Brave New World #1

The society in Brave New World has created conformity through genetic and embryonic conditioning. The government manipulates how each individual will live their life by exposing them to higher or lower levels of oxygen to either enhance or depress their mental ability, putting them in conditions that are ideal for the person they are supposed to become (for example, predisposing someone who is supposed to be a chemical worker to various types of chemicals as an embryo), and adding c,ertain diseases in order to place further limitations on the individual's potential as they grow up. We see the nurse, Lenina Crowne, adding batches of typhoid fever to certain embryos as part of her job, for example. As the embryos develop and eventually become infants, they introduce new types of conditioning based on what caste the child is supposed to be raised in: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilson. For example, the government uses Pavlovian-style classical conditioning to make Delta infants fear books, so when they grow older, they will never be able to seek out knowledge for themselves and raise their caste position. Sleep conditioning is used to re-enforce certain messages into the minds of the children even while they are unconscious. Through these methods of conditioning, people are taught to be loyal to their pre-assigned role in life and fully accept their prescribed position within their own caste.e

Brave New World's society is viewed as a utopia by those who live in it, but its lack of personal freedom and individuality makes it a dystopia. People in the society are said to "belong to one another", and are prohibited from being dedicated to any one person, whether it be a family member or a spouse. Devotion towards loved ones has instead transformed into devotion to one's caste and position in life. The lack of freedom to love and the restriction of individuality is what makes this society a dystopia rather than a utopia.