The End All Be All?

     One interesting thing that I came across in Brave New World was after Bernard and Lenina came back to London with John Savage. After they brought him back, they basically became celebrities that everyone wanted to be around. What I found strange about this was that their society praises focus on the community, but Bernard and Lenina seeking attention from everyone else and becoming celebrities seemed rather focused on the individual, which is looked down upon.

     If this were occurring in a society such as this, it made me wonder how and why they would let this happen. With this question in mind, I realized that their goal isn't to make sure that no one feels like an individual, but to make sure that not everyone feels special and separate from everyone else. This is why people like Mond, Bernard and Lenina are seen as celebrities to the rest of the "commoners". If there are only a few people seen as special and above everyone else, people are likely to look up to them and not focus on themselves as much, shifting focus away from the individual.
   
     This brings to mind how the Roman elites would keep the people in check by offering "bread and circuses". In the same way, people in the conditioned society have virtually unlimited access to entertainment ranging from games to sex, with "heroes" to look up to like the gladiators in Rome. Similarly to the way that gladiators were replaceable when a new champion arose, celebrities such as the Director are also replaceable and easily forgotten about because the people have been conditioned to make no long-term connections.  The Roman elites were able to keep the citizens content and "happy", as seems to be the same focus in Brave New World's society.
   
     If happiness is not the point to life and is not the healthiest feeling to experience at all times, what feeling, emotion, or state of being is the end all be all, and what can make people feel individually content in themselves no matter what their conditions are? In Brave New World, people do not have individual purpose because it is decided for them at "birth", so could they be content if they could choose their own purpose in life? Also, if someone only relies on thinking, they become a robot, but if they only rely on feelings, they become a slave to their emotions, so how can one find a happy medium despite which side they lean more towards?

-Isaiah Yoder