Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Brave New World Themes

 

            Two main themes in Brave New World are Community, Identity, Stability verses individual freedom and the cost of such a system is high. Community, Identity, Stability is the motto on the World State. The first part, Community, is in part, a result of identity and stability. Community is achieved by organizing life so that a person is almost never alone. Identity is a largely created by the result of result of genetic engineering. Separating all embryos into five groups before they are even "born" forms the caste system that separates superiors and inferiors in this new world. An example of identity ruling over the individual is the sleep teachings. The government puts the caste system of the World State into their memory with their sleep teachings as children. Stability is the one the characters mention the most often. It is also the reason for building the society this way. Stability means diminishing conflict, risk and change. This motto completely crushes the individual. An example of this is when the Director says, "The greater a mans talents the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior. Murder kills only the individual- and, after all, what is an individual?. We can make a new one with the greatest ease- as many as we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself." (pg. 148). The government clearly believes that the individual should subordinate to the group for the good of society. The other theme of Brave New World is the cost of such a system is high. There is a good side to this system. There is no war or poverty and a small amount of disease or social unrest. The price for these is high however. The quote in the epigraph by Nicolas Berdiaeff foreshadows the high price of the "perfect" society.


Essays Related to Brave New World Themes