How is individuality treated in the World State?

• A. It is celebrated at festivals
• B. It is spontaneous and encouraged
• C. It is valued and protected
• D. It is discouraged; everyone is the same and controlled

Answer: (D)

The key idea here is that the World State aims to suppress individuality in order to keep society stable. In Brave New World, people are conditioned from birth to fit a predetermined place in a strict caste system. Family bonds, personal choice, and creative impulses are discouraged or eliminated. Reproduction is controlled in laboratories, education relies on hypnopaedia to ingrain state-approved values, and the motto “Community, Identity, Stability” promotes a collective identity over personal ones. Soma and other controls dull emotions and desires that might lead someone to think or act differently from everyone else. Because of these mechanisms, individuality isn’t celebrated or protected; it’s intentionally discouraged, with people kept the same and easily controlled.