Bernard's Quest for Individuality: A Brave New World

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Bernard’s Quest for Individuality

Have you ever felt like an outcast? Ever been publically humiliated and constantly reminded of your differences? That is what life is life for Bernard Marx, an intelligent sleep-teaching expert who is a misfit in his society. He is aware of the hypnopaedia that is being used on the people in order to control him and he claims that he wants to break free from this society of mindless clones. However, throughout the novel, Bernard goes through a remarkable change and takes on a role of an anti-hero as his ideas of freedom and individuality are stomped on by his sudden popularity. Thesis: Bernard Marx’s quest for individuality is doomed because of his criticism of World State’s ideals stems from his flaws, his egotism, and his hypocritical nature.

Bernard is a misfit who is constantly mocked by his peers for his physical defects, which is the primary cause of his dislike of the World State’s society. He is an Alpha male, and yet his physical flaws and insecurities lead him to feel lonely and self-conscious. In a world of tall, handsome, and broad-shouldered Alphas, Bernard is short, slender, and ugly, and prejudice in favor of size is universal. “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 (Huxley 56).” From this quote it becomes evident that Bernard is angry at the world for not accepting him and claims to be an individual. But in reality, he accepts this prejudice and he supports it because he knows that if he had a better physique, he would not be a subject of mockery of the society. He himself is prejudiced against people based on their...

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...s vices. Bernard is like a defected piece in a large puzzle – he wants to fit in but cannot do so without distrupting the order of things. As a result, he cannot be considered a true individual.

Works Cited

Firchow, Peter Edgerly. The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1984. 21. Print.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2007. Print.

Myron, Coleman Carroll. "The Nonconformers Pause and Say: "There's Gotta Be Something More"" Huxley's Brave New World: Essays. Ed. David Garrett Izzo and Kim Kirkpatrick. N.p.: McFarland, 2008. 14. Web. 20 May 2014.

Pollerd, Jake. "State Versus the Individual: Civil Disobedience in Brave New World." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Civil Disobedience, Bloom's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 19 May 2014.

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