In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World finding a character that
fits under the title of “hero” is a hard thing to do with so many characters
doing different things that show signs of being “hero”. But I believe Bernard
Marx shows the exact opposite of what Huxley was trying to show as a “hero” in Brave New World by him being a hypocritical
character in the use of “heard poisoning” and his reaction to being banished
from the London society.
Being a “hero” is a hard thing to
pin down especially in BNW because
you have to infer with that Huxley would call a hero and if you look at the
article he wrote, “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship”, you can see that Huxley
places a lot of value in standing out as an individual and keeping independence
even in groups. In the article “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship” Huxley refers
to Hitler using “Herd Poisoning” as a drug that lets the users “escape from
responsibility, intelligence and morality into a kind of frantic, animal
mindlessness” (3). Originally Bernard runs away from this and doesn’t want anything
to do with being poisoned and using soma, which is one of the reasons he goes
away to the “savage” reservation of Lenina but what makes him a hypocritical character
is his willingness to always come back to London and the herd poisoned civilization.
Early in the novel Bernard describes his hate
for the people in the society due to his different feelings about soma and he
wished people would just take the beauty that the world has to offer and takes
Lenina away to the “savage” reservation where he learns that he has been
banished to Iceland and becomes upset about this fact. If Bernard can escape
from the London civilization and feel free from it what’s the difference
between willing leaving the civilization and being banished if he just wants to
get away? This happens again later in
the novel when he, John, and Helmholtz are banished for the things they did in
the hospital and being seen as non-conformists. Bernard is banished again to an
island and instantly begins pleading to stay and has to be dragged to the
island. I think Bernard is such a difficult character because he complains and
wants to be a non-conformist to the society but also relies on the society to
keep him alive. It seems like Bernard wants to pick and choose what he wants
from a society and complains when he doesn't get what he wants. Take for
example when the Arch-Community –Songster comes to talk with John and John will
not leave his room. Bernard instantly begins to complain to John and everybody
else around him because this is a time Bernard could finally move up in life
but now that he can’t get what he wants he just complains and talks about living
free again. It’s difficult to take Bernard seriously and really high lights how
much of a “hero” John and Helmholtz are in being mostly free from the herd and
thinking on their own. Bernard doesn't stick with one side of his argument and
seems to care more about living in the civilization than he actually says
making him more into the herd and not much of a “hero” at all.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave
New World. New York: Harper & Row, 1946. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship.” The Way of Wisdom. Ed. William Brugger,
Darrell Hammond, M. Kip Hartvisgen, Anne Papworth and Rhonda Seamons. Rexburg,
Idaho: Brigham Young University-Idaho, 2010. 1-5. Print.
I agree with you that Bernard is the opposite of heroic. I really got a bad taste for him, the way he cuts ties with Helmholtz once he's accepted in society, the way he's too cowardly to help John and Helmholtz fight the Epsilons, and the way he breaks down and throws John and Helmholtz under the bus in front of Mustapha Mond. In my opinion, Helmholtz is the true hero in this book. He is well equipped to excel in society, but instead he chooses to follow his passion for writing, helps John in his time of need, and accepts his ultimate fate of moving to the island.
ReplyDeleteYeah I completely agree, I wish Huxley had written more about Helmholtz instead of Bernard throughout the novel because he is a much more interesting character. I think people reading the novel also get really attached to John but he didn't do much either to prove how he stands above the crowd because he came from a civilization that knew freedom so it was obvious that he would be able to come to the society and see what was wrong with it and stay away from all the fake stuff. Helmholtz was born and raised in it and realized the flaws making him the actual heroic person.
DeleteBernard really is a hypocritical character throughout the novel. I think most of this due to the fact that he is not accepted by society in the beginning, to being accepted for a brief time period, and in the end being rejected completely. Bernard at times wanted to do the right thing, but would change his mind at the end. For example, he had the option of helping Helmhotz and the Savage against the Bokanovsky twins, but decides not too due to his cowardness. I think for us as well, it is a very hard decision to make and that is to stand on the contrary against what everybody else believes. It takes alot of courage to take a stand and support something that is against what society as a whole is accustomed too.
DeleteThat's exactly the way I see Helmholtz Wesley. Eugenio, I agree, it is hard to make those choices. I think Bernard symbolized the apathy within society in the 1930's, and even still today. People see all the things wrong with the world, but they don't stand up and try to change them.
DeleteYes like the people of Germany during Hitler's reign in the 1930's. How could they support the terrible acts Hitler was commiting during those times? I just find it inexplicable the way some of them stood there and let it happen. I guess some of them were forced too by terror and violence if they didnt support Hitler.
DeleteWhile of course I don't agree with the things Hitler did I do agree with Huxley pointing out Hitler's ability to "herd-poison" the German people. If somebody could come up and claim they could restore Germany back to full employment and a striving world super power after World War 1 many people would go along with it. Yes the killing of millions of innocent people was an extreme but Hitler used his propaganda powers so well nobody seemed to notice. I think Bernard would be willing to become part of the herd unless he was told not to by somebody else
DeleteI wish helmholtzWould've been developed more as a character. He's seems interesting in that he too can quote Shakespeare and does seem to enjoy literature. I think if he would've developed more he could stake a valid claim as a hero. I don't think Helmholtz would've succumbed to herd-poising because he has thoughts and simply put he is informed. Informed people are harder to persuade into believing silly thoughts. I think it would've been cool if Huxley developed Helmholtz as this intellectual dude and then boom, let him do a 180 and succumb to herd-poisoning.
DeleteI agree, Bernard was no way a hero in the novel. If anyone was it would have been Helmholtz he was an interesting character and fought back. Helmhotz always had it all!! tall good looking and could have any woman he wanted, but he never let that go to his head, meanwhile Bernard when he got power he bragged about it and it pushed Helmhotz away! do you think that Helmhotz should have been more proud of his friend or was he sad and worried that he was losing the only other person that felt the same about society?
ReplyDeleteI think Helmholtz wasn't upset that he was losing his friend, but rather that his friend was losing himself. Bernard let all the attention he was getting go to his head and change him, and Helmholtz was saddened by the fact that Bernard was no longer the same person he was before.
DeleteThey way Huxley wrote Brave new world, it is hard to tell who the main character is. In my opinion John is the main character and he represents everything society is not. He doesnt accept the sexual advances of Leinia. I think Bernard was used just to introduce us to John, once John is back in london he becomes the leader character and it shows how he deals with this foreign world. I find it interesting that John who started to throw away all the soma wasnt sentenced to anywhere. he was allowed to stay, the very thing he didnt want. I think John could have been a hero if he lived long enough
ReplyDeleteI agree John was the protagonist in the novel. I feel like he lost the battle at the end due to him falling to the society's level of norms by going after Lenina which led him to commit suicide. John was not sent away because Mustapha Mond wanted to continue the experiment with him, but he refused and said he wanted to be left alone.
DeleteI don't know if I really believe John is the main hero of the novel because while he did know that the London society was corrupt it was because he actually had freedom before. I mean it's not really difficult to notice something is wrong going from two drastically different societies where in one they engineer people. I do think he is a hero because he was trying to fight it though.
DeleteI think that John is already a hero even though he dies so soon. John challenged everything and pretty much stayed true to himself. He only waivered at the end where he finally has sex with lenina. I think John was just looking for a place to fit in in London because he was an outcast on the savage reservation. He is just looking for his place I think.
DeleteGreat post and comments guys. I think Bernard is so confusing because he is so confused. He can't make up his mind on what he wants. On one hand, he does not approve of society but on the other, he doesn't want to miss out on society either. Bernard feels sorry for himself for not begin accepted. The reason John isn't sent away is because of experiments but also because he didn't want to stay. I think that's the point, it's supposed to be a punishment. Helmholtz' banishment is harder to understand because he chooses the bad climate so that he can pursue writing...which is what he wants to do. Bernard is sent away because he's not essential to society's progression and may actually hinder it because he expresses how he does not like society. And maybe this sort of explains Helmholtz's banishment also...the controllers don't want his opinion to get out and have other people challenge their utopia.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm going to make a stretch here and say John is the hero in the novel. I had a friend in Hugh school names John and he always said John meant stable and reliable. I don't know about you guys but those are two things I look for in a hero. John isntmyourntypical run of the mill hero because in the end he succumbs to the "false" ideals of the dystopian society. I believe that Bernard is not a hero because he's flaky. Like when Bernard is given some sort of power he abuses it witch is more of a villain quality.
ReplyDeleteI agree John is a hero of the novel, but he did give into the ideals of society. Helmholtz's would be a better hero then anyone in the novel just because he was level headed and never gave into societies ideals or agreed with em. I agree with you about Bernard, at first i thought he would be, but the second he got some power and starting to blend with society he agreed with their ideals, and freaked out when he was getting banished.
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