Dehumanization Of Society In Brave New World

Superior Essays
The 14th Dalai Lama once said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive” (BrainyQuote). This quote explains that without the essential characteristics that make humans human, humanity will be lost. As evidenced in the dystopian novel, 1984 by George Orwell, once the government denies people the right to have their own thoughts and feelings, they lose their humanity. Also, in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, the Government through the misuse of technology dehumanizes society by destroying human individuality. In addition, the novel Out of the Silent Planet by C.S Lewis shows that without religion and compassion humans on Earth will be corrupted by evil and that this corruption ruins humanity. …show more content…
In this novel, the World State controls the society by prohibiting individuality and love. Humans in this society, rather than having a natural birth, are decanted in hatcheries where their social class and intelligence is predetermined. Since humans are decanted, they grow up without family and lack the ability to form strong relationships with other human beings. Through Bokanovsky’s Process, identical humans are decanted for the sake of social stability. These identical humans are seen as apes rather than real human beings with individual emotions and personalities, for example the Director of the hatcheries says, “Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability…Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines” (Huxley 7). As evidenced, individuality makes humans human, and humans are degraded to replaceable tools without it. In addition, humans are not able to think freely as they are conditioned to think a certain way. Due to the conditioning, the lower classes are happy with their life and do not feel as if anything is wrong. Even if some people were unsatisfied, the government was able to control them by providing soma, “…they’re so conditioned that they practically can’t help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything should go wrong, there’s soma” …show more content…
By comparing the two societies, readers see that the species in Malacandra have aspects of humanity such as having a language, religion, emotions, and individuality. Comparatively, human society can be seen as a society corrupted by evil, and that the human species on Earth is losing its humanity. When Ransom meets other species on the planet, he is fascinated that that they speak different languages, practice religion, and coexist peacefully. Ransom meets the planet’s Oyarsa, he learns that human society is corrupted by evil due to the lack of compassion and an Oyarsa, “It is because they have no Oyarsa…It is because every one of them wants to be a little Oyarsa himself” (Lewis 102). Oyarsa, in this quote, teaches that one cannot be human without being compassionate towards other beings says, “…this Thin One who sits on the ground he has broken, for he has left him nothing but greed. He is now only a talking animal and in my world he could do no more evil than an animal. If he were mine I would unmake his body for the hnau in it is already dead” (Lewis 138). Through the comparisons portrayed in this novel, one can clearly see that in order to preserve humanity humans on Earth need to mirror the society in Malacandra. Compassion, religion, language, individuality, and thought are the key elements of

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