Consumerism Is Valued More Than Individualism - 881 Words

Consumerism is Valued more than Individualism Aldous Huxley’s novel, a Brave New World, is a dystopian novel that explains how being a consumerist society instead of a humanistic society can be damning. Central to the dystopian society is the absence of books. Huxley sees books as being a central element in the control of the novel’s society, and the absence of books leads to the loss of reading and loss of writing, but ultimately to the supreme control of the novel’s citizens. Early in the novel, a group of delta infants are being conditioned to dislike flowers and books in a human producing factory: â€Å"Now turn them so that they can see the flowers and books.† (Huxley 20) Once the children start crawling to the â€Å"sleek colours, those shapes so gay and brilliant on the white pages,† (20) the children experienced a conditional shock when the director, â€Å"lifting his hand, gave the signal.† (20) A student viewing the conditioning of the infants explains that the reasoning for conditioning the infants not to like books is because â€Å"reading something which might undesirably decondition one of their reflexes† would be bad for a society that is all about control because the society would no longer be in control of that specific reflex, thus lessening their control on an individual. If a consumerist society, the society Brave New World presents, is unable to control its citizens, then the efficiency of the society decreases, and being the best and most efficient society is impossibleShow MoreRelatedInequalities: Sociology and Consumer Society774 Words   |  4 Pageswhich goods and services are bought and used to satisfy people’s perceived needs (J.Obelkevich. 1994). The image of this consumer society can be described as one of individualism and freedom but it can also be marked by social divisions, inequalities and exclusions. This essay examines the relationships there are between consumerism, the social divisions this engenders and ultimately the choices, if any, this offers to people. It shows how our choices can be defined by the type of people we areRead More A Critical Exploration of Klein’s Discarded Factory in Connection With Stoller’s Money Has No Smell1636 Words   |  7 PagesThere is an undoubtedly enormous influence on the world by consumerism. 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