Social Conformity

Why is it humans have the need to belong to a social group? Why do people need, to many times change their thoughts in order to gain the feeling of belonging? The novels Brave New World and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest depict this strange but constant necessity through Aldous Huxley's and Ken Kesey's characters. In both novels the majority of the characters conform to what society expects of them. There are the conformers and the conformists, and the only way the conformers plans of having everybody do as told, is if those they plan on conforming are unaware of the different lives they could be living if they had not chosen to live by the rules created by society. The use of fear, power, pleasure, and technology, are ways in which people can manipulate others into thinking that they have no options other than listening to Nurse Ratched, or following the new rules of the New World. It is not until someone with multiple, distinct experiences enter society and brings the process to a cold stop.

The technique to manipulate the populations is different, weather it is in the Ward or in an entire Country. Nurse Ratched uses her oppressing power and fear in order to get people to do what she wants them to do, and the leaders of the Brave New World use technology and pleasure to blind the citizens from the other possible lives they could be acting out. The conforming characters form both novels, are discretely forced to diminish their questioning about the certain roles they ought to fulfill according to society. In the Ward, the strict television schedule, and the terror created by using treatments such as the electroshock therapy as a punishment, or the strength of the black boys, scare the patients into believing they have no choice to do other than what is expected, and if they do not fulfill their roles they will end up like the other patients in wheelchairs, that are considered vegetables. Unlike Nurse Ratched's method of using fear as the primary tactic to force people to conform, the Brave New World incorporates the stimulus that makes people conform as a normal and daily routine. There is no room for questioning, because there is nothing to question about, everything seems absolutely normal for the citizens because it is what the population has been exposed to for long periods fo time. They are genetically designed to fit specific roles in society, so the social groups are already predestined. The Alphas hang out with the Alphas, and the Betas hang out with the Betas. Those with similar genetic makeup form the different groups, and have never experienced any other situation, that makes them question their roles as Betas for example. Why would someone that feels so comfortable cleaning floors, want to be like a scientist that finds new ways to generate babies? Also the use of soma grants citizens instantaneous gratification. So if one is ever feeling down, they simply take soma and they are instantly back on their feet ready to do what society needs them for. This method of gratification will eliminate sad people, and why would happy people question the society they are living in? 

The big worry for conformers like Nurse Ratched and the leaders of Brave New World, is if someone exposed to a different society has joined or infiltrated the conforming population. McMurphy, and John are the people that a conforming society fear the most. McMurphy introduces to the other patients the possibility of freedom, by telling stories he truly believes because he has actually experienced life outside of the ward. McMurphy reminds the patients of the freedom they too once felt before becoming a part of the Ward's system, weather it was by taking them on the fishing tip, or teaching them to stand up for what they believe in by for example, encouraging Bromden to raise his hand in order to vote against Nurse Ratched and watch television. John also brings to the society an entirely different perspective of life. He comes from the savage word, in which his views on life originated form Shakespeare's work. John is a character that has experienced, and knows what others can be doing with their lives, and he could be responsible for sharing this information with the conformed society. He has the most sane view on life, even though it comes from the many times violent works of Shakespeare, John is probably the human being that has the most balanced perspectives. McMurphy and John both open room for questioning, and are the first characters to stand-up against society. 

Without being a part of a group, one is automatically an outcast. John and McMurphy are originally outcasts, but that is because they have a different view of life then what they are told to believe in. The need to belong also contributes to people conforming because many fear that if they don't conform, they will be rejected by society and become outcasts. People like John and McMurphy that don't fear acting on what they believe in, are necessary in order to break the chain of social conformity. If these people never show up in certain societies, we would still fear being alone and alter our beliefs in order to become part of a bigger thing.