Envy From Society example essay topic

Envy and love are two primary factors that contribute to the emotion of a society. Without love, and ultimately envy, a society is not in equilibrium. This then creates a dystopia, rather than a well sought after utopia. Envy is the strong desire to possess what another person has. In love, the two people that are in love with each other own each other, which is why envy is a natural consequence of love.

Dystopian societies are created by the rulers in the novels 1984 and Brave New World, and also in the movie, "Harrison Bergeron", where love and envy were removed from society in an attempt to create a utopian society. In the society created in 1984, envy was excluded from the society and so too was love. The Party, the ruling power of Airstrip One, had a strict uniform of blue overalls which all members were to wear at all times. Thus, people could not wear fancy clothing to show their wealth or beauty. With this elimination of being able to show wealth, people were unable to be envious of the accomplishments or wealth of others.

The Party outlawed the possession of any personal objects and the wearing of make-up. All of the women looked plain and therefore were not able to be envious of each other's beauty. Envy was also discouraged by the Party not allowing opportunities for the display of affection. Tele screens were everywhere monitoring the interactions of individuals with each other in both common areas and in private living spaces.

The Party also banned marriages that were based on love. Only those people that declared a loveless relationship were allowed to be united in marriage. When the Party limited personal interactions, people were only able to be envious of Tom Parsons' pride in his children for turning him in to the Thought Police. The World Controllers of Brave New World eliminated envy and, in effect, reduced the extent to which love occurred in the world. One of the hypnopaedia lessons that every child must receive throughout their childhood is that "every one belongs to every one else" (Huxley 43). People were not to "date" one person for a long period of time.

This was done so that no one could develop a distinct identity of self through a long term interaction with only one other person. Another reason this was done was so that people were not able to be envious of another's companion, because companions were always changing. Thus the love that people felt between themselves was superficial, and not true. However, individuals that chose to ignore this rule and date for extended periods of time developed distinct identities and felt true love. One such relationship existed between Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne. Bernard and Lenina had been seeing each other after work for at least four months.

This length of time was considered, by society and the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, to be too long for two individuals to have an intimate relationship. All of Bernard and Lenina's peers encouraged them to seek new companions because they fully believed that the hypnopaedic lessons were the absolute truth. Because Bernard and Lenina's peers were unaware of exactly what envy was, they feared it and fear of the unknown is often the highest fear. Therefore, they did not allow it to enter into their own personal lives. Since envy was not present in their lives, true love was not either. The smart people that controlled the American society behind the scenes in "Harrison Bergeron" eliminated envy from society and in the process eliminated love, too.

The author, Kurt Vonnegut, chose to exploit American society in the 1950's when everyone was happy. Everyone wore the same style of clothing so no one was jealous, or envious, of what new fashion someone was wearing. Since there was no envy, no one had the passion to want a companion of another person, and thus true love was nonexistent. Love was also eliminated because there were no wars, which stem from hate. Without hate, there cannot exist its opposite, love.

The rulers in the novels 1894 and Brave New World, and in the movie, "Harrison Bergeron", tried to create a utopian society by removing love, and consequently envy, but instead created dystopian societies. The societies were dystopian because with the removal of love and envy, they were not in equilibrium. Without perfect equilibrium in a society, utopia cannot exist.