Saturday, June 28, 2008
To Conform or Not to Conform
As I continue to read through Brave New World, I find myself wondering why people decide to follow the trends at the given time, even though they may not agree with what they choose to follow. For example, in the beginning of chapter 3, a young boy who refuses to participate in the “ordinary erotic play” is taken to see a psychologist because the nurse believes that his behavior is abnormal. In our society today, this behavior would be seen as normal and to be honest, the thought of children spending their free time playing erotically scares me since that kind of behavior today is found to be strange and immoral. So why is it when people choose not to conform that others find them strange and begin to shun them? Also, why is it that some people are not comfortable with their status in life; that in order to appease themselves they have to lie about their feelings?
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In Brave New World you must remember that they are ahead of our time and have pretty much squashed out the thoughts of sexual morality among other things such as religion and artwork during their massive war and huge social change towards stability.
The people also do not "decide" to conform in their society. They are conditioned since their decanting and even before that to accept a certain faith and not to question others.
So the erotic play and "Hunt the Zipper" games that the children play are viewed as normal whereas they are completely shunned in our own society.
People also view others as strange when they do not conform because that is all they know. In their society it usually meant something was horrendously wrong with them or they had an error while they were stilled bottled up, such as the rumor of Bernard Marx's addition of alcohol into his bottle before his decanting.
In our society people are also shunned when they do not conform. Throughout history people with radically different views have been shunned such as Nicolaus Copernicus who was placed under house arrest for his heretical views on the planetary system. Even in our high school it's present. We alienate each other because we feel threatened by another's intellect or someone dresses very differently from us and we immediately jump to classify them as "weird." I believe it's in human nature to act in this way. We shun those who are different from us to protect our own egos, our own feelings, and our own ideas from the views of others.
I don't think most people are content with their status in lives either and hardly ever are. As humans we continue to strive for more and more because we are taught that their are no limits to what we can achieve. So without limitations we keep on wanting more and more and are not satisfied until we have everything, which can never be the case.
However, in Huxley's novel people are conditioned to know what they may achieve and thus consciously, if not unconsciously, know what their limitations are. Those who do not such as Bernard Marx and Helmholtz continue to seek more than they are supposed to achieve in their society. Bernard also appeases himself with false friendships and women upon receiving the title of guardian of the Savage. So in a society where there are obviously limitations to what he may have he lies and exaggerates about what he does have in hopes of achieving more. Do we not do the same in our own society?
-- Elizabeth Ly
Lizzy, you bring up a few good points about society and human behavior in general. It's true that we tend to shun those that we regard as "unnatural." However, I was wondering if there is also an opposite extreme.
In Brave New World, all of the "civilized" people have been conditioned to conform to society and have been conditioned to shun anything that is not conformity. Why, then, is it that the Savage Reservation is so fascinating to some people like Lenina Crowne. Also, towards the end of the book, John begins to attract a lot of attention because of his unnatural behaviors. Isn't that the opposite of shunning the strange? The only reason that John became the center of attention was because he was an abnormality to civilized society and because he didn't act like a civilized person should.
To me it is paradoxical that the same people who shunned Bernard Marx because he looked and acted different than the rest of his caste should be so eager to see the Savage and to let others know that they have been considered his acquaintance.
-Sejal Shah
I think that conformity comes from the "safety in numbers" instinct. Most people conform so that they can fit in and be safe from ridicule. Also, there are different levels of conformity. Some people conform just enough to not look like an outsider. Others conform so much they lose themselves. Then there are those who avoid all conformity at all costs and try to look different. Finally, there are those who can not conform for whatever reason.
In Brave New World, the people don't know any better than to conform to what the government wants. Some people when they're being "created" are deprived of oxygen and have alcohol in the mix which limits brain power, just like the government wants. The "alphas" would really be the only ones who could choose not to conform to the government standards. They are the ones who have the brain power to do so, but since the people who get it all really have nothing to complain about; why bother?
As for the little boy in chapter three, he must have been "predestined" to be an "alpha" since he obviously has the brain power to choose what he wants to do.
The idea of children playing erotically is pretty scary, I have to agree.
Thanks Sejal and to be honest I did not see it the other way before. But it's quite a valid point.
I'd have to agree with Kim's "saftey in numbers" belief to explain this one. While they do take interest in the Savage they are not completely accepting him either. It could be a different type of alientation where the vast majority gangs up on an individual and being an individual is shunned in thier society.
New or strange sensations or ideas also provoke the curiosity in humans and I believe this is also a factor in why they take such intrest in the Savage and the Reservation.
Those two facts would be my explaination for why there are the two extreme sides of conformity within Brave New World.
-- Elizabeth Ly
I completely see where you are coming from Kristine, but I reference two time periods in history where the same thing happened: the Holocaust and the discrimination of African Americans, esp. the 60s.
I reference the Holocaust because though the people didn't really have a choice whether they were Jewish or not, there were still the groups of people here and there that stood up for the Jews and other “undesirables”. Those are the people who were shunned by society and therefore targeted by attacks, both physical and psychological. These good Samaritans saw their situation the same way as you: we are all equal, so why single people out? Also, you asked the question, “why is it that some people are not comfortable with their status in life; that in order to appease themselves they have to lie about their feelings?”. To that I have a simple answer, human nature. Why do we do half the things we do, but to appease other people around us in order to fit in?
My second reference is the discrimination against African Americans because of the same basic issue: appeasement of others to fit in. Let’s say for example, you are living in the 60s, when racism was rampant, and you were a white woman who was good friends with a black man. Would you honestly let your friendship be known, knowing that you would be shunned and seen as “abnormal” in the public eye? So to return to your original question, I believe people do this just because they are overly self-conscious and are not carefree enough about what people think of them. Now, I’m not saying to be completely carefree, nor am I saying to be neurotic about it either, I am simply saying people should find a happy median between the two.
People conform to fit it, to be accepted.What defines the norm?It is what ever the majority of the poplation is doing.If everyone started wearing shoes on their hands, then that would be normal.Man creates its own world.As Elizabeth had said, it is human nature to try to fit in with everyone else; it is unexplainable.
The reason people who are not normal are shunned is because of just that, they are not normal.People cannot explain them, they are the unknown and the unknown in general scared people.Ironically, people's minds are full of the unexplainable.
First and foremost, I would like to agree outright with Lizzy. She brings up a good point by stating that the foundation of Huxley's future utopia relies on conformity and the appeasement of the general populous.
"As humans we continue to strive for more and more because we are taught that their are no limits to what we can achieve." --lizzy ly
It isnt as humans that we continue to strive for more, rather, it is as individuals that we contain the will needed to strive for more. Humans and individuals are two very separate definitions that must be used carefully when referring to Brave New World. The characters in Huxley's civilization are more like sheep being herded along the path of life, whereas an individual is free to create his own path.
In response to sejal's paradox, I believe the reason the characters illicit such a positive response toward the savage is that they don't consider him an abomination (like they do Bernard), but instead, they see him as a novelty. I imagine civilization views John similar to the way you and I would view a talking monkey, and if John represents a talking monkey, then the reservation would be a sort of exclusive safari.
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