Usually, I’m not a fan of having to read a book for school because, most of the time, the book just straight up blows. The exceptions being The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in the 7th grade and now, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Huxley’s dystopian classic is about a technologically advanced society where its civilians are genetically created, socially conditioned, and pharmaceutically sedated to passively endure an authoritarian governing body. My fascination lies with the way ignorance is portrayed in the novel. It connects to real world examples of people being ignorant to issues happening around them.

If there was a character that embodies the values of her environment is Lenina Crowne. Lenina loves entertainment, sleeping around and new things like any World State girl would. An example of her ignorance would be when she was on a date with the “main character” Bernard Marx, an outsider who likes to talk and live in the moment. As Lenina and Bernard were visiting the savage reservation (the novel’s equivalent to Native American reservations), they witnessed a ritual for a bountiful harvest. The ritual had a young man be whipped while walking around a pile of snakes, instead of facing reality she takes soma, a drug that makes the user feel numb. She constantly ignores the reality of a plethora of situations. Lenina just wants to be distracted and entertained, she can’t fathom another person’s way of life. This behavior is similar to the way people react to issues from all over the world.

Some people believe that if something doesn’t directly affect them, then why should they care? Which is a flawed way of thinking because what ever happened to empathy? Why does a person have to be directly affected by something to care about it? During the beginning of a certain middle eastern “conflict,” boycotts were called against a number of companies that are supporting the aggressors. There were discussions online with people saying that it has nothing to do with them, why do they have to boycott something they like just because they’re aiding the destruction of a group of people? This lack of empathy and ignorance will lead to devastating consequences. No matter how far they live, people are people and we should feel for our fellow humans. Especially when their people are being decimated with weapons funded by our tax dollars.

This trend of lack of empathy will turn our society into an uncaring one. Where no one cares about anyone else other than themselves, until it directly affects them. Then the cycle repeats itself. Everyone needs to realize that they don’t have to immerse themselves in tragedy everyday, just learning about what’s going on and educating others on it is sufficient. Just don’t outright ignore what’s happening, ignorance is a killer. Remember, you can close the news app and take your minds off of things, but horrors beyond your comprehension are happening to people who can’t just “turn things off.”