A Character Analysis of the “Domino Effect” of Social Conformity in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This literary analysis will define a character analysis of the self-deprecating aspects of the “domino effect” of social conformity in Brave New World By Aldous Huxley. The main character, Bernard, is a alienated individual that resents being judged by his height as part of social hierarchy of The World State. However, Bernard’s desire to befriend, Helmholtz Watson, defines the underlying desire to be accepted by taller people/Alpha people, but it does nothing to change this aspect of hierarchical tyranny. Bernard also begs to not be exiled when he is judged, along with Helmholtz, for being anti-social. Ironically, Watson accepts the exile …show more content…
In Brave New World, the main character, Bernard Max, is judged by his smaller physical stature as part of a socially arranged hierarchy in the World State. The World State created physical boundaries to higher social mobility due to the physical prowess of the individual. For instance, Bernard is not an Alpha class individual (the highest class of society) because he is physically shorter than them: “Bernard 's physique was hardly better than that of the average Gamma. He stood eight centimetres short of the standard Alpha height and was slender in proportion (Huxley 68). This aspect of social hierarchy shames Bernard into feeling inferior, and it alienates him from the upper classes: “"I am I, and wish I wasn 't" (Huxley 69). In this manner, Bernard is acutely aware of marginalization in society, but he desperately yearns to be accepted by the higher social orders. This is one important clue to the “domino effect” of social conformity that makes Bernard ineffective in challenging the government or social institutions to change these tyrannical social rules. Bernard is self-defeating because his only goal is to be socially accepted, which defines the weak-minded aspects of revolt or “anti-social behavior that he pursues throughout the …show more content…
In contrast to Bernard, he is the perfect vision of the highest order of Alpha class citizen in the World State. However, Helmholtz does not approve of the social hierarchy, and be befriends Bernard as a form of coalition against the World State. In this friendship, the dichotomy of polar opposites defined the need to “belong” as part of the downfall of their revolutionary efforts to countermand the strict social rules of the World State: “What the two men shared was the knowledge that they were individuals” (Huxley 71). More so, this friendship only reinforces the counter intuitive aspects of a real revolutionary appeal to change the world State, as they found solace in being total
This literary analysis will define a character analysis of the self-deprecating aspects of the “domino effect” of social conformity in Brave New World By Aldous Huxley. The main character, Bernard, is a alienated individual that resents being judged by his height as part of social hierarchy of The World State. However, Bernard’s desire to befriend, Helmholtz Watson, defines the underlying desire to be accepted by taller people/Alpha people, but it does nothing to change this aspect of hierarchical tyranny. Bernard also begs to not be exiled when he is judged, along with Helmholtz, for being anti-social. Ironically, Watson accepts the exile …show more content…
In Brave New World, the main character, Bernard Max, is judged by his smaller physical stature as part of a socially arranged hierarchy in the World State. The World State created physical boundaries to higher social mobility due to the physical prowess of the individual. For instance, Bernard is not an Alpha class individual (the highest class of society) because he is physically shorter than them: “Bernard 's physique was hardly better than that of the average Gamma. He stood eight centimetres short of the standard Alpha height and was slender in proportion (Huxley 68). This aspect of social hierarchy shames Bernard into feeling inferior, and it alienates him from the upper classes: “"I am I, and wish I wasn 't" (Huxley 69). In this manner, Bernard is acutely aware of marginalization in society, but he desperately yearns to be accepted by the higher social orders. This is one important clue to the “domino effect” of social conformity that makes Bernard ineffective in challenging the government or social institutions to change these tyrannical social rules. Bernard is self-defeating because his only goal is to be socially accepted, which defines the weak-minded aspects of revolt or “anti-social behavior that he pursues throughout the …show more content…
In contrast to Bernard, he is the perfect vision of the highest order of Alpha class citizen in the World State. However, Helmholtz does not approve of the social hierarchy, and be befriends Bernard as a form of coalition against the World State. In this friendship, the dichotomy of polar opposites defined the need to “belong” as part of the downfall of their revolutionary efforts to countermand the strict social rules of the World State: “What the two men shared was the knowledge that they were individuals” (Huxley 71). More so, this friendship only reinforces the counter intuitive aspects of a real revolutionary appeal to change the world State, as they found solace in being total