Isolation in Brave New World

808 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on identity in literature

Isolation in Brave New World "If one's different, one's bound to be lonely." -John "The Savage" In the Brave New World, people who are different from the normal standard are alienated and isolated from society because of their individuality. The society of the Brave New World is structured and ordered – the government attempts to control everything. Alienation in the Brave New World can be categorized into three areas, appearance, intellect, and morals. Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way. In addition to alienation because of appearance, alienation can result from extreme intellect, or exceptional gifts of talent. Helmholtz Watson, an emotional engineer, was "a little too able" in his work. As Bernard was isolated from a physical defect, Helmholtz was isolated from mental excess. Despite being an "Escalato... ... middle of paper ... ...re different and attempts to either ridicule, exemplify, or ignore them. In the Brave New World, society aims to preserve the homologous nature of living. With strict rules, crowd mentality and community actives the Brave New World attempts to get rid of the individual. Hypnopedia messages such as "When the individual feels, the community reels," and "Everybody belongs to everyone else," the Brave New World attempts to diminish the value of individuality and seeks instead to promote the idea of society first. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are the few individuals of the Brave New World. They differ from the rest of society, because they recognize their uniqueness and realize that they are apart from society. It is because of their self-realization of their individuality that they are condemned to be ostracized from society and to live outside the Brave New World.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform

    2400 Words  | 5 Pages

    There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o...

    Read More

  • The Significance of John in Brave New World

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Brave New World, there are three societies: the civilized society of Bernard and Mustapha Mond, the savage society of John and Linda, and the old society, which is not explicitly in the book but is described by the characters. These societies are vastly different. The old society is 20th century Western society; the civilized society creates people and conditions them for happiness and stability; and the savage society is very far behind the civilized society technologically, and is very religious. John is a very important character in the novel because he represents the link between all three of these societies.

    Read More

  • The Death of John Savage in Brave New World

    2206 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...il, Josephine A. "Alienation in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Alienation, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb. com/activelink2.asp?It emID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BLTA005&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 25, 2011).

    Read More

  • Lessons Learned from the Story of Mary Ellen Wilson

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    DCF Webmaster. "State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families Making a difference for Children, Families and Communities Summary of Reporting Laws." (2002, October) DCF Home Page Retrieved April 15, 2003 from: <http://www.state.ct.us/dcf/reptlaws.htm>

    Read More

  • Real Life In Brave New World

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    One way concepts novel Brave New World contrasts with the real world is how the world state deals with the concept of love and marriage. Everyone belongs to everyone else is a statement

    Read More

  • Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ferent from their peers has isolated Bernard, Helmholtz, and John, it has also deepened their individuality. This scenario, at a lesser level, often plays out in modern day. People possess a natural desire to fit in and often are willing to forego individuality in order to do so. Though one may gain a facade of happiness as a result of fitting in, being truthful to oneself and expressing one’s free will allows for honest expression of individuality, a concept much greater than such a facade. A society without unique individuals is a society without humanity, and, as demonstrated through these characters’ experience, does not function. Ultimately, people must realize that individuality, knowledge, and raw emotion is more important to society than superficial happiness.

    Read More

  • The American President -a movie review

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American President is a romantic comedy that takes place in the White House during primary season. The president is hoping to be reelected and to pass two bills, one on gun control and one on fuel restrictions. During this movie, the president meets Sydney, a lobbyist, and goes out with her, and because of this he takes a hit on his ratings. The American President shows many different themes covered in politics and government 101, these themes are the rolls of the media, polls, primaries and elections, and the process of introducing a bill to congress. This movie also shows the relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch while detailing the relationship the president has with interest groups, and his White House staff. While covering all this the movie The American President shines a positive light on politicians, this movie showed politicians having a genuine concern in human life and truly wanting to improve life. This movie wasn't all optimism though, it also criticized some politicians for muckraking and it criticized the media and the American public for thinking that the private lives of politicians is their business.

    Read More

  • Can Pedophiles Be Cured?

    2644 Words  | 6 Pages

    Pedophilia is a medical diagnosis, which is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or older adolescents, ranging from ages 16 and older. Pedophilia is characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, unusually ages 13 and under. The victim of a pedophile is usually at least five years younger in the case of adolescent pedophiles. The word pedophilia derives from the Greek word: παῖς (paîs), meaning "child," and φιλία (philla) meaning "friendly love" or "friendship. This literal meaning has been altered toward sexual attraction in modern times, under the titles "child love" or "child lover," by pedophiles who uses symbols and codes to identify their preferences.

    Read More

  • Individuality Vs. Social Stability

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    In short, the novel Brave New World, shows that the World State eliminates individuality through social restrictions, government controlled groupings and the abuse of drugs to maintain control of the population. Social restriction through hypnopaedia and shock therapy robs individuals of their creative personalities by preventing freedom of thought, behavior, and expression. Government controlled groupings such as Solidarity Service Days and the feelies to eliminate individuality stemming from individual thought due to discontentment; therefore maintaining control by eliminating the chance of people revolting and going astray from their conditioning.

    Read More

  • Issues With The Welfare System

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    The welfare system in the United States has had many problems arise in recent years and there has been nothing done to try and fix these issues. Welfare is supposed to be a financial boost for people who are struggling to survive by themselves. However, there are many people trying to take advantage of the system and use the money provided by the government for certain items that are not necessary to live. The other major problem is with the inefficient government that is so divided ideologically that nothing has been done to repair the system because both parties believe that their ideas are more effective than the others. In order to resolve the ongoing dispute of the welfare system, changes to the process of screening recipients and how the government conducts changes to the system have to be made.

    Read More

  • Conformity Studies Essay

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conformity is defined as the occurrence of people yielding to social pressures as a result of pressure from a group of their peers; when faced by the pressure to conform, people will alter their behaviour and actions to fit the norm demonstrated by their peers (Lilienfield et al., 2012). Conformity is studied so that is can be understood and used in society to facilitate positive outcomes, and help avoid situations where peoples’ predisposition to conform leads to negative consequences (Lilienfield et al., 2012). By understanding conformity and other social processes society as a whole is able to understand themselves better and motivates them to work on improving as a whole (Lilienfield et al., 2012).

    Read More

  • The World State In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brave New World is a novel that revolves around a utopian society called the World State. The society is meant to be seen as a perfect world where everyone 's needs can be satisfied and the goal is to maintain an overall happy nation where people are content with their current position in their society However, this can be seen as ironic for various reasons including that this society is far from what many consider to be a perfect one. The World State contrasts to our current society in many ways, yet, it also compares to it in separate aspects. In addition, many World State ideas are mirrored by the terrorist group known as ISIS.

    Read More

  • The Severity of Child Sexual Abuse

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Child abuse, while having many different forms and levels of severity, can be basically defined as the maltreatment of a child by a parent or other adult. When one thinks of child abuse, usually the first thing that comes to mind is physical harm, but the issue is actually much more complex. The abuse of a child can also be manifested in verbal and emotional forms, as well as in sexual molestation. All forms of child abuse generally result in similar emotional disorders and behavioral issues, but the major consequences of sexual abuse, such as mental or emotional scarring, promiscuity, and the tendency of former victims to become sexual abusers, cause it to be the most severely damaging form of child abuse.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse and Neglect

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    When thinking about statistics on child abuse, it’s very helpful to know that the idea of “child abuse” is very controversial. Recently, in particular homes and cultures, child abuse has come to be seen as a major social problem and a main cause of many people’s suffering and personal problems. Some believe that we are beginning to face the true prevalence and significance of child abuse. There is more to child abuse than just the physical scars; children are affected socially, mentally, and emotionally. According to the American National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, in 1997, neglect represented 54% of confirmed cases of child abuse, physical abuse 22%, sexual abuse 8%, emotional maltreatment 4%, and other forms of maltreatment 12%.

    Read More

  • Alterity

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brave New World through the eyes of the reader, and even John, depicts their culture as a vastly colorful and peculiar one. Culture is one of the main issues looked at in the Post-Colonial lens and by focusing on culture it becomes easy to see the alterity of the colonizers from the colonized stand point (). What one culture believes and how they behave is vastly different from another cultures beliefs and behaviors. Brave New World shows alterity it that pronounce its exotic and erotic ways that, to readers, seems to mean a lack of morals (). This all became this way from their setting: Their cultural background, their social context, where they are placed and how the society was constructed. The comparison between people on the reservation, which symbolizes our culture and the colonized, and those in the Brave New World, which symbolizes the futures culture and those colonizing, is a method used in the Post-Colonialist lens to instill a view of the indigenous as victims rather than as wrong-doers (). The way the Brave New World functions seems so awful and inappropriate to us today, but looking back 40-50 years, today's society would have had the same sense of alterity to them. It's an indication of the direction our society slowly moves towards but also an extreme case of the direction society is moving in to explicitly get the point across. Huxley highlights that we are slowly letting aspects of our setting colonize our values today and then shows us what that might look like: A world we don't even recognize or know, a culture that displays alterity from our culture now.

    Read More

More about Isolation in Brave New World

Open Document