Individuality In Brave New World

Individuality Versus Conformity In the story Brave New World by Aldous Huxley we are introduced to the ways of a dystopian future. Set in London, 632 a.f. (632 years after Ford), where everyone is made from a cast, polyamory is considered normal, and all fit into the preconceived social classes made to keep order. This novel follows Benarde Marx, an “Alpha” who is upset with the created system, and later in the story John the Savage, an outsider from a New Mexico Savage Reservation, in a story that explores a society where people have their individuality sacrificed for a mild sense of happiness. Through manipulating and reading literature, excessive use of a mind-altering drug, and the government and society's rules and norms, Huxley brilliantly

As mentioned earlier each person in their own social class is a carbon copy of each other. Even the people running the machines are a copy of each other as there are “‘[n]inety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!’” (7). In life, identical twins can be raised completely opposite each other, yet still have identical traits and habits. Now take that, scale it up, raise all of the twins exactly the same, and repeat. This happens in most of the classes, except the Alphas. Bernard, being an Alpha is unique, he is upset about the fact that his stature is shorter than most other Alphas, making him more closely related to the lower classes. This gives him a unique sense of personality different from everyone else, insecurity. Another character that can be picked from a crowd is Mr. Savage. Being born at a reserve, where people live like “the old times,” is unique from the people born inside the World State and intriguing to said people. As they learn about the Savage they find and watch him. Being fed up with the attention he yells, “‘Go away!’” This then causes “a burst of laughter and hand-clapping. ‘Good old Savage! Hurrah, hurrah!’” (255.) This ironic reaction comes out of curiosity and amusement from the built individuals of the World State. Even though the Savage is clearly in distress because these people have never had other emotions other than joy, because of the soma they all take, everyone thinks that it is all just an act. But to Mr. Savage, it is very real and distressing. This scene serves as a critique of a society that places little value on true individuality. Mr. Savage, acting demented from all the attention he is getting for being a different person had built up during his time at the World State. This eventually came to be too much as