Gamaliel Hernandez Kyle Lesniewicz English 10 H-B 9 May 2024 Rebellion and Selflessness The book Brave New World discusses a lot of topics such as happiness and whether or not it's worth the sacrifices. There are four characters in particular, Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, Mustapha Mond, and John, who help develop this idea. Their words and actions say a lot about their character, what they want and what they’re willing to do to get it. Bernard is probably the most unique of the four. Although Bernard had some rebellious feelings, he never acted on them because he was a coward. Bernard did want individuality, but he wasn’t willing to risk his status. He never actively went against the system, no matter what happened. “‘More on my own, not …show more content…
Helmholtz makes it clear what he wants when he talks to Bernard. “‘But they go a little way. They aren’t important enough, somehow. I feel I could do something much more important. Yes, and more intense, more violent’” (70). What he's saying to Bernard is that he’s unsatisfied with himself and his work and that he could do something more meaningful. He feels that he isn’t using his full potential because of this, he wants to do something more exciting and more thrilling. He is driven by his excitement and unlike Bernard, he is willing to do something about it to actually act on his desire to do more. For example, when he wrote the poem about loneliness and presented it to his class. “‘This time I thought I’d give them one I’d just written myself. Pure madness, of course; but I couldn’t resist it.’ He laughed.” (180). Helmholtz knew he would get in trouble, but went ahead and did it anyway. He even laughed when talking about it with Bernard, and said that he couldn’t resist writing the poem. He then goes a step further and helps John when he’s throwing out the …show more content…
Helmholtz clearly enjoys doing risky things. He doesn’t care about his status or appearance. He’s willing to take action to get what he desires, which is in stark contrast to Bernard. Similarly to Bernard, he is more concerned with his own satisfaction rather than doing what’s best for the people like John and Mustapha. But he isn’t afraid to stand up for his friends. He is especially different from Mustapha since he chose to sacrifice what he wanted for the people. Mustapha is exceptionally different compared to the last two discussed. He knows the truth of what the world used to be like. He knows even more than John. But he still believes that the world they're in is better than what it was in the past. He even admitted to not following the rules when he was young, saying he was a scientist and did things that weren’t allowed. “I started doing a bit of cooking on my own. Unorthodox cooking, illicit cooking. A bit of real science, in fact’” (226). He also believed that some of the rules in place didn’t make sense, so he decided to do things his own way until he was almost sent to an island. Mustapha believed that science was helpful but also dangerous, like the truth, he believed that this was best for the
There are several inconsistencies about the situations that Ehrenreich placed herself in and the real li...
Through this, the reader understands that the author has an advanced amount of knowledge on the subject she will be covering throughout the novel. Feeling as if there will be no need to question her findings or conclusions (due to her vast educational background and the research she put in), the audience is much more susceptible and therefore predisposed to Ehrenreich’s arguments, making it easier for her to make her case.
With these components at the forefront, productivity presents itself in a crucial way. This dystopian world is built around constantly being productive, often leaving its citizens how they would personally benefit from helping their peers and associates; more specifically, how helping their peers and associates would benefit the World State. Mustapha Mond mentions this with his hypnopædic phrase, “But everyone belongs to everyone else” (Huxley 40). When Bernard brings John to London, John’s initial purpose is one hidden from him. Bernard searches to embarrass the Director for his hypocrisy by outing him as John’s father. When this mission is completed and the Director resigns, John’s significance severely decreases. He misses all chances at making connections and being productive and his lashing out on other citizens threatens his ability to continue to exist stably in society. With no true purpose of existing in the machine that is the World State, John does what he believes will be the most productive thing he can do for society and takes his own life. Doing so exemplifies how John resembles a Christ-like figure, as his death for the improvement of the world reiterates that he would rather die in isolation than live life only as a small part of a much bigger
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 we are first introduced to bernard we think of him as a rebel and a protester. Bernard isn't like the rest he wants to be different and stands up for his rights, He tries and succeeds in battling against the order of things. We find out later on that bernard questions his willingness of living in the Word State and the beliefs it teaches, but he than realizes that his frustration seems to be from him not feeling accepted. Until Bernards visit to the reservation (the Savage Reservation is the complete opposite of the controlled and sterile society of Brave New World Most of the aspects of each society contradicts another, the savage reservation is seen as a dystopia but it is home to many people and even people that are caught in the middle
Bernard Marx is an intriguing character in the book Brave New World. At the beginning of the book, he is a very main character, but as the book goes on he is put more and more into the background of the story. The reason for this can be explained by the way his character changes as the book progresses. Aldous Huxley makes an interesting point by showing how a person can be changed by obtaining something he desires. It makes the readers wonder whether success would change them in the same way or if they would be able to maintain their character.
The outcome of what happened to Bernard forced him to see that mistakes were one reason a Utopian Society could not exist. The Character Bernard Marx is an example of human imperfection, not because he was referred to as deformed, but because the person who created him messed up. Individuals were decanted according to specification. Any deviation was evidently the result of some mistake, a mistake made by a human. These technological developments weren’t advanced enough to create such a perfect society. Bernard was an example of this undesired reality. He was deemed an outcast due to his imperfection. Being an outcast, however, allowed him to see the world differently. He was able to realize how everything was being manipulated and he was able to discern that it was wrong.
How does one achieve happiness? Money? Love? Being oneself? Brave New World consists of only 3 different ways to achieve happiness. Each character of the brave new world will have his or her different opinion of the right way to achieve happiness. In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley explains many people achieve happiness through the World State’s motto – “community, identity, stability”, soma, and conditioning.
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.
One such character he uses to represent the ideology behind this is Bernard Marx. Bernard Marx is a character that represents those who are different from the norm, a character still relevant in today's culture. He is an archetype of those who are looked down upon as different. He signifies those who look and/or think uniquely. Bernard is the outcast who longs to belong.
Laroche collected all sorts of strange items and never had a care in the world. Laroche’s hobbies had a wide range of out of the ordinary items such as orchids, turtles, fish... The list goes on. Laroche was confident enough in himself to find a passion of his and put his all into it which is a very admirable quality. Contradictory to John Laroche I struggled with conformity and did choose to conform to the appearance of everyone else. This desire of conformity made me alter my looks to please everyone but myself. In the end, I learned to never conform to societal expectation but to please myself instead. A person’s acceptance is not worth the sacrifice of their happiness. The pressure of conformity and the longing to fulfill one's personal desires is a difficult choice. If you choose to conform you can almost guarantee acceptance but lack happiness and if you choose to pursue personal desires you might lack acceptance but find true happiness. When battled with acceptance versus happiness it is up to the person to decide which they value most. In the end, the choice is
Bernard Marx an Alpha plus specialist in sleep teaching is an example of a character that changes in the brave new word. He changes from a character that symbolized individuality to a character that just wanted to desperately belong to the society. At the beginning of the novel he seemed to be very different from the society, he acts like a rebel trying to battle against the order of things. He seemed to be an “individual” in the first few chapters. For example On his first date with Lenina with lenina he says ” I’d rather be myself. ‘Myself and nasty .Not somebody else, however jolly”(77). He wanted to be something else different from the rest of the society. However we see that his root concern is to be socially acceptable and not really about becoming an individual. In chapter 6 Bernard shows signs of undergoing a change in his character. When the Director summoned Bernard to his office for being unorthodox, Bernard goes on to brag to his friend Helmholtz Watson on his victory over the director when he says” I simply told him to go to the bottomless past and marched out of the room and that was that “(85). We get the sense that Bernard’s victory wasn’t so much about personal integrity as it was social acceptance. Finally, his character undergoes a c...
Chapter 4-8 Starting off chapter 4, Lenina and Bernard Marx are sharing a crowded elevator heading to the roof (Huxley 57). While in front of everyone, she tells Bernard that she will go on a date with him. The public display embarrasses Bernard, who would prefer to talk it over in private (Huxley 58-62). Lenina laughs at his awkwardness and then takes off with Henry Foster in a helicopter for a date night (Huxley 63). We then learn more about Bernard and how he deals with his problems. Then after blowing some steam off Bernard gets in his vehicle and flies away to visit Helmholtz Watson (Huxley 66-71). The main reason why these guys are friends is because they both are different compared to everyone else in the world. Watson and Bernard are capable
Within Brave New World social stability means everyone is identical and has a preset purpose to life. A tour guide at the Central London Hatchery And Conditioning Centre explains they”…predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as alphas or epsilons, as future sewage workers…” (Huxley 13) Bernard Marx was born by the same Bokanovsky process as everyone else. He is forced to live in a society where individuality is suppressed for stability by conformity. Marx knows he is unlike many others and tries to fit in. He is prevented to be his true self because he is already looked down on by the conditioned society and risk of exile. His anti-social beliefs include ideas of marriage, emotions and community events which are unmoral according to the rest of civilization.