What Are The Similarities Between Saunders Rook And Bernard Marx

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.

Bernard’s averageness influences society to overlook him.

In particular, he faces challenges in obtaining sex partners, and this is significant due to the importance of sex in the world he lives. As a result of their averageness and society’s isolation of them, both Saunders Rook and Bernard Marx are insecure and feel jealous of those who are above average. Saunders describes himself as “colorless and unoriginal,” and these feelings stem from his belief that averageness is worthless in society (Connell 297). He further feels jealous of people like Max Skye and Lucile Davega, who he believes are unlike him in that they can capture other people’s attention. Bernard Marx feels similar in believing that his averageness, particularly in appearance, causes him to be socially inferior. He is jealous of people like Helmholtz Watson who has above average intelligence and looks. He believes such characteristics allow people like Helmholtz to gain access to society’s offering, particularly sex and attention. Overall, because Saunders Rook and Bernard Marx are average, both characters feel alone and feel jealous of those characterized as above

average.
Both characters have the same goal of gaining social recognition which they achieve in similar ways with determination, and they both face similar social changes as a result of achieving said goal. In “A Reputation,” Saunders Rook achieves his goal by performing an attention-grabbing action, with this action being planning to commit suicide in public. This illustrates the determination Saunders feels for achieving his goal as evidenced by his willingness to die for his cause, despite him having no reasons to kill himself otherwise (Connell 297). Bernard Marx of Brave New World is similar in his goal to gain society’s attention, and he achieves this goal by bringing John the Savage back from the Reservation. Achieving his goal requires a great amount of passion and determination as Bernard must uproot John’s family and ruin the life of the Director. Bernard feels so passionately amount gaining popularity that he disregards all moral constructs and sacrifices the well-being of others to achieve his goal. After achieving their goals of social recognition, both Saunders and Bernard face changes in their social life. Before gaining popularity, Saunders is rejected from writing in a major magazine and is not invited to any social events (Connell 299). However, thereafter, he is offered a writing deal with the magazine and is invited to many social events, including a meeting with high ranking government officials (Connell 300). In similarity, Bernard is chaste and left out of social events before his gaining of social recognition. Afterwards though, Bernard gains access to the social functions and the casual sex he had been previously denied. For instance, he can easily schedule a sex date with the headmistress of Eton while taking a tour there. This demonstrates a significant change in his character from the isolated person he was to the popular and promiscuous person he becomes. In conclusion, Saunders Rook and Bernard Marx are similar in their goals, their feelings and actions in achieving these goals, and their lifestyle changes that result from these goals.