Marxism In Brave New World Essay

In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley describes the dystopian world in which babies are born synthetically, forced into various castes, and given knowledge to accompany their lifestyle. Throughout the novel, traces of the downfalls of human history are completely wiped out, thanks to the work of the directors and science. However, Bernard Marx, an Alpha Male, seems to be completely lost in London and as a result, embodies all of the undesired characteristics: shyness, loneliness, and his dislike of common social norms. However, his character commonly fluctuates throughout the story: from his journey to the New Mexico Savage Reservation to the departure of the Savage from London. Huxley describes Marx’s characterization with the use of

In the novel, Huxley uses Fanny to give an initial description of Marx, “‘They say he doesn’t like Obstacle Golf…and then he spends most of his time by himself-alone.’ There was horror in Fanny’s voice” (45). The horror present in Fanny’s voice gives a direct description of how others view Marx’s characteristics. Although he is considered to be at the height of his society, because of the way he acts people think of him as an individual that deserves to be shunned from society. This quote allows the reader to understand the tensions present in the initial moments of the novel when Bernard is first introduced into the novel. Although there is a turning point for Bernard when he brings home John and Linda, he eventually is cast back into his original self, feeling unconfident and resorting to external help from soma, “Punctured, utterly deflated, he dropped into a chair and covering his face with his hands, began to weep” (176). Although Huxley could have described him in a manner that makes him a better person as the novel progresses, he doesn’t. Huxley describes Marx in this way to show how one’s character and his image don’t change completely through one good act; he wanted to express that regardless of his change in character, his original image would stay the same