Although society is comprised of individuals and their unique talents are often recognized and praised, conformity is becoming increasingly accepted and valued. People are consistently moving closer and closer to a community with a lack of personal identity. This fear of a society void of individuality is repeatedly expressed in novels, films, plays, and poetry. The importance of originality and the detrimental effects of conformity are the principle themes of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, Eugène Ionesco's short story "Rhinoceros," and the film The Stepford Wives. Because individual and unique thought frequently results in loneliness, people often conform to the majority, becoming mindless robots with no personal identity and an incapability of expressing their own ideas, thus causing static effects in the development of society, bringing about its inevitable downfall.

The loss of personal identity is often precipitated by the suppression of the individual. Independent thought...