Individuality, Identity, and Conformity
1. In order to prevent individuality, what kind of things are discouraged in Brave New World? Why does Huxley target those?
2. If the motto of the World State is “Community, Identity, and Stability,” how are those three ideas carried out?
3. At some level conformity is necessary to engage in a society or culture. When does conformity start to have a negative impact on individuals or society at large?
4. What would it mean to conform to being a “non-conformist”?
5. In Gattaca, Vincent overcomes his “predetermined” identity. In our society, what kinds of predetermined identities exist? Is it possible to overcome this? Is it the norm?
36 comments:
The civilized world in Brave New World discouraged being alone, having emotions and unique thoughts, and caring deeply about anything or anyone. They are targeted because without them, life has no point and progress and change cannot happen. When Bernard displays unique traits, the DHC says, “unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself,” (148), which encourages people to have no defining traits. They are expected to devote themselves entirely to the civilized world in which they live. If they behave unlike everybody else, they are thought of as a danger to society, as they may bring others to question the world as well. Original thoughts have the ability to destroy the stability that is essential to the civilized world. According to one response, science can still progress even without those things. I would like to discuss that idea further. I think that without individuality, science cannot progress, as people will have no original thoughts that lead them to explore new things. If they are satisfied with the current state of scientific knowledge, as people in the novel are conditioned to be, then they will see no need to delve deeper into it to learn more.
This is also linked to Consumerism 2. In today's society, people can become bound to a "predetermined" identity according to what and how the media portrays a certain group of people (race, religion, gender, etc...). According to the "Merchants of Cool", females can become obsessed with being like a midriff, and the male a mook. When media creates a culture, it causes teens to think that they need to fit into the culture, thus creating the norm. Cultural norms are almost impossible to escape. In the society in Gattaca, Vincent was an "invalid" with a heart condition, and he was destined to have a "blue-collar" job. At the end of the movie, Vincent succeeded in escaping the "invalid" norm after being launched into space, but he leaped into the "valid" norm. Our society is very similar. There was a group of people depicted in "Merchants of Cool" that thought they were not part of the norm because they listened to Insane Clown Posse. Even one of the artists from the ICP claimed that their group was different. However, after several years, ICP was absorbed into Norm Culture. Even if you're different, your uniqueness might end up becoming the next norm.
When starting my silent dialogue, I originally commented on relationships in Brave New World and how they do not promote individuality because “everyone belongs to everyone else”, which makes it impossible to form committed, personal relationships (Brave New World 44). But as I read through other classmates comments, I saw that the idea of individuality in Brave New World switched to discussing how their religion lacked diversity or freedom of expression. In Brave New World, their believe in Ford (plus the use of soma), makes is hard for anyone to argue that Ford is not “God”. It is a fact that he created mass production, and there are no religious differences between different members of society because they do not form their own believes. They are just fed facts and call it a religion (Brave New World 84). I believe that they created this semi-religion in order to promote even more stability because now everyone are believing in one uniform idea. Also, it may take care of people's curiosity in the belief of a “higher being”. I think it is natural for people to wonder if there is a reason they are the way they are or if there is something larger out there. With the belief in Ford as their “God”, and knowing he created mass production helps free them of this curiosity and further supports stability in their society.
Not only did religion promote conformity in Brave New World, it also had an effect on the Puritans of England in The “Tempest” in the Wilderness and how they viewed savages in Ireland and the New World. Because of their strong beliefs of conforming to this one religion, Catholics in Ireland and the “devil savages” in New England did not pass their test as being civilized. At one point in the article, it even mentions a English women being hanged after being accused of worshiping an Indian devil-God (The “Tempest” in the Wilderness 41). In this article as well as in Brave New World, their religion was a way for everyone to be similar and to lose their individuality. It also made is possible for the English to feel superior to the Irish and the Indians because they felt it was their God-given right (The “Tempest” in the Wilderness 42).
In my silent discussion, our group agreed that conformity is necessary in a society up to a point. There are laws and morals within each society that the citizens must follow in order for the society to function. However, there must be a line somewhere that prevents conformity from going too far. The question is where does this line lie? We discussed the idea of basic, essential morals versus unnecessary morals enforced by our society. “Fundamental morals” are productive and necessary for humanity to protect ourselves and others. It is when morals that are considered to be “good” by our society infringe on our personal expression that things have gone too far. While we consider ourselves to have a lot of freedom, we allow ourselves to be directed by many influences and ideas without questioning them. In Brave New World, Huxley creates a society that blindly follows what they are told and the mainstream without thinking for themselves. They have been taught to believe and act according to very specific rules, “as if one believed anything by instinct! One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” (234). Their hypnopaedia and intensive conditioning force them into the exact same mindset. Huxley is trying to call our attention to our mindless “go with the flow” attitudes. Is their conditioning so different from the teachings on values, behavior, dress, etc. that are battered into our skulls by our own society?
After having our silent discussion, I would like to focus on when conformity starts to have a negative impact on individuals and society. Most of us came to the consensus that too much conformity can hinder or altogether eliminate individuality, and therefore diminish creativity. In “The ‘Tempest’ In the Wilderness,” some of the Indians were farmers, unlike the majority of Indians who were hunters. If these farmer Indians had conformed to the hunter Indians’ ways of producing food, the colonists never would have discovered the technique of “raising ‘good corn without fish’ by rotating their crops” (38). Also, if the Indians had conformed to the colonists’ lifestyles and didn’t retain their individuality, the colonists would have never gained certain things from the Indians’ culture that they eventually needed.
Another example that appears in Brave New World is John’s sexual encounter with Lenina. Because their society values promiscuity and sexual relations, she tries to force him to have sex, yet his sense of identity and individuality prevent him from doing so. After taking her clothes off, “the Savage caught her by the wrists, tore her hands from his shoulders, thrust her roughly away at arm’s length” (194). Since he didn’t conform, we are able to see how that society doesn’t value relationships as much as they should, as they give of themselves too easily. It makes the reader realize how much we need to value our friends and significant others and that it should be taken much more seriously.
In Brave New World, Ford is the figure that represents individuality, identity, and conformity. I am very drawn to the parallels between Ford and religion, and I will disagree with anyone who claims that the two cannot be compared. The World State is built upon Henry Ford’s principles of mass production to create a homogenous human species. The motto of the World State is “Community, Identity, and Stability”. These three ideas are all carried out by the ‘Ford’ religion.
In Brave New World, God and the cross have been replaced by Ford and the T. Instead of attending church services, citizens attend a solidarity service where they perform an orgy porgy under the influence of soma. Soma acts as a neutralizing agent because it removes all thought from human thinking, leaving the citizens of Brave New World behaving more like mindless drones. The intent of both the solidarity services and soma is to encourage conformity. Although the population is conditioned to conformity from birth, Ford offers a mean to control any potential non-conformists.
Bernard was clearly an exception to conformity. During the solidarity service, Bernard ‘was miserably isolated… by the reason of his un-replenished emptiness, his dead satiety’ (86). Despite his lack of feeling for the ritual, Bernard felt compelled to be involved in the service because of pressures put upon him by society.
In our society, individuals also feel the pressure to conform to a certain religion, whether the influence is from family or geographies. The difference is that, in our world, the number of conflicting religions prevents the wheels from turning. Mustafa emphasizes the importance of stability for advancement when he claims, “Wheels must turn steadily… with men as steady as the wheels upon their axles.” (42). In our world, religion is a source of instability; while in the World State, Ford is the ultimate source of stability, allowing for the wheels to turn.
Although religion provides instability for our society, it offers individual stability much like soma. Mustafa is correct when he claims that people “inevitably turn to God; for this religious sentiment is of its nature so pure, so delightful to the soul that experiences it, that it makes up to us for all the other losses.” (233). Religion gives people a common identity and allows for them to share similar thoughts and lifestyles. In establishing a single identity, the World State achieved the social stability that our society has not. If a single religion were to dominate in our world, we would achieve a similar identity in which we share the same beliefs and rituals. Thus if Christianity dominated the world, the same social and individual stability could be achieved.
The only reason why Mustafa claims God cannot coexist with the World State is because of all the negative connotations associated with religion. Essentially, Ford is God without the history of all religious manifestations. In creating the World State, God was replaced with Ford, who represents the same things God do.
Being faced with obstacles seems like a norm in our society. We know they will be there at some point, and we know we will have to get over them in order to achieve a goal. But many obstacles are hard to overcome. One example of an obstacle is social status. Social status has the potential to be an obstacle for some people, and working past it is much easier said than done. In Gattaca, Vincent was one of the few people who was able to overcome who he was. In order to do so, he had to go through a tremendous amount of training and planning, and the work continued to be strenuous the entire time he was playing the role of Jerome. Our society has some things in common with the one in Gattaca. In order to overcome a predetermined social status and rise to a new level, dedication, training, intelligence, and perseverance are required for long periods of time. It is not easy to make a lot of money and become successful—good things take time. It is not the norm to rise to a new social status; generally, people stay in the same class as the one they were born in to. There are always some extraordinary cases, but we unfortunately do not see a lot of them.
I agree with Haley that Huxley is calling our attention to the mindless brainwashing that we encounter in our daily lives. Without realizing it, we are conditioned to have certain values and behave in certain ways, yet we claim that we promote freedom of expression in our society. Although America has more toleration of free expression than the society in Brave New World, our social norms that we have been conditioned to follow prevent us from having the ultimate freedom of speech and expression that our constitution claims we have. Any "civilized" society has its own rules that its citizens are conditioned to follow. We perceive Brave New World's conditioning to be extreme just because its different, when in reality, we are conditioned to our own norms just as much as they are. Huxley's portrayal in Brave New World is just an exaggerated version of our society's conditioning.
When thinking about a possible thesis statement for this project, there was one theme that was evident throughout the entire book and that was condtitioning. Whatever aspect you look at from the book, conditioning was always a part of their daily life. They were conditioned to only have relationships with people in their own caste. They were conditioned to take soma whenever they would feel sad or discontented.
Now, when you compare that theme from the book to the society we live in, you will find many similarities. We are somehow conditioned to believe whatever the media tells us, conditioned to have certain beliefs, maybe even a certain lifestyle. Wherever you look, you can see there is is a connection between conditioning in the book and our society.The problem in both worlds is that the people don't realize that this is the case. They like to believe that they have as much freedom as they want but somehow we all are limited in that because of the society we live in.
To comment on Melanie's post, I agree and think that these passages prove going past the conformity line is good when it demonstrates values that were discovered by individuals who did not conform. Also, in Haley’s response she raises the question of whether our society forces ideas into our heads or if we are just brainwashed like the BNW citizens. I don’t think their conditioning is so different- I would make an analogy to today’s media and how publications, television shows and celebrities have such a strong influence on our values and mindsets. The only reason this is not our ultimate conditioning and we do not praise it is because we have the background knowledge of the Constitution, freedom and other rights Americans were guaranteed. I think if you were to raise an individual by allowing them to view the media but not educating them about basic human, American and ethical rights, this would not be the case and this person would end up following conformity similar to BNW citizens.
I agree with Kyle in the sence that Ford represents their god and that the people of the community are told how to act and live their life. I also agree with the comments about the brain washing and how our society and thris can be compared because we are both brainwashed without us even knowing and we act and talk how the media wants us to but in the brave new world, people are given drugs and just have uhge orgys and that is normal to them because to them this is rite.
Haley, you made the comment that in BNW, their hypnopaedia and intensive conditioning force them into mindlessly going with the flow. To answer your question of whether or not their conditioning is so different from the teachings on values, behavior, dress, etc. that are battered into our skulls by our own society, I think not. We certainly have our own forms of conditioning including the media (as we saw in the marketing documentary), our parents' rules and examples, and how others react to our actions. The main difference between our conditioning and that of BNW is we learn in a more "human" way; we make mistakes and improve ourselves. BNW citizens are never given this option...it seems they rarely go against societal norms. Is it possible that this form of parenting, what they call " hypnopaedia " is actually more effective than our form of parenting? After all, if we learn from humans, we can never be more than human and we will make mistakes. Learning from flawless machine messages, however, has little risk. I'd like to go a step further and suggest our conditioning causes the need for religion in our society whereas their condition eliminates the need. The mistakes we make often cause us to turn to some higher being who we can trust when we don't want to rely on disappointing human beings.
I agree with Lindsay in saying that overcoming obstacles is considered a norm in our society. In order for one to succeed he or she must face adversity whether it is mental or physical we all must overcome those obstacles. This is what makes us so great. However, this does not mean that you don’t need to work hard just because there is something in your way. Instead, you must work even harder to achieve that greatness and satisfaction. Things are not just handed to you on a silver platter ready for you to take with such ease, instead things are going to be difficult in unexpected ways in which you have to adjust and keep moving order to get what you want. A great example is in the movie Gattaca. Vince didn’t let his heart problem stop him from accomplishing his dream. It was just a mere obstacle that he had to work around and adjust to. Vince worked harder than any other man in Gattaca and proved himself to be the best even when he was thousands of beats overdue from his expected death. This just proves that though there may be obstacles in that way of our goal, we must be patient and work hard to face that adversity and as a result we will achieve greatness.
I agree with what Lindsay said about being faced with obstacles, and I think in our area it does seem to be a norm, but in our society, it is not. I think there are many other places within the United States where people try and try, yet are unable to achieve their goals. At GBN, many success stories are always in plain sight, but I do not think it is like that in the rest of the country. Instead, people are held under the social cleavages that they were born into. Although more often people hear about these extraordinary success stories, they are not the norm. Many more people are unsuccessful, and their stories are just never told.
I partially agree with what Kyle says. The World State replaced the multiple religions with Ford because there were too many negative manifestations.
I don't completely agree that Ford represents what God represents. In our world, we have a fear of the afterlife, so we practice religion in hopes of having a good afterlife. However, the people in the World State know what will happen to them when they die, so a major part of what religion means is missing in the World State.
In response to Casey's inquiry as to whether hypnopaedia is more effective than human parenting, I have to agree with her conclusion. Hypnopaedia is absolutely more effective in embedding values into one's head, going so far as to replace the necessity of parenthood altogether. Human-taught lessons allow the ability to make a mistake, an lapse of judgment that goes against the societal norm. The brainwashing technique used in hypnopaedia, on the other hand, ensures that it will be our second nature to follow a certain set of values. Furthermore, it's not just our parents set of values we're following, it's societies. If everyone is raised under the same values, discrepancies in relationships are eliminated. In my mind this is more effective than any human taught lessons.
Haley brings up a good point that I never considered. The laws and morals within each society are definitely enforcers of conformity. These enforcers take place at home, in school, at work, and everywhere else. We can all probably agree that these rules are necessary for a functional society, so thus we should all agree that conformity is necessary in society. But, what determines the line that prevents conformity from going too far?
We see our rules as an ethical necessity, but we see the rules in Brave New World and Gattaca as unethical measures of conformity. The difference lies in the fact that their rules are designed to achieve stability through the removal of identity while our rules only strive for stability. Since identity plays a huge role in conformity, our society’s goal should be to avoid the denial of individuality. In other words, we should make sure that conformity never means the same thing as identity.
Does the fact that I’m not allowed to run around public in the nude inhibit my expression of individuality? Yes, but this brings the discussion back to Haley’s point: ‘fundamental morals’ will always triumph over ‘personal expression’.
I agree with the train of thought that is being discussed in this thread, the idea that conformity is necessary in order for a society to function. I do agree that in order for people to be safe and abide by the basic rules of human conduct we need conformity but I think we have too much. I feel that the emphasis on conformity in our society, especially as teenagers is a dangerous thing because i truly believe that there are some types of personal expressions that are not harmful to anyone but are hidden by our overwhelming need to be like everyone else. For example, you probably shouldn't run around in the nude, but I think you should be able to wear whatever you want without being harassed or criticized. I think that as a society we need to work towards being more tolerant of people individuality and create a better balance between conformity and individuality.
In response to Casey and Andrew, I have to disagree with the idea that hypnopaedia is, “more effective than any human taught lesson.” Through using hypnopaedia the lesson may be more engrained in one’s mind and therefore more effective when being carried out, but we have to remember that hypnopaedia isn’t flawless and could be sending the wrong message. Hynopaedia was created by humans and humans are imperfect beings. The damaging aspect of hypnopaedia is that the people under its influence no longer have any control in their thought processes. They no longer have the ability to question what they are being taught, which is what separates humans from any other animal. Hynopaedia may be more useful in stability for a society, but it diminishes a person’s identity and personality. It robs people of their liberty. I would have parents over hypnopaedia any day.
I agree with Jen. All members of the World State are expected to just sacrifice themselves for the good of the state. In doing so, this society becomes powerless in comparison to our society today. While everything can be stabilized and controlled in the World State, these people have no thoughts of their own. Individuality is what creates people like Shakspeare and Albert Einstein, two individuals that define how incredible our society is today.
I agree with Haley’s comment about how you need fundamental morals in order to form a society and in order for a society to form properly, you must not take these morals too far. All societies have their own rules to follow, it is just when rules are taken took an extreme that the society to me has lost control of itself. In Brave New World, I think the people are not given a freedom of choice, and instead act as though they are robots. The world that Huxley has created is to some extent the society that we live in today, but on a much larger scale. In no way would I compare our society to the one in Brave New World as a positive, but there are certainly little pieces that make up our society that reminisces that of Huxley’s.
I agree with Becca's statement that our society needs more tolerance of individuality. I feel as if our own society encourages each person to be an individual and claims that everyone can be their own person, yet I feel almost manipulated. I feel like our society is tricking us becuase despite these claims, media still plays a huge role in our decisions. Somehow we are transformed into these materialistic beings who watch the who's who of the rich and the famous, and then we try to mimic what we see, conforming to the society. Even though I'm sure each female at GBN would like to say they're an individual, sometimes I have doubts about the truth in that, even about myself. Level your eye with the ground and you will rarely see any other shoe that's not a pair of uggs, birkenstocks, or boots. Even though differences aren't criticized, they are commonly seen, and I think this is because we are afraid that the people around us wont be as tolerant as we hope they will be. Even though there are obvious differences between the Brave New World society and our own society, I sometimes wonder if we are as different as we think they are, or if we are just negligent to the fact that we are a lot more similar than we would like to admit.
I guess what I can say about the relationships in Brave New World is that there really isn't any individuality involved because they portray it as this person "belongs" to them. With this, I do think that Ford is considered their God but in a different way because he did create a mass production as well as everyone in the society thinks of Ford of their way of individuality.
community, identity, and stability.....
"Everyone belongs to everyone else" a bold statement huxley enforces in his dystopia. Its done to make sure community is always first so as to avoid having the communities inhabitants to think to much about their own goals. This would hold back Ford's beliefs in efficiency and would be an attack against the state.
Identity, this isn't asking who you really are at heart. In BNW identity is what class are you apart off. This entails our intelligence level, what color of cloths you wear, and what occupation you do.
Stability. If everyone's happy no one is sad. No wars no killing no lose no ones out of their mind no pain. But no one in BNW ever really knows what its like to have everything then. "You don't know what you've got till its gone." this is because sometimes people don't really know how they feel about something until its out of their life.
It reminds me of the passage in "Perks of Being a Wallflower" when Charlie is driving through the tunnel with Pat and Sam, and Charlie say "I feel like infinite." Its the greatest feeling in the world, like even though there's times that you feel like your hearts ripped out, you know what it really feels like to experience what your experiencing now. And your just full of this feeling of bliss. Like no matter what happens in the world everything is going to be ok because you have felt infinite.
In BNW, they get rid of religion, heroism, or the freedom to think for yourself because they believe a safe and stable community doesn’t need this. They get rid of these things by teaching them at an early age how to act in their society. An example of this would be using the sleep method, hypnopaedia, to have the kids recite their teachings in their sleep. Another example of this would be the sex games that they teach them so when they grow older they have sex all the time. It’s like what they did with the study of books and roses with the babies. As soon as those babies got near the books and roses, they sounded a loud and scary sound which frightened the infants. Because of that, the babies would never like books or flowers. This then helps children to turn into the people that they are in society. All of this is a brainwash program for kids not to think for themselves, but to do whatever society tells them to do. If a person in the society were to act different from others by thinking for themselves, looking at society very differently than theirs, then they are exiled to different places around the world, so society can go along as it is. They get rid of religion by having soma take and eternal youth take its place. In their view, they believe people only turn to God if they are unhappy, sick, dying, poor and aging in order to stop these things. At a very young age, they put drugs in your system that make you immune to all of the diseases out there and to help you stop aging so you have eternal youth. As soon as kids are born, their society gives them jobs by putting them in different groups like the Deltas, Betas, etc. They don’t have to worry about getting money because they already have a job. If they are unhappy, scared, or disgusted, then all they need is soma to get rid of all those problems because soma only brings them relaxation and happiness.
I agree with alex that Ford in BNW society does not compare to God in our society, because Ford's society is attempting to be a utopia. But I can agree with Kyle that they are similar in some ways because in both societies there is a religion service just very different in BNW rather than our society.
I agree with Zach. In BNW, they get rid of religion, heroism, or the thought of freedom because the people of this society are controlled to think and act because they are just an experiment to the director. There is no religion in BNW, but there is the reference to Ford which was their god. And there is no religion because that might spark ideas and the director wouldn't want that. Also he thought of freedom would be really bad for for the director because once the idea that people can say no to the sex and soma and could make decisions for themselves, things would just start t get out of hand for the director because his experiment was a failure.
In the Brave new World Huxley has created a society that is created and conditioned to serve the ruling class. In order to accomplish this, and to prevent any form of revolt against this structure, all manner of life is controlled. Individuals are bred and conditioned to fit into a specific caste which is responsible for performing specific duties within the society. To make sure there is no revolt, that caste is first treated to have a level of intelligence which will suite the caste to the duties assigned to it by the ruling class. Then the caste is conditioned using physical and psychological means to create a sense of happiness and accomplishment at fulfilling these duties.
Of course, the opposite of society’s desired conformity to the caste within the society would be individuality. Every effort is made to eliminate not only the need for individuality, but even the concept of individuality. Conditioning to eliminate individuality at any level starts almost from birth. It is genetically controlled at the lower levels of intelligence, and psychologically eliminated among the higher levels of intelligence. Any expression of individuality is severely ostracized, and if not stamped out, the individual is removed from the society. This is what happens to Mr. Watson and Bernard, who are sent to the Falkland Islands because they expressed a dangerous, to the Society, level of individuality (p.229)
One could argue whether or not conformity as some level is necessary for society to exist. While some level of conformity would be necessary to maintain respect of r the rights and property of other individuals, and to establish laws that make everyone safe from harm, it conformity necessary for society to function. In Huxley’s Brave new World, conformity is so necessary that anyone who does not conform completely is ostracized into conforming, or removed from the society. To the individual who needs to be accepted by the society, being ostracized or worse, being removed is an extreme form of punishment. However, for the member of society who seeks individuality, this removal is actually a reward. As the Controller says to Watson in describing Bernard’s punishment, “Whereas, if he had the smallest sense, he’d understand that is punishment is really a reward. He’s being sent to an island. That’s to say, he’s being sent to a place where he’ll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere ion the world. All the people who, for one reason or another, have go too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life. All the people who aren’t satisfied with orthodoxy, who’ve got independent ideas of their own. Everyone, in a word who’s anyone. I almost envy you Mr. Watson.” (p. 227)
Interestingly, the Ford that is referred to in Brave New World who is viewed as “god-like” because he created mass production actually existed. We know him by the name of Henry Ford, who in 1908 combined the concepts of interchangeable parts and the moveably assembly line to mass produce Model Ford automobiles. While many historians view Henry Ford as a production genius, Marketers argue that he should more appropriately be viewed as a marketing genius because he believed that he could sell as many autos as he could produce if they could be sold at a specific price. That price was originally less than $800. However, his company became so efficient at making Model T automobiles that by 1914, when the last Model T was produced, the selling price was $395. I think we can assume that Huxley knew the history of Henry Ford when he incorporated “Ford” into his story. Not only does Huxley reference Ford, but the sign of the “T” is supposed to symbolize solidarity and community. (p. 80) However, the real Henry Ford was anything but “god-like.” He had many traits that were eventually vilified by our society.
Abraham Maslow, a professor of psychology at Brandeis University during the 1950s proposed his now famous theory of motivation known as the Hierarchy of Needs. In this theory Maslow proposed that there is a hierarchical order of needs from the most potent to the least potent as follows: physiological needs such as hunger and thirst, safety needs, needs for belongingness and love, esteem needs, needs for self-actualization, cognitive needs such as a thirst for knowledge, and finally aesthetic needs such as a desire for beauty. (Hall & Lindzey, p. 326)
While Huxley published Brave New World in 1932, his society is the exact opposite of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The ruling class of Huxley’s society do everything they can to prevent a hierarchy of needs from existing. Such a hierarchy would destroy the concepts of community and conformity and force individual to find a means of self expression and the pursuit of happiness by striving whatever level of needs are desired. Those within the society that express any indication of such a hierarchy such as Savage or either to be destroyed, as Savage is, or sent to an island such as Bernard and Mr. Watson.
Hall, Calvin and Gardner Linzey. Theories of Personality. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, 1957.
A non-conformist would be described as a person who is behaving in a manner that is different than that would be expected by society. In essence, some behaviors that are not considered part of the norm. To conform to being a non-conformist would mean that the person is behaving in some manner that does not conform to the expectations of society. In essence, the person is being an individual in a manner that is not acceptable. Savage’s behavior at the Park Lane Hospital for the Dying after witnessing Linda’s death was totally non-conformist. Not only did he not conform to Society’s rules of behavior when someone dies, he fought attempts of the two Alphas to distribute soma tablets to the crowd. (p. 210) In the English Language, two negatives usually make a positive. The idea of conforming to being a non-conformist works in much the same manner. Two positives make a negative.
In our society predetermined identities exist in the form of stereotypes and societal pressures to adhere to the norms of a particular sub-culture. For example there was study done by an African sociologist in Cleveland several years ago which indicated that the African American sub-culture viewed education as a “White man’s thing.” African American youth were encouraged not to become “White” by being educated. My Papa, who taught in some of the worst high schools in Chicago’s inter-city said that this attitude was prevalent in many of his classes. As a result, attempts at achieving education at the high school level were inhibited not only by the students’ lack of effort and cooperation, but also by the parents who were more interested in having their children be accepted by others within their community than by allowing their children to obtain the basic tools for a more successful future. According to my Papa, a similar condition existed in the Hispanic community, where an unwillingness to learn and use English created a need for bilingual instruction and more importantly, prevent many students from being successful outside of their own Hispanic community.
Going back to relationships i think Jimmy made a very valid point. In Brave New World relationships have very little individuality and relationships are as if the other person "belongs" to you. There is very little emotion invlolved in there relationships because of all the soma they take. Also i believe that Ford doesn't compare to God in our society because Ford is trying to create the "Perfect" society , or a utopia.
I agree with Zach that in the BNW they prevent individuality by brainwashing them when they are young. Another factor they used to make sure to prevent individuality by making them not be able to have feelings, then they wouldnt be individuals that agree or disagree on things by the way they feel.
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