In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley warned of a person's need to conform and how this can lead to a sad future. Conformity has a great impact on the thoughts and behaviors of people living in the “World State” described in the book, as well as people in our contemporary society. It seems that a person's need to conform stems from their need to fit in. While it can allow people to be happy, it can have many harmful effects on people if taken too far. One of the best ways to explain compliance in the context of Brave New World is to look at drug soma. Soma is encouraged and used by all “World State” people when they experience feelings that are not happy or pleasant. This allows them to free themselves from having to feel pain, sadness, or any feelings they see as “bad.” All people are encouraged to take it and, in doing so, conform to the larger group. It gives the user false happiness. Bernard believes that following this rule goes against his personal morals. He doesn't see the benefits since they are only temporary. Soma in their world is much like any other recreational drug in our society which gives the user a feeling of exalted happiness. I feel this has been realized to a large extent in our society. We have many drugs at our disposal to take whenever we want to make us feel better. Some are as simple as a mild pain reliever like Tylenol, while others are stronger and illegal, like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Illegal drugs are closest to the effect soma has in Brave New World. However, the government definitely does not approve or condone their hiring. In fact, being found in possession of such documents will lead to harsh consequences, such as long-term prison sentences like... middle of paper... all the time, it's hard to imagine why anyone wouldn't do it. they want to do the same. So conformity not only causes people to behave in socially acceptable ways towards people, but it can also cause people to want to avoid people altogether. Conformity is a powerful tool used by a society to get people to react and behave in ways that are the most accepted way of doing something, or in a way that the dominant body desires to keep people under its control. It can have positive but also negative effects on a culture, depending on the nature of the action and the extent to which it is carried out. Brave New World warns us of what could happen if we allowed ourselves to be controlled like puppets and settled for a static population. Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.