After reading and thinking about Brave New World, I lost my appreciation for Bernard Marx. Bernard is not like the other Alpha-Plus men in his society. He is smaller and weaker, but he does have a more open mind than the others. I appreciated Bernard because he was not like the other men. He thought of women, especially Lenina Crowne, highly to the point where he did not see them as just someone to have. This is evident when he over hears Henry Foster talking about her.
" 'Talking about her as though she were a bit of meat. Have her here, have her there. Like mutton...' " (45)
This moment was the only time i saw anyone one of the people from the upper world have moral standings similar to that of the lower world. Marx questions many of the things that are done in his society. Unlike everyone else, he seems to enjoy anger and not be happy all the time. Bernard is not happy in his society because he is excluded. He is made fun of for not being physically similar to the others, and he has a hard time getting women to be with him. He goes to visit the Savage Reservation where he discovers John and his mother, Linda who was originally from the upper world. Upon going to the Reservation, he observes them and seems to understand what they do. When he decides to bring back John the Savage with him to the upper world, his life is changed forever.
This is the beginning of the end of the Bernard I grew to know and appreciate. Bringing him back, brought fame and popularity to Bernard Marx. The life Marx had grown to hate would change drastically for him upon his arrival. Even though he was still smaller than the other men, he was sought after by many women. Upon this he was happy and liked the world he lived in because he was not different or excluded anymore. He grows to think of Lenina as a piece of meat just to have, and he justifies this by telling himself that is how she sees herself. Is Bernard Marx so weak minded to where when things do not go his way he hates his world, but as soon as he fits in and has many women, he loves it? Is this the way we work to where as soon as things go our way we change who we are? Why can't we enjoy the world we live in no matter how things are going for us?
I agree that Bernard becomes less of a hero and more of a weak minded person towards the end. At the start of the novel, Bernard is very likeable because we can relate to him. He thinks almost similar to us and he does not fit in to this weird society. I felt like he didn’t belong because he had a better and stronger will than those who surrounded him. He was more human than the rest but maybe he was just too human. By the end, the reader can see Bernard’s greedy qualities, and he becomes less of a hero. He didn’t fit in to society because he really was a misfit and he just tries too hard. He is a hypocrite and things don’t go his way for long because people realize how cowardly and greedy he is. When he gets popularity, he feels he is better than everyone but people like Mustapha Mond and John bring him down. They can see how self-centered he is and they had the power to bring him down. I think Bernard is just one of the many different personalities that the world has to offer. There will always be someone who tries too hard to fit in. Others just accept who they are and stick to their own opinions regardless.
ReplyDeleteI also expected more from Bernard. I had the impression that he was someone we, in our world, could relate to. He had similar moral values that we tend to have, and he was disgusted by much of his society's aspects. He changes, though, to become greedy and selfish once he has fame. It turns out he was more than feeble-looking, he was feeble-minded. However, I think Huxley really did show someone we could relate to. We object now to a world like that, but if the time comes where we have to decide if we would give it all up for endless happiness, who knows if we would still protest. Maybe we would decide we’re miserable and accept what the new world offers.
ReplyDeleteMy respect for Bernard definitely took a turn for the worse after he brings John into the civilized world. It seemed as if it was only through suffering was he able to have a clearer perspective of what was going on around us. Like anyone else, it is easy to lose sight of what is important when you get everything you want. Bernard had always been considered an outcast among the upper class and the taste of admiration and approval from his peers was too sweet to let go of even if it meant losing sight of who he was in the first place.
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