Aldous Huxley famously once said in his novel, Brave New World, that there is “No social stability, without individual stability.” This ideology is specifically true in society’s lives today, as in order for us to work together in a community, we must first satisfy all of our individual needs. Humans are all innately selfish and self-centred and when our lives are on the line we will think more about ourselves than our neighbours and peers. A community of people is a mixture of people from different backgrounds and cultures who hold a multitude of different ideologies and beliefs. In order for a community to retain its stability and thus its health and harmony, the stability of each of its individual members must be fulfilled. A person’s independent security can only obtain stability through an abundance of a variety of resources at their disposal, a set of rules or laws and people who enforce them, and a community that they feel they belong in and share the same ideological beliefs. Without these basic needs, an …show more content…
individual will not be happy, and thus, not able to grow as Abraham Maslow portrays in his “Hierarchy of Human Needs.” In Lord of the Flies, resources and their method of distribution amongst the group plays an integral role in keeping the island community happy, however, it also leads to the island society’s demise into savagery. Initially, when the boys arrive on the island Jack, Simon and Ralph explore the island and discover fruit and the occasional pig, and distribute the food evenly among the boys. Jack explains this when he tells the boys, “QUOTE.” The boys subsequently, under Ralph’s democratic rule, distribute the food evenly and fairly, based on the principle that all the boys deserve equal amounts. This provides the boy’s a sense of security as their individual needs have become satisfied, and leads to them being in their most productive state, outlined by the creation of the government and it’s rules, the signal fire, and the shelters. However, the boy’s become disillusioned by the temptation of meat and bloodlust, and become bored with the littlun-like activity of picking fruit (as that is the only other widely-available source of food on the island). This disillusionment soon leads to discontent and savagery among the boys, especially Jack, who only focuses on hunting and killing. These feelings begin to cumulate into disparity and the idea of prosperity on the island begins to dwindle, thus the boys turn onto their leader - Ralph. Under this “power-vacuum” state, Jack seizes control and implements the system of equity in which those who contribute more, will reap the benefits more. This is system is outlined when Jack responds to Piggy by saying, “You didn’t hunt,” (Golding, 78) and thus he does not deserve any of the pig that they just killed. The two systems clash and ultimately the boys fall unto Jack’s system as the boys think of themselves individually and pick the system that they have the opportunity to receive more in. They do not realize that this system does not actually provide each individual with adequate resources as in order for this system to work there must be equal opportunity for the competition to be fair, which is not the case on the island as the boys all have different age levels and capabilities. Jack’s system of governance in which everyone’s individual needs are not satisfied and thus, the boys further descend into savagery and fear. Golding’s choices in whom each distribution system lies with further outlines that Ralph’s democratic system of distribution is far better as it satisfies all of the boy’s needs on the same level. Jack’s system of distributive justice results in the feeling of exclusion and isolation in many of the boy’s and the sense of distrust and all-man-for-himself ideology takes place. Overall, the distribution of resources on an equal scale, that satisfies all of the individual needs of the boys results in productivity, while the system of equity, in which some individuals meet and exceed all of their needs and others do not meet any of theirs results in the descent into savagery, hoarding, and lack of unity by everyone. Laws and regulations are important to keep a society in a functioning manner and are in place to maintain peace and safety among the congregation and are also used to resolve issues that rise among individuals. Firstly, laws are there to protect humans from each other and forces imposed by one another, but also to protect oneself from falling into the innate evilness that we all possess. When Roger, “gathers a handful of stones to throw at the littluns, specifically Henry, daring not to actually hit the littluns but close enough to scare them.” (Golding 64-65) Roger’s is said to not throw the stones at Henry as the space around the boy is the “taboo of old life” (Golding 65) and he was conditioned and taught that you shall not hurt your neighbours. These laws protected the misfortune and those who are the lesser of society have taught him basic human compassion, however, due to the boy’s lack of rules on the island, Roger’s innate evilness starts to show. At the end of the novel, Roger is able to crush and murder Piggy, executioner-style, due to the fact that Piggy was simply annoying him and was looked upon by Roger as a ball of fat. Moreover, this lack of sensibility and murderous bloodlust just shows the extent in which human’s evilness comes about if laws and regulations are not in place to keep us in check. Lastly, when society completely disregards the laws that have put into place by the government, fear and disorder will become prevalent and halt the prosperity of the island. When the boy’s on the uninhabited island keep breaking the rules that Ralph put forth, Ralph says, “We have a lot of assemblies. Everybody enjoys speaking and being together. We decide things. But they don't get done” (Golding 85) This explains how when the boys do not obey the laws absolutely no progress on the island’s civilization takes place, leaving the boys in a primitive and futile environment with little to no advances in survival. This lack of regard for the rules culminates in destroying the boy’s hopes of getting off the island as Jack’s hunters disobey the rules that they must keep the signal fire going and ultimately a ship passes by without it seeing them. Furthermore, this event adds to the disagreements between the ideological differences between Jack and Ralph on how the island should be run, which ultimately ends in a chasmic split between the group. Overall, individual need to obey the rules and regulations to feel a sense of security from oneself and others, as well as providing meaningful guidelines in which to live. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of individual needs states that the individual needs an interpersonal connection and the feeling of belongingness and acceptance , which in turn will make us feel loved, intimate, and have a sort of support-system to fall back onto when necessary. Without this need, it is hypothesized that humans will develop loneliness, anxiety, and clinical depression, all leading to an unhealthy population and the declining prosperity of the community. Firstly, Jack’s feeling of exclusion amongst the leadership roles of the boy’s group leads him to leave the group and cause a massive ideologist chasm between the two boy’s groups. When Jack is angered by the boy’s lack of excitement to vote Ralph out of power, he states, “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you” (Golding 140). Jack and Ralph clashing ideas on how the group should be governed are climaxed in the point of the novel in which Jack feels that he can no longer fit in with the rest of the boys and must live without them. This divide causes more and more boys, especially the biguns that have started their descent into humanity’s innate savagery and evilness, to realize their isolation from the democratic standards that the group rules with, and leave Ralph and Piggy to join Jack. Due to this, we can see that this community’s prosperity has been destroyed as there is now a division of the boys fighting against one another, making sure that the other group doesn't get ahead. Secondly, Piggy’s feeling of being frowned upon and not being accepted by the group leads to lack of technological and socio-governmental deficits within the group’s capability. One of the many examples of Piggy’s exclusion is when Ralph introduces Piggy by his nickname to the group and they all erupt in laughter, this is even highlighted in how he stands outside of the circle when they were debating on the platform. Piggy’s lack of inclusion leads to a deficit in his individualistic need of belonging, which makes him unable to gain self-esteem as well as self-actualize. Without these Piggy, the only intellectual on the island is unable to aid the group to the fullest of his potential as he is always being threatened by ridicule and discriminatory comments based on his physical inferiority. Overall, the feeling of exclusion within the boy’s group leads to various deficits within the effectiveness of the group's members and the group's leadership and political forces. In conclusion, communities health and harmony can only be secured through the completion of the individualistic needs: safety and rules, acceptance and belonging, and adequate resources that are distributed justly, which in turn results in a sense of happiness and prosperity ensues.
This completion is not evident in the boy’s community in Lord of the Flies and results in the destruction of life on the island. It is a microcosm for life in general, in which humans must meet what our basic needs before we are able to develop into our fullest potential in order to benefit our community. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs accurately describes the domino-like pyramid that our needs are based on, and if one individual doesn't meet their needs, then they fail, and the community fails as we are all interconnected while in a community. Overall, humanities individualistic needs must be overcome before it can focus on the needs of itself and
others.
Social stability can be the cause of problems. After reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, we are informed that “Bokanovsky’s Process is one of the major instruments of social stability!” Now is it worth it? Is it worth the sacrifice? Questions like those are addressed throughout the book. Huxley wants to warn us of many things, for example the birth control pill, the way that we can colon ourselves and many other things. He wanted us to know that many of the experiments that they do to the caste in Brave New World, we were later going to do investigate more ourselves or start doing them to others. We have all, at a point; come to a point to the question where we ask ourselves “is it worth it? Is it worth the sacrifice?”
...society. Yet, bleakly and ironically, he observes that the very accomplishments that civilize us, and progress us beyond the likes of animals, indeed allow for a greater range of possibilities within human savagery. However, the Lord of the Flies is not a fatalistic statement on the insurmountable nihilism of humankind. At the novels open-ended conclusion, a thread of human diplomacy remains, however close to extinguishment by the barbarian. This fraction of hope is an invocation to humankind, so that it can find its humanity. It is a conjuring of the goodness that lies within all of us, and a plead to examine the path that we have chosen to take as a species. But above all, the Lord of the Flies is a conjecture about our future downfall made by a man who has witnessed in his life the atrocity and carnage that is potential at the hands and in the souls of people.
Social order is made and remade through people’s behaviours, interactions and choices and is neither static nor fixed. This essay will provide examples of the ways in which social order is made and remade and how this happens on both a formal and informal level, although when disorder occurs, it is clear to see the level of work that goes into the making and remaking of social order (Blakeley, 2014, p85).
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley is a novel about a hidden dystopian society. Huxley describes a perfect dystopia where scientist breed people to be in a certain social class. This is accomplished through conditioning. There are many similarities in today's society that collide with the society in Brave New World. The society of the World State is similar to today’s society in these ways. First, technologies prevent us to think or feel real emotion, second the truth is hidden from us. Finally, objects and people distract us from real life.
The Lord of the Flies is a representation of what is still alive and well in today’s society throughout the world. While the obvious solution to avoiding a dystopian nature would be to coexist in a proper and civil society, there are too many variables in human nature to achieve such a utopia. They “wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air.” (Golding) One can only hope that a perfect society can be reached in their lifetime.
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing.
After thousands of years of evolution and change, humans are one of the most complex creatures to ever roam this world. They are one of the most advanced creatures, who made advanced technology, found cures for diseases, and created intricate pieces of art. However, humans started off as any other creature: no rules, no technology, and no guarantee of their safety. The lack of these things can cause some humans to resort back to their old, primitive ways. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the lack of society influenced Jack to be power hungry, develop dark and disturbing thoughts, and enjoy hurting others who are innocent.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates a colorful, fantastic universe of sex and emotion, programming and fascism that has a powerful draw in a happy handicap. This reality pause button is called “Soma”. “Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology.” ( Huxley 54 ).
Equal work, equal wages, equal food, equal opportunities, equal power. On the outside, a society where every one of its citizens was completely equal sounds and appears like a good thing, even a great thing. No one had too much power, everyone seemed to be happy, and most importantly everyone worked to better the community instead of themselves. This is what Socialism was portrayed as: a system in which everyone worked together to benefit the state. Contradicting this fabricated image, life under Socialism did not succeed in equality for men and women, and it caused people to do whatever necessary in order to gain some sense of individualism. While equality for all people in all aspects of life sounds appealing, it was an unachievable goal
Social orders have existed for many years and have been passed down from one generation to another. In history class we have discovered that “social order” was a product of “civilized” societies. Social order was the structure of a civilized society created by human and it determines where one is placed and their duty. The way social order was justified was through philosophical and religious beliefs and morals. The wealthy and the people who reinforce these justifications are the ones who benefit from a social order. I’ll be supporting my paper on social order through information from Vedic India and China.
Social immobility has been a problem for many people, whether they are citizens of United States of America or immigrants from another country, this is something people confront from time to time in their lives. Janie from Under the Feet of Jesus by Zora Neale Hurston, and Estrella from Their Eyes were Watching God by Helena Maria Viramontes are both examples of characters restricted by the intersectionalism of their gender or social and racial class. Through the two class texts mentioned above, social immobility will be further expounded in the context of characters such as Estella and Janie, and it will also be explored as a force that leads to the restriction and/or the loss of innocence for the characters.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
For years, authors and philosophers have satirized the “perfect” society to incite change. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes a so-called utopian society in which everyone is happy. This society is a “controlled environment where technology has essentially [expunged] suffering” (“Brave New World”). A member of this society never needs to be inconvenienced by emotion, “And if anything should go wrong, there's soma” (Huxley 220). Citizens spend their lives sleeping with as many people as they please, taking soma to dull any unpleasant thoughts that arise, and happily working in the jobs they were conditioned to want. They are genetically altered and conditioned to be averse to socially destructive things, like nature and families. They are trained to enjoy things that are socially beneficial: “'That is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny'” (Huxley 16). Citizens operate more like machinery, and less like humans. Humanity is defined as “the quality of being human” (“Humanity”). To some, humanity refers to the aspects that define a human: love, compassion and emotions. Huxley satirizes humanity by dehumanizing the citizens in the Brave New World society.
New developmental tasks are undertaken in middle childhood and development occurs within the physical, cognitive, cultural identity, emotional, and social dimensions, Although each developmental domain is considered separately for our analytical purposes, changes in the developing child reflects the dynamic interaction continuously occurring across these dimensions. For this specific case study, I will only be discussing two of these domains, which are the social development and the physical development.
There are many social problems plaguing the world, including the issue of aging inequality and elders. This social problem is significant because the baby boomers of the 1946-64s are now starting to be the youngest old. Our society is starting to, and needs to, change to accommodate the needs of the elderly. There are many different problems coming with this making people have many political viewpoints, theoretical perspectives, and solutions for this social problem. Baby boomers are a group of people that were born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Just nine months after WW II ended people were having babies at rates higher than ever before. In the year 1946 there were 3.4 million babies were born, nearly 20% more than the prior year. This