How could one understand darkness if one did not also know light? If evil did not exist, would good have any meaning? Contradictions create substance and without one end of the spectrum it is impossible to understand the other. Like yin and yang, opposites derive meaning from their differences. Juxtaposition is necessary for an extreme to have meaning; therefore the lack of alternatives nullifies the meaning. This is well illustrated by the absence of dichotomy in Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World. The novel is set in the future, after the life of Henry Ford. The very fact that this is how the year is determined shows the assembly line aspect of culture: throughout the book the concept of factory production and uniformity is presented repeatedly. Diversity and contradictions (other than those created specifically, such as making people Alpha, Beta, etc.) are not allowed, not even in the population. The lack of individualism diminishes the value of human life. In the society created by Huxley, the good of invariable humanity prevails over the value of the unique person. This is a clear example of how equality removes meaning. Since people are all the same, they themselves do not matter. This dystopian world revolves around sexual debauchery, strictly defined class systems, and the enjoyment of mindless pleasures. Conditioned from birth by a mixture of genetic alteration and brainwashing, citizens of this society do not question their circumstances or seek alternatives to their lifestyle. Instead, they settle for apathetic complacency. There is no juxtaposition between good and bad because everything considered "bad" is ignored or removed. A drug freely distributed... in the middle of paper... capable of diversity and originality. Does this create a utopia or destroy all hope of it? The outcome of each of the stories provides the answer. Dichotomy creates substance and substance is meaning. If every principle and idea lacks depth, if everything a society is built on lacks meaning, if every choice you make isn't really a choice, then life itself ceases to matter. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1981.Huxley, Aldous. Appendix. Brave New World. New York, NY: Perennial Classics, 1998.Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York, NY: Perennial Classics, 1998. Orwell, George. 1984, a novel. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1949.Seed, David. "Escaping the Good Life: Fahrenheit 451 in the Context of Postwar American Dystopias." Journal of American Studies Vol. 28, no. 2 (1994): 227.