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Conformity In Brave New World

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Conditioning makes way for Conformity What is one’s individuality composed of? Of what is it forged from? The majority of one’s personality is influenced by hereditary and the environment. The world around us influences us more than people think, more than people should wish for. Everyone grows up, constantly being conditioned by the world around them. For example, people begin to talk the way their friends and co-workers do, using similar diction, phrases, and dialect. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the differentiated hereditary aspect of individuality is completed taken away as the world’s “hatcheries” are able to produce and purposely condition infants to become like everyone else. The government determines what the humans’ lives …show more content…
As opposed to Bernard, Helmholtz is seen as the perfect Alpha, a man with a strong build and extremely intelligent mind. “A mental excess had produced in Helmholtz Watson effects very similar to those which, in Bernard Marx, were the result of a physical defect,” (67). Helmholtz’s intelligence allowed him to become aware of the conformed society and he wishes for something more. Even though he tries not to conform, his occupation helps hold up conformity. He acts as a writer, promoting consumerist messages and conditioning phrases. He continues writing these messages even with a distaste for them. He expresses his feelings in chapter 4 stating, “I’m thinking of a queer feeling I sometimes get, a feeling that I’ve got something important to say and the power to say it- only I don’t know what is is, and I can’t make any use of the power,” (69). Helmholtz doesn’t want to conform, but he doesn’t know how not to, so he continues through his life doing what society wishes for …show more content…
Anyone who opposes conformity in the story eventually cycles back to support it, whether because they want to be accepted, maintain it, or they just don’t know how to stop it by themselves. This work of fiction brings an important idea to light. Is humanity being conditioned in such a way that everyone misses out on other aspects of life and just doesn’t realize it? Just like the people of the World State, people could be blind by conditioning, something that’s unable to helped from birth. More beautiful philosophies and art that our world can’t see because everyone’s all born into the same world. Thankfully, unlike the World State, humanity is completely able to create art styles, philosophies, sciences, religions, and any other concept never thought of before. Conformity may impede people from trying new things, but it doesn’t prevent culture from evolving into more advanced forms of art and reasoning. Humanity has the freedom to change their

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