Inclusion in Society

Unlike The Road or The Handmaid’s Tale, where everyone seems to be discontent and separated from each other, for most of the inhabitants of Brave New World, it seems to be the opposite. In The Handmaid’s Tale designated into roles, and everyone resented their roles, and the stereotypical roles of other, the economy wives, and the blue-wearing wives hate the handmaids, and to an extent the handmaids hate the wives and the commanders. Everyone hates their role. But in Brave New World, most of the people seem to be for the most part content in their roles. The people are conditioned for their roles in society, to make them the best at it and to make them somewhat happy. They are also conditioned in their sleep through little phrases to love their own role and society, and dislike the other roles, but at the same time, they are programmed to acknowledge that every rank has a place in society and should be respected. While this hierarchy of preprograming one person to be better than another in size or intelligence in unfair, the conditioning seems to work. Most of the people feel content working, playing golf, and so on, as they all feel they are a part of the norm and are a part of everyone else, or at least, they are made to feel that way. Then there are outsiders such as Bernard, who may have had alcohol put in his decanting bottle, and as a result he is an alpha with stunted growth and weaker conditioning. He doesn’t like golf, he doesn’t like how he holds less authority then the other alphas, and he hates how relationships are so open. Because of these things he is an outsider and dislikes the society, criticizing it and trying to be an individual of his choosing. But when he finds The Savage, and everyone now is polite to him because they want to meet John, he still criticizes the society to a degree, but he is also happy enjoying the privileges he never had before. He enjoys how people now listen to him, and how he can get any girl he wants. He uses the savage to get over six different girls in a week, and he used to hate promiscuity. Now he revels in it. This change in heart in Bernard seems to suggest that as long as a society makes people feel included, the people will be content with their society and behave.

                I know Lanina’s new behavior regarding her sadness over not having John goes against this, as she is discontent despite her sudden fame and inclusion in elite activities, but I think the point of inclusion is still worth mentioning.