustapha says: “...And as for doing things - Ford forbid that he should get that idea into his head. It would upset the whole social order if men started doing things on their own.” (Huxley, 209) This quotation clearly shows the belief that self-identity and individualism is perilous to maintaining a steady society. In variation, Headhunter is shown throughout the novel to have a post modernized idea of self-identity and the belief that individualism is very important to a “functioning” society. Unlike the society in Brave New World, the society within Headhunter recognizes the individual issues that many people have. Since the book mainly surrounds itself with schizophernia, pedophillia amongst many other mental illnesses - one could argue that in and of itself those are a few of the things which produce an individual. Doctor Rupert Kurtz is a character that encourages his patients to follow their darkest and most perverse desires. He allows his patients to run the “Club of Men”, a group of men who have a sexual desire for young children. In this aspect of self-identity or individualism Brave New World and Headhunter are polar opposites. In the novel there is a line that reads: “...They have offered me a way of giving up...Sanity which is very tempting. More relaxing. Peaceful.” This quotation is said by Kurtz in relation to his patients. Throughout the novel psychiatrists and doctors are shown to be the authority, the way that they viewed sanity and insanity as well as individualism is what drove the society to imitate this construct . This can also be shown by Kurtz, as he says: “As psychiatrists we must necessarily appear to the mentally ill as being in the nature of gods. We approach them with miracles up our sleeves...” (Findley, 426) Many of his patients viewed Kurtz as being a God. Even one of his former patients dedicated his entire art gallery to him. Kurtz was able to manipulate others around him and exert his power, he even obtained the position of being the Director of the Psychiatric Hospitals, which in many ways was the main society of the book. In summation, Brave New World and Headhunter differ in the way their society views self-identity as a value.
Lastly, the societal structures in Brave New World and Headhunter also display self-identity in contrasting manners.
Brave New World is depicted as a utopian society, a society that is defined as: “any real or imaginary society, place, state, considered to be perfect or ideal” and “any visionary system of political or social perfection.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Throughout the novel of Brave New World the society thrives on political and social perfection. Everyone in the society is to act, think and be like one another. The dictators hold power over the society by conditioning them to be social beings that contribute to procreating and moving the economy along. No one in the utopian society of Brave New World gets disease, is unhappy and almost everything is done in an “efficient” way that assures a place for everyone in the society. This obviously makes it difficult to have a self-identity in a society where everything is about making the social and political world a better place. There are no priorities placed on free will or personal issues because it is viewed that they do not have any. The utopian society is greatly focussed on consumerism and the idea that self identity as well as individualism does not exist nor does it need to exist for the society to succeed. There is a part in the novel where the Director says: “Murder kills only the individual and, after all what is an individual? …We can make a new one with the greatest ease—as many as we like” (Huxley, 133). Even from the beginning of the novel, the audience is forced to question the idea of mass-production and consumption in terms of humanity and the lack of self-identity. On the other hand, Headhunter is set in a dystopian society. A society characterized by: “human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.” This society is controlled by fear of disease, mental illness, death and the fear of losing self-identity in those circumstances. Whereas a utopian society does not
recognize self-identity in any aspect other than it does not exist, a dystopian society uses this need for self-identity to its advantage in gaining power. Headhunter is a great example of a dystopian society. Throughout the novel Timothy Findley’s fictional depiction of Toronto is afflicted by political and cultural corruption. The D-Squads, which stood for Death Squads were created by the government to stop the spread of sturnusemia - a disease said to be caused by birds. The street also had “Moonmen‟ and “Leatherheads” creating chaos in the society. Most, if not all, the rules were violated and the morals and sexual taboos that our society is used to are being broken. Most of the characters in the novel are psychically disturbed, corrupt mentally and morally, a victim of some sort or not able to function properly in society. Findley portrays not only a society devastated by the unleashing of human impulses, but also the effect on one’s psyche. As it says in the book: “Sturnusemia and AIDS were not the only plagues. Civilization – sickened – had itself become a plague. … It could be followed by tracing the pattern of mental breakdown...The Parkin Institute was not alone in being overcrowded, overworked, overextended. Psychiatric case loads, everywhere, carried alarming numbers. Broken dreamers, their minds in ruin. This was the human race.” (Findley, 271) Almost every aspect of a dystopian society is being touched on in this line. They are fearing sickness, plagues, death, mental breakdown and over crowdedness. All in fear of their identities and who they are as people. Thus, Brave New World and Headhunter’s greatly different societal structures allow for as great of a difference in the view and importance of self-identity.
In conclusion, the theme of self-identity is significant in both Brave New World and Headhunter but in contrasting ways. Brave New World does not view self-identity as important for humanity, the characters tend to not understand it, the values of the society do not agree with it and the societal structure just is not made for it. Whereas with Headhunter, the characters, values and sociological structure thrive on self-identity to survive and control.