Brave New World Individuality

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World brings to light the consequences of losing one’s individuality. All around the world, children are told to be themselves. No one wants their children to be exactly like other children; they just want their child. They yearn for their child to be individual. However, one cannot deny that people will agree more often if they all shared a similar mindset. For example, if everyone in the American government thought the same way, bills and laws would pass more rapidly, evading the constant arguing that exists with two differing viewpoints. Along these same lines, there is no civil unrest, no war, and no protests; there cannot be conflict when one agrees with everything the government is doing. No war sounds like a …show more content…
Alphas are at the top, followed closely by the Betas. They interact with each other, but each class is designated their own jobs and roles. Below the Alphas and Betas are the Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Whereas Alphas and Betas are much more human, the lower three classes are stunted both mentally and physically, designed to do the dirty work that no Alpha or Beta would ever do. One may question why the lower castes are willing to do the dirty work; the answer is hypnopaedia. As Huxley describes in Brave New World Revisited, “every lower-caste child [is] exposed to endlessly repeated suggestions, night after night, during the hours of drowsiness and sleep” (Huxley, “Hypnopaedia” 312). He goes on to describe how the suggestions will slowly take over for the child’s thoughts, turning the proposals into the ideas of the child. Thus, if the speakers tell them that they need to do the dirty work and be happy about it, then they will enjoy going out and doing the dirty work. Hypnopaedia occurs in all of the children, regardless of class. They are told that individuality is immoral and that conforming to society is the only way to make life continue to plateau. As Lenina says to Bernard, “when the individual feels, the community reels” (Huxley 92). This is ingrained in everyone through hypnopaedia, enforcing the fact that no one should act differently than anyone else. Why would the government brainwash people to believe what they want them to believe? If the regulations that they are passing are legal and good for the community, then there should not be much opposition to the rules. This action will make the government seem underhanded. However, if the government brainwashes people to never oppose them, then they will never see the corruption. Without individuality, there is no discerning right from wrong because one only knows what the government says is right or