Bernard In Brave New World

If everyone is created to be exactly equal, it makes sense that everybody would feel valued and individual, right? Wrong. The notorious novel, “Brave New World,” written by Aldous Huxley, refines the flaws of a strictly controlled utopia through one specific character, Bernard Marx. Bernard is one man among many machine-birthed personages in a crazed world hundreds of years from now in which God is Henry Ford, sex is all that matters (although actually conceiving children is immoral), and everyone is brainwashed by a drug called Soma which induces artificial glee. Bernard begins as an innocent Alpha with minor physical defects, creating unwanted harsh judgement and separation from others. As the story continues, he becomes puffed up in pride

when he is idolized for bringing a savage into the new society. The notorious psychologist theorized that our subconscious consists of three parts: id, ego, and superego.

The id drives our actions, the superego withholds our actions, and the ego is an equalizer between the two. Some studies of Freud can be paralleled to Bernard in one simple question: why did you do that? This question is answered through the unknown or unconscious of characters. Bernard expresses his unknown desires through his self contempt, his ability to focus on small detail unlike his peers, and his sudden boasting in pride.
First of all, Bernard’s unseen desires are revealed through his thoughts concerning himself, or otherwise self contempt, and the judgements which others force upon him. Steven Lynn, author of Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature with Critical Theory, explains the work within this collection of writings, “we don’t know what’s going on in our minds even though that activity is influencing our thinking and behavior,” (Lynn 168). Although Bernard does not fully understand the context or

even the meaning of his thoughts, they drive him to be unlike everyone else, to want more than happiness, to his state of irritation. The concept of our thought driving our actions correlates to the studies of psychologists: they have theories that the unconscious, especially when we are unaware of it, can make people act out in ways nobody saw coming. The Id, ego, and superego work behind the scenes to turn the gears inside our brains. The backbone of Bernard’s self condemning thoughts are due to his smaller stature as compared to the rest of the alphas. Huxley wrote, “The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects. Which in turn increased his sense of being alien and alone. A chronic fear of being slighted made him avoid his equals, made him stand...self consciously on his dignity” (Huxley 65). Just prior to this statement, Bernard himself said, “I am I , and I wish I wasn’t” (Huxley 64). Bernard’s innermost yearning is to be equal; henceforth, when he returns from the savage reservation, he overreacts to his sudden acceptance by becoming a hypocrite in pride and ill-behavior. His thoughts of self contempt are his unconscious ways of expressing his desire to rise in power and popularity.
In addition to Bernard’s self contempt, his desires are presented through his seemingly peculiar ability to focus on small details. Early on in the story, Huxley makes prominent that Bernard can see the flaws in this new, technologically enhanced society while all the surrounding people have been brainwashed to believe everything is so perfect that it can no longer gain improvements. During a solidarity service, Huxley describes Bernard’s behavior as very prone to detail. He writes, “but the eyebrow, that black two-in-one--alas, it was still there; he couldn’t ignore it, however hard he tried…’I drink to the imminence of His coming,’ he repeated, with a sincere attempt to feel that the coming was imminent; but the eyebrow continued to haunt him” (Huxley 82). This talent represents his desire to change those small details, for he is of few that recognize the details as flaws. The more Bernard thinks of the flaws in this new society, the more he wants to ignore it, yet the more he ignores it, the more it invades his thoughts. Bernard does not fully understand his desire for imperfection, but this behavior makes it prominent in his thoughts. Spread out through the story, Bernard critiques the ways of this new world when others around him repeat phrases which they hearn through hypnopaedia--he states how many times one hears those repeated phrases in their lifetime as if he’s trying to explain how wrong it is. Lynn explains, “we do things, Freud asserted, really weird and silly things sometimes, for reasons that are to some degree hidden, inaccessible, beyond our direct control or awareness” (Lynn 165). His verbal action of repeating the quantity of phrases unconsciously also represents his unconscious desire to change the wrong ways of this seemingly-flawless stratagem to alter the opinions of every community member. There is a possibility that Bernard does not realize his action at these times in the novel; therefore, his id takes control of the ego and superego for a brief moment.
To go along with self contempt and detail orientation, Bernard’s desires are stealthily expressed through becoming puffed up in pride once he returns from the savage reservation.

Bernard’s unconscious wish comes true after he brings John the Savage into the civilized world: He begins to be seen as an equal to the other alphas, and begins to “have” many women as everyone else does. Huxley describes, “success went fizzily to Bernard’s head, and in the process completely reconciled him...to a world which, up till then, he had found very unsatisfactory” (Huxley 159). Through this section of the story, is is evident that Bernard becomes a hypocrite to those he once loathed who were high in power. This expression of pride in his behavior is proof that his hidden desires was to change the way things are by bringing in the savage, and also his desire to be equal to his peers. During the second half of the book, Bernard is no longer known as that one alpha who is physically stunted. Terry Cooper, author of the informative book, Sin, Pride, & Self-acceptance: The Problem of Identity in Theology & Psychology, wrote, “it is frequently pointed out that beneath the conceited behavior of many individuals is a haunting, self-doubting voice of inadequacy” (Cooper 149). Bernard’s sudden prideful attitude is rooted with his prior self contempt. Now that he knows what it’s like to be an equal after his experience of constant prejudice, pride takes control of his

morality.
So put everything together, the prominent character, Bernard, in Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, reveals his unconscious desires through self contempt, attentiveness to detail, and boasting in pride.