Mendez 1

Diego Mendez

ERWC

Mrs. Gonzalez

12/17/22

Why the World State Just Wouldn’t Work

A grand illusion powered by conditioning, pleasure, and drug use, fueled by the goal of

consumerism. That is what the World State embodies. The price, however, is far too steep.

Societal individuality should not be given up for a false reality that would be imposed upon one

by the World State. Brave New World explores the concept of a World State, as well as its

potential failures of it, proving that even with the sacrifice, it simply wouldn’t be functional.

Through the eyes of core characters, the World State is displayed as the epitome of

psychological and genetic discovery. From the use of conditioning and hypnopedia to being able

to genetically control how someone is, it’s a display of dominance and malicious intent, all at the

expense of individualism. During the DHCs tour of the London Hatchery facility, it was revealed

that each egg was capable of producing anywhere from eight to ninety-six identical embryos, all

destined to be used (6). The goal of human production is to create workers and consumers, who

never need to be controlled because they are already brainwashed to conform to the laws of the

World State (24,25). By creating a cycle of factory production and consistent consumers, the

World State is able to sustain its own economy, despite the lack of choice among the consumers.

The DHC continues to give examples of this, stating ‘"We condition the masses to hate the

country," concluded the Director. "But simultaneously we condition them to love all country

sports. At the same time, we see to it that all country sports shall entail the use of elaborate
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apparatus. So that they consume manufactured articles as well as transport.”’ (25) In simpler

terms, the masses have no choice in anything. They cannot decide what they hate, what they like,

or what they even want. That is the ultimate price of the renowned ‘social stability’ that

characters such as the DHC and Mustapha Mond seek to praise at any given moment.

Philosophies established centuries, even millennia, ago show time and time again that

individualism is what makes a human more than a human. It makes someone a person. Relating

to the idea of individuals, Huxley sprinkles characters throughout Brave New World with

anomalies in their character. Bernard Marx: a man with the physique of a member of several

castes lower than his, severe anger issues, bloated ego, and insecurities. Helmholtz Watson: a

man who yearns to seek his purpose through poetry, and the extent of his imagination, hating the

way he feels entrapped in the World State. Lenina Crowne: a woman who yearned to know what

a monogamous relationship was like, but was still disgustingly conditioned. These three, all

raised and conditioned, singlehandedly prove why the World State would not work. It is more

than just human nature to be curious, it is the heart of humanity itself. Bernard seeks to be with

Lenina, not for pleasure, but to see if someone else feels the same as him. Through their

interactions, it is seen that he seeks to find someone who can sympathize with him, his character

having a defining moment when he says, ‘“I want to look at the sea in peace,” he said. “One

can’t even look with that beastly noise going on.” “But it’s lovely. And I don’t want to look.”

“But I do,” he insisted. “It makes me feel as though …” he hesitated, searching for words with

which to express himself, “as though I were more me, if you see what I mean. More on my own,

not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body. Doesn’t it make you

feel like that, Lenina?”’ (94 -100). Bernard is someone with identity issues who seeks someone

he can identify with, hoping to find said someone in Lenina, only to be disappointed. Watson is
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in stark contrast to Bernard, however, not being insecure with himself but rather seeking a

purpose. This idea is mentioned several times throughout the novel, the clearest being when

Helmholtz is speaking with Bernard, saying, “When they had arrived and were comfortably

stretched out on the pneumatic sofas in Bernard’s room, Helmholtz began again. Speaking very

slowly, “Did you ever feel,” he asked, “as though you had something inside you that was only

waiting for you to give it a chance to come out? Some sort of extra power that you aren’t

using–you know, like all the water that goes down the falls instead of through the turbines?” He

looked at Bernard questioningly. “You mean all the emotions one might be feeling if things were

different?” Helmholtz shook his head. “Not quite. I’m thinking of a queer feeling I sometimes

get, a feeling that I’ve got something important to say and the power to say it–only I don’t know

what it is, and I can’t make any use of the power.” Huxley intelligently places Helmholtz and

Bernard together to demonstrate how different anomalies can occur within the World State,

portraying Bernard as the ill intent of selfishness of humanity while Helmholtz is the seeking of

purpose to be content with oneself. And despite their differences, they still get along, showing

the compassion that is individualism.

With how the World State functions, crossing so many moral and ethical boundaries

without restraint, and not even being able to produce pure successive results, the price of

individuality is not worth it. As broken and dysfunctional as the current society is, there is still

effort out there showing the kindness of humanity to counteract the ill of it.