In the sixth chapter of the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the chapter starts off with a flashback of Bernard and Lenina on their first date trying to figure out what they should do together. Bernard, being the outcast of the Alphas, enjoys spending time in the quiet with his thought but opposite to him, Lenina like to be social and go out to gatherings with her friends. This shows how different the two are and how they do not match up. In this chapter, the main idea seems to further clarify Bernard’s attempt of being an individual, different from the rest, and it shows that he will suffer for the chance to be free; away from the conditioning and restrictions, the world has. The consumption of soma is seen as an everyday normal …show more content…
Bernard swallowed four tablets of soma at a gulp, turned on the radio and television and began to undress” (Huxley 92). Forgetting the morals he has set up for himself Bernard falls into the same pattern as the rest of the Alphas follow, to take drugs and have mindless sex with anyone. Along with after this mishap, Bernard starts to feel guilt for doing what he did and falling under the pressure of the “social norm” this society has set up. Although Lenina feels like it was the way she looked, by not being the skinniest girl that has turned him off, it was the concept of the act itself. Being the different individual he is Bernard longs to have monogamy and a relationship with Lenina and try to be adults instead of infants, “The mad bad talk rambled on. ‘I want to know what passion is,’ she heard him saying. ‘I want to feel something strongly’ ”(Huxley 94). Bernard compares the two as being immature infants and having sex together instead of being mature adults and waiting in order to create passion between them. In conclusion, the basic idea of this chapter was to further clarify the longing feeling Bernard has as wanting to be different and not following the same pattern or footsteps as his other fellow Alpha’s but being his own
Both Lenina and Linda use soma to escape from the realities of the world. Soma is a symbol for instant pleasure, and to avoid unpleasant situations. Lenina’s use of soma suggests that she is trying to suppress feelings of embarrassment, depression, and later her infatuation with John. Resembling words that of a drug addict, Lenina says “I wish I had my soma”, so that she could escape from her melancholic problems (Huxley 104). Similarly, after accusing the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, and having him publicly deny her, the emotional toll on Linda was so great, that she felt the need to consume soma to escape. Dr. Shaw “let her have what she wanted”; she “took as much as twe...
Since this book was published in 1932, Huxley based his ideas of the free sexualization of women and the heavy use of drugs from the conusmerism and rising economic growth in America during the 1920’s. When Huxley wrote about the negative treatment of women in the “brave new world”, he was most likely referring to flappers, who were often characterized by their slitted skirts, short bobs, and their “debutante slouch”, made their appearance (Sauro). The “modern” behavior of the flappers, like their tendencies to smoke and drink with the men and obvious makeup, were considered improper at the time (Benson). In Brave New World, Lenina “[thought] of herself as meat” (Huxley 53), and women were often referred to as “pneumatic” and were judged by their looks (Huxley 60). The rising economic growth was a huge deal in the 1920’s because it led to excessive spending; people illegally drank because it was exciting, and “bootleggers (makers and suppliers of alcohol) became modern-day heroes” (Benson). With the extra money to spend and time to spare, people partied more frequently; these parties at the illegal bars were laden with drinking (Benson). In Huxley’s novel, the soma represents the heavy use of alcohol and drugs. People wasted their feeling away with alcohol just like how the citizens in the novel took soma to numb their feelings and
Lenina and Bernard are alone on the reservation while their guide went for enlightenments. They scrutinize how the population interacts. Furthermore, as Lenina is repulsed, Bernard is, instead, quite interested in the community they discover since they are naked, elderly, sick and
Chemicals are excessively used to achieve youth and happiness in both Brave New World and in Canadian Society. The prime example being the use of drugs to achieve a euphoric feeling and to escape something versus dealing with it in both societies. In Brave New World, Soma, a hallucinogenic drug, is a pertinent part of life that is a necessity to keep their world in order. When a member of society is unhappy, it is a natural instinct to consume soma. When Lenina is upset John does not join her after their date, Lenina thinks, “One gramme, she decided, would not be enough; hers had been more than a one-gramme affliction” (Huxley 171). Lenina uses soma to prevent unacceptable unhappiness in the Brave New World, as many Canadians use antidepressants as a simple fix to their unhappiness. The utilization and prescription of pharmacotherapy for depression has increased from 3.2 to 14.5 million between 1981 and 2000 in Canada (University of Toronto Magazine). ...
Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way.
According to Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said quoted, "Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted." Bernard is the odd egg in the basket and feels alienated from a society that does not accept him. Bernard is an alpha although he was never completely accepted as one because people often made up rumors that alcohol was in his blood surrogate. Bernard is alienated from the World State in multilple ways starting from his conception something went wrong immediately deeming him as abnormal. Currently in today's society we still view those with birth defects as abnormal and do not consider them as part of society because they are not normal. As with Bernard the alphas view him inferiorly, because of this Bernard despises all those in the World State and critizies their motives and desires. Bernard is not similar to the citizens in the World State because he is lovesick for Lenina who sees nothing in him except social gain, he becomes very jealous of men around Lenina making him fiercely angry because he stil...
After the helicopter ride, Bernard asks Lenina what life would be like if he was not enslaved by conditioning; she responds with surprise (Huxley 78). Firstly, in Brave New World, every adult lives by themselves but to combat feelings of loneliness they have many sexual partners. Lack of personal connection with others is removed and replaced with false love through recreational sex. When John’s mother dies, the sadness he portrays is strange in the eyes of other citizens because they do not care for one another personally ( ).
However, to Lenina and the World State, theses beliefs promote happiness with repercussions- essentially, they strived for eternal happiness, without ever having to experience any negative emotion. The ending of the novel may have been Huxley’s commentary on this belief; one cannot escape reality, and for the Lenina and the World State, reality would be the emotions that they are trying to avoid (such as sadness, anxiety, anger, etc.). Lenina has never had to experience any negative emotions; she has always avoided them, through sex, drugs, and so on. However, reality caught up to her when she went to visit John; she was brutally beaten, and whipped back into
Although Bernard likes Lenina, he hates the fact that she can’t think for herself. Lenina and Bernard decide to go to the savage reservation in New Mexico. It's here where Bernard meets other people like him: John “The Savage” and Linda. Linda was a former of The World State and also Bernard’s boss’s “Girlfriend,” but got stranded during a trip to the reservation. Although frowned upon at the World State, Linda gave natural birth to John. This is why John is able to think freely. John lacked the uniform development that every other child in the world goes through. Seeing these two, Bernard returns them to the World State.
...ped forward again; then again thought better of it, and was standing in an agony of humiliated indecision.” This is when the readers realize how truly hollow he is inside. Bernard has become a coward. All the things he seemed to stand for, he only stood for to compensate for the fact that he didn’t truly fit in with society. It seemed as if he didn’t care about not fitting in, but when he finally does become accepted we see his little act of rebellion was a façade to cover his desire to be accepted. Huxley is trying to show how a person can be changed by achieving something they desire. People hope they would be able to maintain their values when they attain their desires. But, sadly, values are forgotten all too often in the midst of a person’s “success”.
The moral dilemma of monogamy would be the bane of Brave New World itself. If the people of Brave New World found out about religion the people would learn the moral dilemma of “every one belongs to everyone else”(Huxley 31). Lenina Crowne is a perfect example of someone whom was conditioned, but does not fit into the social norms of Brave New World. Furthermore, religion would only strengthen Lenina’s tendencies of having one man for a long period of time. In
In Aldous Huxley’s novel, “Brave New World,” published in 1932, two idiosyncratic, female characters, Lenina and Linda, are revealed. Both personalities, presented in a Freudian relationship (Linda being John’s mother and Lenina being his soon to be lover), depict one another in different stages of life and divulge ‘a character foil’. Lenina and Linda are both ‘Betas,’ who hold a strong relationship with the men in their lives, especially John. It can be stated that John may partially feel attracted towards Lenina, because she is a miniature version of Linda, in her youth. They both support the term of ‘conditioning,’ yet also question it in their own circumstances. Nonetheless, they both are still sexually overactive and criticized for such immoral decisions. Linda espouses it from her heart, while Lenina supports the process partially due to peer pressure and society’s expectations. Both female characters visit the Reservation with Alpha – Plus males, and both find a common feeling of revulsion towards it. Linda and Lenina are similar in many ways, yet they hold their diverse views on the different aspects of life.
In the first couple of chapters, Lenina, a young woman, is introduced. When we first meet her, we learn that she has been seeing a guy, Henry, for the past 4 months. The reader can assume that this is normal, since the same happens in our everyday lives, but we soon discover that this is abnormal. In the new world, a regulation is set that men and woman cannot be in committed relationships, but are supposed to have sex with as many men or woman possible. The fact that she is not promiscuous enough can get her into trouble. “And you know how strongly the D. H. C. objects to anything intense or long-drawn… why, he’d be furious if he knew…” (Huxley, 41) As the story progresses, however, she becomes an example of new world regulations, admitting that she had sex with many men. “She was a popular girl and, at one time or another, had spent a night with almost all of them.” (Huxley, 57) Old world r...
A community’s success and progress depends on respecting the values and dignity of its citizens. The World State warns of “the type of Utopia that must be avoided” due to the loss of human characteristics and a disregard for the theory that “the person is important” as “a human being” (Matter 146; Barnes 146). The motto “everyone belongs to everyone else” is enforced to prevent relationships between characters which could create traditional children with human qualities (Huxley 40). In a conversation about Lenin Crowe with Bernard, an Alpha different from the rest of his class, the Assistant Predestinator is “surprised [Bernard hasn’t] had her” yet, revealing how Lenina has been sexually associated with a majority of the Hatchery (Hu...
Bernard Marx an Alpha plus specialist in sleep teaching is an example of a character that changes in the brave new word. He changes from a character that symbolized individuality to a character that just wanted to desperately belong to the society. At the beginning of the novel he seemed to be very different from the society, he acts like a rebel trying to battle against the order of things. He seemed to be an “individual” in the first few chapters. For example On his first date with Lenina with lenina he says ” I’d rather be myself. ‘Myself and nasty .Not somebody else, however jolly”(77). He wanted to be something else different from the rest of the society. However we see that his root concern is to be socially acceptable and not really about becoming an individual. In chapter 6 Bernard shows signs of undergoing a change in his character. When the Director summoned Bernard to his office for being unorthodox, Bernard goes on to brag to his friend Helmholtz Watson on his victory over the director when he says” I simply told him to go to the bottomless past and marched out of the room and that was that “(85). We get the sense that Bernard’s victory wasn’t so much about personal integrity as it was social acceptance. Finally, his character undergoes a c...