Humanity is always trying to hide its imperfections by blaming it on the constructs of society. As William Golding claims, “The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (204) and that the constructs of society cannot be the cause of the defects in man’s life. In particular, the inhumanity of Agent Orange exposes man’s cruelty through a fear of the unknown. Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide used by the U.S military during the Vietnam war, in 1961, to eliminate forest cover used by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. Agent Orange, an infamous military tactic, was part of a bigger scheme called Operation Ranch Hand. “Operation Ranch Hand deployed more than 19 million gallons of herbicides …show more content…
military knew of the outcome, as “Secretary McNamara’s memo had specifically described, and he directed that ‘...every effort be made to avoid accidental destruction of the food crops in the areas to be spread,’” (Buckingham 59), the military continued to deploy such harmful herbicides on the food of unarmed citizens just to uncover what was hidden. Moreover, from the ultimate harm of U.S. military troops, it is shown that man’s cruelty can lead to the eventual downfall of himself. Operation Ranch not only showed the disregard of Vietnamese citizens well being but also lead to the careless harm of allied forces,as “In addition, VA has determined there is evidence of exposure to Agent Orange for Air Force and Air Force Reserve members who served during the period 1969 through 1986 and regularly and repeatedly operated, maintained, or served onboard C-123 aircraft (known to have been used to spray an herbicide agent during the Vietnam era)” ("Compensation") during the war. Likewise, the American troops were shown to experience the same symptoms as those of the Vietnamese …show more content…
Furthermore, these decisions can lead to worse outcomes than expected; an outcome that occurs from cruelty. As proven by this article that “The inhuman supervision mistake of admittedly regulating Agent Orange as a tactic was not clear until Milton Ross’ son was innate though a tips of his small fingers. Ross was a final infantryman to leave Vietnam in 1975” ("Agent Orange Was an Atrocious and Costly Government Mistake”), as man tends to use cruelty to discover what was unknown can lead to costly events , such as the infantryman experiencing life-threatening symptoms. Additionally, the military’s inability to see beyond the outcome of such a tactic is such that shows the blindness man experiences from use of cruelty to uncover the hidden; as “This year alone, more than 300,000 Vietnamese babies were born with ghastly birth defects that may be directly attributed to their parents’ and grandparents’ exposure to toxic Agent Orange defoliants deployed by U.S. military forces in their effort to win an unwinnable conflict” (Kaanii-powell-cleaver.); for with more than 300,000 children born with birth defects, the use of cruelty from fear of Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops blinded man of the future. One could argue that the use of Agent Orange was simply a military tactic, but use of such a harsh and life-threatening herbicide could not be ignored; the
Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worse attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point were they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous example used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were. After being forced into concentration camps, Elie was rudely awakened into reality. Traumatizing incidents such as Nazi persecution or even the mistreatment among fellow prisoners pushed Elie to realize the cruelty around him; Or even the wickedness Elie himself is capable of doing. This resulted in the loss of faith, innocence, and the close bonds with others.
During World War 2, Adolf Hitler referred to the Jewish people as “vermin” or “rats” dehumanizing them. Similarly, the people living in Brave New World and “Harrison Bergeron” also live in a degraded state. The controlling of society through technology makes the citizens of the Brave New World and “Harrison Bergeron” live a dehumanized life. Oxymorons, which are contradicting terms that are combined, are used in both stories, and help explain how technology dehumanizes people. The stories’ inventions and advancements and the censoring used in the society of the stories show this as well.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
This itself alludes to America’s extreme response to communism during the Cold War era, under the influence of Senator Joe McCarthy. Similar to the paranoia that characterized the McCarthy era, Orwell’s dystopian society was expected to betray their friends, family and co-workers for the benefit of the state and themselves. This is made explicitly evident during Winston’s visit to the cafe, in which the telescreen sang; “Under the spreading chestnut tree/ I sold you and you sold me…”Foreshadowing Winston’s eventual betrayal of Maria in order to save himself, and his conformity to the party. Furthermore, the notion that “nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres in your skull” becomes ironic as the novel develops in which the criminalisation of unorthodox ideologies leads to the punishment of “thoughtcrime”, and the eventual “vaporisation” of dissidents. This itself alludes to the ‘great purges’ that took place under the terror that characterized Joseph Stalin’s reign. Likewise, the inherent fear of eccentricity amongst the oppressed citizens of “Airstrip one” is highlighted by the nature of “facecrime” in which the presence of an improper expression or any suggestion of abnormality could be punished. Thus, through Orwell 's effective use of allusion and characterisation, contextual audiences are provided with a didactic warning regarding the nature of a totalitarian reign, in which a “hideous ecstasy of fear” influences society’s
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, truth and happiness are falsely engineered to create a perfect society; the belief of the World Controllers that stability is the the key to a utopian society actually led to the creation of an anti-utopian society in which loose morals and artificial happiness exist. Huxley uses symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to satirize the possibiliy of an artificial society in the future as well as the “brave new world” itself.
Destruction of individuality is an idea both authors explore to expose the broad social wrong of an oppressive society. Both Orwell and Niccol use their protagonists to demonstrate how dictatorial governments that destroy any semblance of individuality are inherently wrong. Orwell uses third person narration, which directly follows his protagonist as he fights to maintain his individuality in a society driven to eliminate the capability of “love, or friendship, or joy of living” by making him “hollow”. By employing the use third person narration Orwell portrays to the reader that even an individual with powerful intent to remain different can be broken down and made to believe that “2+2 = 5”. Similarly, Niccol uses extreme close up shots focusing on Vincent’s cleaning process and the motif of constant DNA checks to reinforce how authoritarian societies can demolish all sense of individuality. Vincent, an “in-valid” must take extreme measures to overcome the prejudices of soc...
Cormac McCarthy once said, “I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone can live in harmony is a really dangerous idea.” (Overview) This quote leaves us with the impression that humanity as a whole is innately violent, and we will explore this idea by examining “Blood Meridian.” This paper consists of three main topics, all of which have subtopics. The first topic explores the Western setting of “Blood Meridian” and its effect on human behavior. Its subtopics are the absence of responsibility, the failure of manifest destiny’s ideals, and seeing the west as an escape from the past and time. The second topic delves deeper into the nature of Cormac McCarthy’s quote; it asks whether humans are inherently violent. The subtopics for this section are racism and hate as a drive, greed as a drive, and the metaphorical significance of two events in the book. The last topic is man’s need to be led and the way their leader leads them. The subtopics for the last section are the parallel between Hitler and Judge Holden, and the Judge’s general philosophy including the way he leads the men.
The pages of history have longed been stained with the works of man written in blood. Wars and conflicts and bloodshed were all too common. But why? What could drive a man to kill another? Many would say it is man’s evil nature, his greed, envy, and wrath. And certainly, they all have a roll in it. But in reality, it is something far less malevolent, at least at first. The sole reason why conflicts grow and spread comes from the individuality that every human cherishes so dearly. This can easily be shown in the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, in which a society has been created where everyone of talent has been handicapped so they are not better than anyone else, all for the sake of equality. This text will show that Individuality
In conclusion, it is the innate nature of mankind to choose survival above all needs which brings out the hidden savage in all of us kept only in check by the artificial restraints placed upon mankind by society. The descent into savagery, man's inherent desire to survive over anything else and the need for civilization and order shows how society unnaturally holds everyone together. The aspiration to endure is an intrinsic response that may lay dormant until the chains of society and civilization are removed; when that day arrives, their dormant instincts will arise and bring about a regression back to that of a savage.
"Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam." Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam. N.p., 1994. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. .
William Golding believes that society, laws, and morals keep the evil of human beings restrained. Experiencing World War II, Goldin...
Many people tend to become the indigent because of miserable situations that they cannot direct. One incisive example for these difficult circumstances is victims of Agent Orange in the irrational War between the American and the Vietnamese armies. Consequently, they lost abilities to think or communicate with other people. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF, n.d.) investigated that 1.2 million Vietnamese children have suffered from mobility, intellectual, visual or hearing disabilities because of Agent Orange chemical sprayed by the United States (Agent Orange Recor...
The desire for societal symmetry and the idea of idiosyncratic freedom encase Anthony Burgess and Aldous Huxley’s vividly fabricated realms of A Brave New World and A Clockwork Orange. These analogous concepts enable Burgess and Huxley to explore one’s ability to choose their destiny and an individual’s struggle for autonomy and individuation in the face of morally oppressive powers. To challenge the widespread assumption that technology is beneficial to future cultures, both authors expose how individuals are manipulated and suppressed to alternate realities by drugs and technology, thus conveying the fundamental idea of psychological constriction. The conflict arising from the pressure on citizens to put the functioning of society over the
For years, authors and philosophers have satirized the “perfect” society to incite change. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a so-called utopian society in which everyone is happy. This society is a “controlled environment where technology has essentially [expunged] suffering” (“Brave New World”). A member of this society never needs to be inconvenienced by emotion, “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma” (Huxley 220). Citizens spend their lives sleeping with as many people as they please, taking soma to dull any unpleasant thoughts that arise, and happily working in the jobs they were conditioned to want. They are genetically altered and conditioned to be averse to socially destructive things, like nature and families. They are trained to enjoy things that are socially beneficial: “'That is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny'” (Huxley 16). Citizens operate more like machinery, and less like humans. Humanity is defined as “the quality of being human” (“Humanity”). To some, humanity refers to the aspects that define a human: love, compassion and emotions. Huxley satirizes humanity by dehumanizing the citizens in the Brave New World society.
Dystopia represents an artificially created society to where a human population is administered to various types of oppressions, or a human population lives under the order of an oppressive government. The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film V for Vendetta both effectively display this dystopian concept in their works. The nature of the society, the protagonist who questions the society, and the political power that runs the society are examples of how the novel and the film efficiently capture the main points of a dystopian society. The authors of the novel and the film use their visions of a dystopian future to remark on our present by identifying how today’s society is immensely addicted to technology and how our government has changed over the past decades. Furthermore, the authors use our modern day society to illustrate their view of a dystopia in our