Social activist Ruby Dee once said, “The world has improved mostly because unorthodox people did unorthodox things. Not surprisingly, they had the courage and daring to think they could make a difference” (Inspiringquotes.us). Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a work of dystopian literature set in a futuristic London. The novel introduces the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, the housing for the conception of the new citizens of the caste system. Those born in this society are done so by a method of conditioning, ensuring that each caste is almost identical. A group of students is being given a tour of the Centre by the director, where the reader is introduced to Lenina Crowne, Henry Foster, and Mustapha Mond. Bernard Marx, …show more content…
Lenina is an object of desire for a large portion of the male populous, including Bernard Marx and John the Savage. Lenina’s primary means of relating to others is through sex, which is what the government wants. Although this may be true, Lenina shows her unorthodox way by being exclusive to Henry Foster for several months. Fanny Crowne, Lenina’s friend, notices this quirk about her and warns her that essentially belonging to one man looks bad to others. Fanny does so in a conversation with Lenina by saying, “I really do think you ought to be careful. It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man” (Huxley 41). Lenina brushes off this advice, and continues to be with only Henry, until she meets Bernard. Lenina’s relationships with Bernard and John the Savage are deemed as an act or rebellion and unorthodoxy, as they are considered to be a misfit and an outcast in the society. Even thought Lenina is violently attracted to both of these men throughout the novel, she is unable to share in Bernard’s dissatisfaction with the world as it is and is unable to comprehend John’s alternate system of values, since it is so different from her own. Lenina attempts to hide her unorthodoxy throughout a majority of the novel, but Bernard Marx exhibits his on a daily …show more content…
It is found that Bernard’s physical attributes, although out of his control, force him to be ostracized by his peers. Despite the fact that Bernard is an Alpha male, he is cursed with the inferior stature of one in the Gamma caste, which is introduced early on in the novel, “he stood eight centimeters short of the standard Alpha height and was slender in proportion” (Huxley 64). Even though Bernard is an Alpha, his physicality leads those below him to ridicule him and to not obey his orders. At any point when Bernard is attempting to give orders to the lower castes, he does so in a harsh and sharp way, so that he acts like he is not afraid of being a superior. Bernard’s peers are constantly gossiping about how he ended up with this demeanor. The current gossip deals with how alcohol was accidentally added to his blood-surrogate, and that is the reason why Bernard looks the way he does. Throughout the duration of the novel, Bernard makes it evident that he detests the use of soma as a whole. Soma, the hallucinogenic drug that the populous uses almost daily, ultimately replaces all real human emotion, and this is one of the main reasons Bernard loathes it so openly. He believes that the soma creates a world of artificial happiness, not a world of true joy. To attest to this belief, Bernard says, “I’d rather be myself. Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly”
John obviously shows a strong interest in Lenina, although she does not retort mutual affection for him; she is unable to express such passions. Lenina does not know how to show affection and how to express feelings; she lives in a society of which represses such emotions. For example, after her first date with Bernard, Lenina simply expects sexual relations with Bernard to occur. Bernard refuses the proposition, and Lenina is utterly shocked to be informed that he’d prefer talking and getting to know her beforehand. Lenina is unable to understand a connection is supposedly felt between two individuals; she has never experienced it. Linda on the other hand, is John’s mother, whom lacks the maternal connection of a typical mother/child relationship; she alienates and abuses him. For example, John alludes to his childhood and retells of a time when he tried comforting his mother. She pushed him off, shouted at him and began hitting him. The inadequate level of affection shared between the two women is explained through the reinforcement of values in the community of “Brave New World”; this leads to the incapability for the two women to express love. Lastly, both Lenina and Linda prefer to live in the moment and escape any bad situations that arise. Lenina simply consumes large doses of soma in order to escape the harsh realties she cannot come to terms with. After
Bernard noticed the manipulation of Lenina. Lenina wanted to have sex with just one person, but she wasn’t allowed. “Everyone belongs to everyone else” (page #) was one of the world state’s mottoes. Sexual promiscuity eliminates emotional tension. By eliminating tension and anxiety the World State was able to better control its citizens.
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
It is taught at a very early age that one should not form intimate relationships with another human. At one point in the novel Lenina had only slept with Henry Foster for several months, when Fanny, Lenina’s friend, found this out she was quick to try to persuade Lenina to go out with another man. People in the World State have no concept of what marriage is. The belief in the World State is that with love comes heartbreak, and people are not as productive with a broken heart. Therefore, people are conditioned to sleep with multiple men at a time and form no meaningful
Bernard Marx is a character that represents those that are different from the norm, a character still relevant in today’s culture. He is an archetype of those that are looked down upon as different. He signifies those that look and/or think uniquely. Bernard is the outcast who longs to belong.
Bernard was born as an alpha, the highest caste. Unfortunately, he was born with multiple birth defects. Bernard was short and slightly disfigured, making him stick out compared to everyone else's genetic perfection. Because of this, Bernard was made fun of a lot by other people in the community, making him feel lonely, even though he was born to the highest caste.
In Aldrous Huxley’s A Brave New World, pleasure is the main driving force in life. The government uses tools such as the wonder drug soma and the endorphins naturally released during and after sexual intercourse to keep the minds of their well-tended flock off of matters that might concern them if they had not previously been conditioned to resort to a vice the moment that they begin to conceive an ill thought. Lenina 's adulation of John, the Savage, is perhaps one of the more obvious triggers of soma usage within the novel. Lenina does not understand John 's concept of love, and attempts to show her affection in the only way she knows how, and that is by having sex with him. She thinks this is a normal act, but for him, it is sanctity. John believes that one should only express their passion through sex if they are married as is the custom on the reservation. This leads John to call Lenina many obscene names and to send her into the tender arms of soma instead. She merely wishes him to reciprocate her advances, which she would take as meaning that he was happy to be with her. She simply wants the both of them to be joyous in their carnal revelry but “Happiness is a hard master – particularly other people 's happiness. A much harder master, if one isn 't conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth” (Huxley 227, Brave New World). John and Lenina are very different people however, as Lenina tells Bernard “I don 't understand … why you don 't take
Huxley also uses distortion as a way to make people "see" in his depiction of human relationships. In the book, sex is looked upon as a tool for sharing with multiple partners. The frequency with which people sleep with each other is a disturbing aspect Huxley chooses to portray. Lenina Crowne symbolizes Huxley's portrayal of the complete lack of sexual morals and self-respect. Along with Soma, sexual promiscuity is another form in which the governm...
Lenina Crowne is a perfect example of someone who was conditioned, but does not fit into the social norms of Brave New World. Furthermore, religion would only strengthen Lenina’s tendency to have one man for a long period of time. In the book, Lenina is known to have boyfriends, and this shows her self-conscious knowledge of having many sexual partners to be immoral. In Brave New World, Christianity is looked down upon as a defect, but with the reintroduction of religion billions of people would be saved by the saving grace of our God.
Lenina and Linda are both shown as Beta females who come from the civilized world. Even though Huxley does not clearly state that Lenina is from a upper class within society; however the text strongly suggests her to be a Beta through dialogue and association presented with other characters, and her specific thoughts and actions. Having a background and childhood in ‘The Other Place’, both women support the idea of conditioning from heart. Despite sharing a common interest in obsessing over materialistic possessions, such as jewellery, clothing, outer appearances and body fragrances; they also share an interest in p...
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...
In his novel, women did not represent any authority in contrast with men. A “Brave New World” depicted women in a typical role in which men have a lot of women around them. In the Utopia that Huxley described, women are victims of discrimination because of their physicals appearance. It follows into the pattern of today’s society, like sexist stereotypes and women 's body image. Sexism in the novel is very visible. Men only valued women for their appearance, rather than for their intelligence. Huxley developed and gave more importance to male characters than to female characters. Female characters were undervalued by the author. Huxley changed many aspects of the female experience. Although Lenina did something as amazing as falling in love, it was not permitted in Utopia. The author should have developed Lenina as a stronger and more courageous
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...
Huxley introduces us to a whole new environment for us (as readers) and for them (Bernard and Lenina). The action is seen through the mesmerized eyes of the two characters. This specific passage shows us a scene of women breast feeding. We encounter a clash of points of view; Lenina's which is very reluctant and uncomfortable, Bernard's