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How does one fit into society? Does one have to be smarter, prettier, higher rank, or come from the same place as everyone else? In the novel, Brave New World, Bernard Marx and John are the protagonist. They do not fit into society and hate the way the people are living. These two characters are similar in every way, but different as well. While Bernard was born into the “new world” where society is clean, happy, but oblivious to anything that is happening. John was born in the old world, where people got married and the technology is poor compared to Bernard’s home. They were both born in different places, however fate brought these two together. John and Bernard are like brothers, both share the same qualities. However, even brothers are …show more content…
different compared to each other. To begin with, Bernard is different compared to his companions in the novel.
He does not fit in; Bernard share the same experiences that everyone else does. For instances, when Bernard arrives to a meeting late. He felt embarrassed when a woman asked him what sport he plays, he had to admit that he does not play any sports. To make matters worse, when the members of the meeting started to “feel the lord”, Bernard did not hear anything. However, Bernard mentions, “ ‘I hear him; He’s coming.’ But it wasn’t true. He heard nothing and, for him, nobody was coming….. But he waved his arms, he shouted with the best of them; and when the others began jig and stamp and shuffle, he also jigged and shuffled” (pg 84). He pretended to like other people; to be like everyone else. John experiences the same things in his village. John’s parents come from the new world, but he was born in the old world. So he is obviously different compared to the Indians. Instead of the Indians wanting John to participate in the activities, they forbid him to do so. John felt like an outcast due to the color of his skin and where he comes from. It is the same with Bernard, everyone knows that he does not fit in, but Bernard is trying to make people like him. John wants to do everything that the Indians are doing. These two characters go hand to hand when it comes to being different in …show more content…
society. In addition, both characters felt different when their status in the new world rose.
Bernard was an outcast in society. Society thought something went wrong when he was born. He was miserable, he did not do any of the things other men did. He slept with any girls except for Lenina which is considered weird in society. As time went on, Bernard discovered John at the reservation. When Bernard brought John in from the Reservation; the director was fired. Bernard instantly became popular and arrogant. He was happy and in love with the idea of being the center of attention. For example, Bernard went to his friend Helmholtz and had a conversation about Bernard discussing how many women he is sleeping with. Helmholtz did not reply. “‘ You’re envious,’ he said….. Bernard went off in a huff. Never, he told himself, never would he speak to Helmholtz again” (pg 157). Popularity was the most important thing to Bernard. It is one of his weakness because he does not notice the society's flaws. His judgement is clouded because he found his place in
society. Lastly, as John’s status in the new world rose, he began to hate society with passion. He hated the people, their medicine, soma, everything. John’s reaction to his new popularity is completely different compared to Bernard’s. John wanted to be isolated from society unlike Bernard who wanted to be on top. In particular, John wanted his own home outside of society. He did not care where, as long as it his far away from the new world. As John began to settle down, a crowd of people surrounded his house; they wanted him to hit himself with his whip. Matters had worsen when Lenina showed up and John sanity was gone. It was illustrated that John “ had rushed to her like a mad-man. ‘Fitchew!’ Like a madman, he was slashing at her with his whip of small cords” (pd 257). John could not deal with his life anymore, he could not stand living with his thoughts of Lenina and the way society acted towards him. John’s weakness was loving too much and hating too much. It was tragic because John committed suicide while Bernard did not want to leave society. These characters are different when it comes to living in the new world. To sum it up, John and Bernard share similar qualities; they hated society and was not popular growing up. However, both characters had different fates due to the fact that Bernard thrived for attention and love. While John loved too strongly and did not want to live in a world where there were hundreds of clones. Each character had a strength, John’s passion made him into the person that he was. He cared for his mother even though she treated him terribly. He might of loved too hard, but it is a strength as well. Bernard wanted his opinion to be heard, that was his strength. When the Director and the Controller told Bernard to change his ways in society. Bernard stood his ground, was firm, but was exiled. Society was not the way either character wanted it to be. Society molded these two characters into who they were.
This said, we are introduces an external conflict; Bernard against the others in his caste. Most other alphas do not genuinely like Bernard. Strange to them, they disclude him and do not usually welcome his presence. The Director, after sharing personal information with Bernard, warns him of the dangers of resisting social norms. He even threatens to send him to Iceland if he does not start to conform. Because of all this, Bernard struggles between conforming to society like he is told, and his own personal beliefs.
In spite of Bernard’s height issue, he is not a timid character. He is not afraid to state his opinions on matters or to stand up for what he believes is wrong. Since Bernard does not truly belong in the Brave New World’s society as he would like, he can more eas...
However, to determine your place on the social ladder one needs economic and cultural reproduction. As DeMarrais and LeCompte state “wealth can be converted into social and cultural capital providing distinct non merit advantages that can be transferred to the children of the rich and powerful” (1999, 14). In other words, social capital and cultural capital are crucial assets. Likewise, as stated in The Meritocracy Myth “rather than viewing schooling as promoting democracy, social mobility, and equality, conflict theorists conceptualize schools as reproducing both the ideologies of the dominant social groups and the hierarchy of the class structure” (McNamee and Miller Jr. 2014,
He has the opportunity to get a formal education and see the difference between both societies so that he may learn what each society's weaknesses are, no one society is perfect. Instead, he chooses to make it an uphill battle, taking on White society as a whole and never seeing the good in it because he is too busy looking for the differences. He speaks of an Indian man at the reservation, Alex Bodidash who tries to have it both ways. ." . . and tries to keep his home to white standards. Funny that my people should be falling ever behind."
Bernice, from the short story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, is no different from the average teenager in almost any society around the world. Bernice is pressured and is trying to fit into a society that she feels uncomfortable in. When she does conform and change and begins to feel semi-comfortable, the tables turn and people are challenging her sincerity. No matter if she sticks to what she knows or conforms to those around her, someone is still unhappy with her. Bernice is not a social girl. She never really had any friends. The people she considered her friends back home were only around her because she had money. When she goes to stay with her cousin, Marjorie, Bernice is unpopular and it makes her seem insecure. “Bernice felt a vague pain that she was not at present engaged in being...
Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way.
In Aldous Huxley's novel, "Brave New World" he introduces a character named, Bernard Marx an alpha part of the upper higher class who does not quite fit in. Bernard is cursed by the surrounding rumors of something going wrong during his conditioning that he becomes bitter and isolates himself from those around him in the World State. Huxley's character experiences both alienation and enrichment to being exiled from a society that heavily relies on technology and forms of entertainment with little to no morals.
The highest social class cannot be reached by outsiders. This is a class that you must belong to or marry in to, you cannot work your way up to it. Works Cited Bourdieu, Pierre. A. Distinction- A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984).
Social class should not be used to define a person. Every person has the ability to overcome the roadblocks that society has placed in their path, so long as they have the determination and motivation. In Gerald Graff’s article, “Hidden Intellectualism” , he explains how social class is irrelevant when it comes to education, despite what society will lead you to believe. He displays how everyone is intelligent in his or her own way.Lynda Barry during her article, “ The Sanctuary of School” spoke about the importance of education to her and many other students like her.Another writer, Mike Rose shows how despite the thoughts that society puts in our heads we can still be successful in his article “Blue Collar Brilliance”.Regardless of social
Bernard is pretty high up in the social system in Brave New World. He is an Alpha Plus at the top of the caste system and works in the Psychology Bureau as a specialist on hypnopaedia. Bernard, though, is flawed according to his culture on the inside and out. " 'He's so ugly!'... ' And then so small.'
Bernard was born as an alpha, the highest caste. Unfortunately, he was born with multiple birth defects. Bernard was short and slightly disfigured, making him stick out compared to everyone else's genetic perfection. Because of this, Bernard was made fun of a lot by other people in the community making him feel lonely, even though he was born
Saunders Rook from “A Reputation” and Bernard Marx from Brave New World are similar in their averageness, which causes both of them to feel isolated and jealous. Saunders Rook is described as not “very tall or very short or very dark or very light” (Connell 296). He is an average man with no defining physical characteristics. His averageness causes him to be forgotten in society. This is evidenced by people not knowing his occupation and by people not knowing how he became a member of the Heterogeneous Club. Bernard Marx is average as well, and he is also disregarded by society because of his averageness. Bernard Marx is a member of the Alpha Plus class, a social class consisting of the best looking and most intelligent humans. However, Bernard is short and average in appearance due to a supposed mishap at birth.
Social class is an underlying factor to which all characters run their lives. It is always a priority and influenced most, if not every part of their lives. Most of the characters in the novel respect the rules of class and are always trying to climb the social ladder. Or if they are atop this ladder, they make it a mission that they remain there. Mrs. Bennet tried very hard to have her daughters marry the most socially advanced men and in the end the daughters chose socially respectable men.
During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Max Weber were two of the most influential sociologists. Both of them tried to explain social change taking place in a society at that time. On the one hand, their views are very different, but on the other hand, they had many similarities.
According to Marx class is determined by property associations not by revenue or status. It is determined by allocation and utilization, which represent the production and power relations of class. Marx’s differentiate one class from another rooted on two criteria: possession of the means of production and control of the labor power of others. The major class groups are the capitalist also known as bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The capitalist own the means of production and purchase the labor power of others. Proletariat is the laboring lower class. They are the ones who sell their own labor power. Class conflict to possess power over the means of production is the powerful force behind social growth.