Brave New World and Gattaca Comparative Essay
Both the movie Gattaca and the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley have similar themes; lack of, or too much independence and identity, the comparison of the characters Bernard and Vincent as well as three themes which will be elaborated in this essay. Gattaca has created strong arguments to if they are too independent and some how use it against them. In Brave New World however, it appears they are not independent enough and are blind to others unique identities. Both societies have two major characters that do not fit into the dystopian society. Bernard who is very curious and Vincent who takes on another person's identity. Family is not a very complicated concept in Gattaca, the parent figure is not frowned upon. Unfortunately in Brave New World, family is not a concept, as children are fertilized and grown in a lab, and the embryos are prepared for their life before born. Children in Brave New World cannot comprehend the concept of a family, and to them it would be abnormal. Gattaca has family, but they do not carry any of their parents traits, as they are genetically modified/manipulated, to be perfect, and to have little to no flaws. Throughout this essay, main comparisons of Brave New World and Gattaca will be illustrated through setting, characters and themes.
A common argument discussed comparing Brave New World and Gattaca is independence and identity, whether there is too much or a lack of independence. The majority of people in Brave New World were modified in a lab, to perform a role which they were prepared to perform before they were born, which would presume to be hereditary . The embryos, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon go through the Bokanovsky Process. Which is when the embryos are shocked and divided into 96 identical embryos, which then grow to be 96 identical human beings. Since the Bokanovsky Process can weaken the embryos, the Alpha and Beta embryos do not undergo this process. The Director brought up the Bokanovsky Process to the group of learners. His point of view on it is,
“One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will divide. From eighty to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a person formed embryo,, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before” (1.6).
The Bokanovsky Process cannot be anymore proof for the lack of self identity. Each individual has identical genes and are raised with the same surroundings and set in the same situations, like being forced to perform recreational sex. When the little boy was described to be reluctant to join erotic play, the nurse present told the director that she was going to run a psychology test to see if anything was abnormal.
“I’m taking him in to see the Assistant Superintendent of Psychology. Just to see if anything’s at all abnormal” (3.32).
Although in their society it is abnormal for a child to not want...
