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Bernard Marxism In Brave New World

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How unfortunate it was that the brilliant Bernard Marx of Brave New World, a man isolated by the emotions which are numb to the rest of society, is driven off the edge of sanity in an attempt to share these emotions.The tortured, misunderstood Alpha-plus man that wanted more out of life then to indulge in sexual ecstasies regulated by this “utopian” society was denied this throughout his life. At first, he was a subtle man, but then became a man that was pervaded by extreme jealousy and ego.
Bernard Marx displays a vast amount of change, being introduced as the troubled character yearning for Lenina to understand him and his humanistic traits. In an attempt to make Lenina understand something other than sexual desire and pleasure, he takes …show more content…

While in New Mexico with Lenina, Bernard gains an interest in a so called “savage” named John, who spoke fluently in English. “Bernard’s question made a diversion. Who? How? When? From where?” (Ch. 7, pg. 117) As fascinated as Bernard sounds after meeting the English speaking savage, it is not the reason readers may think it is for. Earlier in the book, Bernard gives us the impression that he’s just a frustrated, lonely man with the desire to become close to Lenina and to share intellectual conversations with her. But, after so much time of being isolated, drowning within his own frustration and the lack of understanding from everyone around him, Bernard he's, in a way, given up on the idea of having a relationship just as humans would if they weren't controlled in such a society. Bernard is fed up with being alone, and as the Alpha-plus man he is, he won’t settle for being a lonely man anymore. Bernard takes the “savage” and uses him to escalate his fame and social standings. Bernard even begins to boast about how he’s had pleasurable encounters with women: “And I had six last week,” he confided to Helmholtz Watson. “One on Monday, two on Tuesday, two more on Friday, and one on Saturday. And if I’d had the time or inclination, there were at least a dozen they were only too anxious…” (Huxley

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But once Johns true character, rebel, is revealed Bernard is suddenly not with the rebelling. Showing his true characteristics; a

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Another way Bernard conforms to the World State yet questions himself is through sex and happiness. Bernard enjoys spending time alone, which the World State doesn’t really allow since being alone allows them to be in their own thoughts. But, that’s Bernard’s happy place, he doesn’t need soma to take whenever he isn’t feeling well. He tries to best he can to not having meaningless sex and to take doses of soma. But, the pressure of Lenina leads him into conforming to the normalities and taking part in these rituals.

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Because of this way that other people look at Bernard he is not happy, in their society everybody is meant to be happy but in some rare cases that is not true. This incident is similar in many books, for example, The Catcher in the Rye, where Holden feels that he is different and left out of society. Bernard feels the same way for the majority of the book and it can be said he resembles a rhinoceros. 2. “I thought that in the Other Place … I mean, Linda always said that nobody was ever alone

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Bernard sits everyone down and begins reading his theory and all his evidence. People begin to poke holes in his argument and Bernard and Valentine begin to argue. Bernard then asks if Hannah will leave for London with him, and have sex, but is denied. Hannah and Valentine discuss how research shows the hermit she is writing about was obsessed with math. Back to the past we hear from Jellaby that the Chater’s and Brice and Byron all left because Lady Croom was jealous when she found Mrs. Chater with Lord Byron.

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Therefore the reader sees John as extremely virtuous and Lenina as, perhaps, extremely whorish. At the end of the novel John makes the realization that

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739 Words | 3 Pages

He begins taking John for granted and assumes that John has to do every task assigned. While John is not helping Bernard improve his image, Bernard leaves him alone to fend for himself in an alien environment. Bernard is so relaxed that he is giving other people the job of watching over John. His influence and control over John influences his thoughts and eventually changes him into a selfish man who blackmails John and

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

This is made clear as Bernard showcases the advanced civilization to John and John seems either unimpressed or confused about the whole situation. This is exemplified when John visits both the library and the Television Corporation factory as the savage learns about daily soma rations of the lower castes and the absence of Shakespeare in the World State. (Pg 164-165). As John continues to explore the world around him it is made very clear that he dislikes and is simply a square peg trying to fit into a circular hole, though John isn’t really trying to fit in moreover just blindly following others direction. This becomes clear to John as Bernard begins parading him around at parties as some kind of entertainment and after finally rejecting to go to one of Bernard's party the reader can see how much John is simply a tool that Bernard is using for his own social gain.

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922 Words | 4 Pages

It is what I expected from him since fighting for someone is not known of in his society. (pg.182-184). I think that John relates better to Helmholtz than Bernard for the reason that Helmholtz believes himself to be a subversive writer, creating poems that reflect his personal disconnection from the world, he is immediately fascinated by John, since he sees in the Savage something of the self to which he aspires. Furthermore, when they meet Helmholtz reads some of his personal poetry to John, who responsa with selections from Shakespeare.

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

Why does John push Lenina away even though he loves her? This essay will compare Lenina and John the Savage and discuss the reasons why their relationship is a failure. Lenina is described as “pneumatic” which means “filled with air”. This expression is a metaphor for being curvy and attractive. In the new world people are encouraged to have sex, including Lenina.

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423 Words | 2 Pages

As Lenina’s interest to seduce John perseveres, John responds her with lines from the romantic books he read. After his mother’s death, John starts a riot against the state in cooperation with Bernard. The

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624 Words | 3 Pages

Bernards alienation because of his physique and his enrichment from his different moral views illuminates the meaning of the novel overall which is the definition of freedom. The utopia in the novel puts a lot of emphasis on conformity and discourages individuality, which is something Bernard doesn’t follow the rules of. As seen in a conversation in chapter 6 with Bernard and Lenina, Lenina insists that the society has a great deal of freedom represented by soma and its hypnotic state. The author uses this technique to show the reader that the true definition of freedom is not conformity and obedience, instead, it’s the independence to be an individual apart from the rest of

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771 Words | 4 Pages

Bernard is the only one who tries to break the lack of individualism in his community. Bernard wanted to be “more on [his] own, not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body”(Huxley 90). The utopians described themselves as being to everyone else that no one was on their own. However, Bernard wanted to be different than everyone else, he felt different than everyone else.

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1438 Words | 6 Pages

Bernard Nightingale parallels Septimus as he is ambitious, mechanical in learning, and takes interest in academic rankings. Hannah on the other hand is logical, creative, and intellectually superior to Bernard. Hannah states: “this whole Romantic sham, Bernard! It’s what happened to the Enlightenment, isn’t it? A century of intellectual rigour turned in on itself / A mind in chaos suspected of genius.

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Cheerleading: Is It a Sport? You do cheer your whole life and do just as much as other athletes. Someone walks up to you and says cheer isn’t a sport.

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(IV. ii. 82-83). This is similar to John who at first sees himself as unworthy to love Lenina but, having been accustomed to the tradition of love and marriage, is shocked by the fact that she seems to only be interested in sex. Following his confession and proposal toward Lenina, which she interprets as him being open to having sex with her, John has a violent outburst and says “Get out of my sight or I’ll kill you” (Huxley 194). Because John was truly in love with Lenina, he is filled with rage as he realizes that she mindlessly follows the sexual norms of the New World society, making her incapable of commitment.

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