Brave New World: Individualism vs. Collectivism - Essay Sample

Introduction

Individualism in the Braze New World Book is expressed as a principle or a habit of being self-reliant and independent. On the other hand, collectivism is adopted from a political theory that advocates for a group rather than an individual. In a collectivist society, the power should not be given to a few people; instead, it should be in the hands of all people. Ideally, the decision made should be beneficial to everyone in a collective society. Brave New World book provides different perspectives on the benefits of Individualism versus collectivism and how each can be beneficial or detrimental to self and society.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The subjugation of the individual is necessary for the good of society since it can lead to stability. The rule of law drives stability in the community. In a collectivist society, everyone is subject to regulation. This is achieved by creating a government that believed that balance could be achieved if people look the same and think the same. "There can be no stability without individual stability" (Huxley, 111). Such a government will create individual stability by ensuring freedom and individual rights. Personal stability is hence reciprocated to the stability of society.

The subjugation of the individual can also make everyone happy hence creating a stable society. People are made unique and human by the emotions which they can control to some extent. Emotions fuel people to dream of becoming a better person or of acting on belief and learn and love. Emotions lead to such an overwhelming individual influence. As such, the Braze New World discourages emotion since they cause intense human characteristics. Emotions can be painful due to aspects such as unattained goals and beliefs, and this would make some individuals unhappy. As it may, it is hard to attain stability when everyone is not happy as such Braze New World will control the emotions. The government would act to eliminate any painful emotions meaning there will be no passion or deep feelings. According to Huxley, "Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery" (Huxley 150). This means that the government should recognize the impact that negative emotions can cause.

The subjugation of the individual will also make people remain faithful to the society. The religion, which is a product of individualism, will be gone. No one will ever be taught religion and conditioned, and hence no one will ever be alone thinking about the possibility of God (Huxley 3). Faith can be termed as artistic expression as it requires an enormous amount of individual beliefs and emotions. Instead of people thinking about the afterlife, they will remain faithful to the society. This is ascertained by one of the characters who stated: "Fine to think we can go on being socially useful even after we're dead" (49).

Various arguments in the Brave New World shows how the promotion of individualism can be necessary for the good of society. To start with, the development of individuality can promote a caring community. The brave New World is ensured by removing all the emotions. There will be no mothers or fathers as children will be made in the lab to ensure that they don't acquire parental care, which causes emotions. However, according to Thody, "...the words 'mother' and 'father' have become the ultimate unmentionable obscenity" (Huxley 49). Family love promotes the stability of the society since parents help in nurturing their children. As such, if individualism promotes such aspects, it should be upheld.

The other thing is that individualism can be useful for society since it promotes creativity and the capacity to think. Discoveries and innovations are the fruits of individual thinking and creativity. However, as proposed in Brave New World," people embrace their oppression willingly..." (Huxley 211). This is because, in the Brave New World, numbing emotions and controlling birth is more of programming rather than education. It will lead to a society with people who work like robots, and hence the advancement of technology will not be possible. The implication is that individualism would be beneficial to society since it would promote creativity.

However, true happiness is not compatible with individualism. This is because individualism makes people have passion, emotions, and individual beliefs that may sometimes make them sad. An individual who is passionate about achieving a certain status will feel sad when he/she fails to attain it. An individual thinking about the presence of God and life after death may sometime make individuals depressed. Also, emotions such as those of love will be detrimental to personal feelings, and this will make them sad (Huxley, 113). As such, a Brave New World suggests that true happiness can only be attained in the absence of passion, emotions, and individual beliefs.

Huxley reveals the relationship between happiness and individualism by showing that they can never coexist. He acknowledges it by showing how passion, emotions, and individual beliefs end up making people depressed. To start with, desire for a better position makes people unhappy in their current situation. He suggests that, in a collectivist society, people will have no passion, and this means they be satisfied and happy with their status. The other thing is that emotions are detrimental to people's happiness since negative emotions will always be there to make them sad (Huxley, 213). Besides, he reveals that individual beliefs caused by religious teaching create distress to individuals as they think about the possibility of a supernatural being, their wrongdoing, and life after death.

Conclusion

The argument is the Brave New World Book presents certain ways in which individualism versus collectivism can be helpful or detrimental to the good of the society. The Brave new world shows that the subjugation of individuals can benefit society by making everyone happy and hence a stable community. To attain this, individuals should be made alike and also think in the same way. Individuality aspects that are detrimental to individual happiness, such as emotions, desire, and religion, should be eliminated. On the other hand, there is also a claim that individuality can be beneficial to society since it makes individuals more creative and productive. The concept of Brave New World has been criticized for chroming human beings and causing them to operate like robots. The implication is that collectivism would attempt to create a stable world buy denying an individual's right to choose and freedom to love.

Works Cited

Huxley, Aldous. Brave new world. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2007.