Misfits Inability to Change Society In society there are many types of people, but these types can be categorized into two main types, misfits and followers. A follower can be someone who goes with the flow of society and sticks to the norms of society. A misfit is an abnormality in society that can be threatening to the balance of society. In the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, misfits clearly threaten society. The misfits in Brave New World are, John the Savage, Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx. These characters show signs of being outcasts in society. John is clearly a threat to society but he is unable to change it due to his lack of knowledge of the society. Helmholtz threatens society but he is too oblivious to the outside
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Misfits in any society cannot change a society no matter what their cause.
John cannot change society because he does not understand it enough to change it. John comes from the Savage reservation where none of the rules from the World State are enforced. This makes John completely oblivious to the other world making him confused and unable to change the society. One example of John’s unawareness of society is when he tries to rid the people of soma, something they hold very dear to them. This takes place in the hospital while an official attempts to give out soma. John says, “ Very well then, I’ll teach you; I’ll make you be free whether you want it or not.” (Huxley 187) In this quotation, John is attempting to free the people from the grasps of soma by throwing it out the window. This sparks chaos in the hospital as people are angry because they do not know life without soma. John thinks that by throwing out the soma he is freeing the people but he does not realize how conditioned the people are. Soma is a crucial part of society and John does …show more content…
Helmholtz seems to want something more in his world but he does not know much more than what he has been told since birth.This makes him oblivious to anything outside the world he lives in. But he does feel like something is missing in the world and shows this when he is talking to Bernard about writing piercingly but he cannot find anything to write about. He says, “That’s one of the things I try to teach my students-how to write piercingly. But what on earth’s the good of being pierced by an article about a Community Sing, or the latest improvement on scent organs.” (Huxley 60) Helmholtz tries to get his students to have effective writing but realizes that there is nothing in society that is interesting enough to write about. This realization shows he wants something more in the world so he can write but does not know of anything that could be written about because he is so oblivious to anything that is not inside the World State. Helmholtz seems to be curious but he is blind to anything he has not seen before. An example is when John is reading Shakespeare to Helmholtz and Bernard and John mentions mother in one of his passages and Helmholtz simply laughs it off and says, “You can’t expect me to keep a straight face about fathers and mothers. And who’s going to get excited about a boy having a girl or not having her?” Helmholtz mocks Shakespeare’s mention of parents and love which shows his
Misfits in any society cannot change a society no matter what their cause.
John cannot change society because he does not understand it enough to change it. John comes from the Savage reservation where none of the rules from the World State are enforced. This makes John completely oblivious to the other world making him confused and unable to change the society. One example of John’s unawareness of society is when he tries to rid the people of soma, something they hold very dear to them. This takes place in the hospital while an official attempts to give out soma. John says, “ Very well then, I’ll teach you; I’ll make you be free whether you want it or not.” (Huxley 187) In this quotation, John is attempting to free the people from the grasps of soma by throwing it out the window. This sparks chaos in the hospital as people are angry because they do not know life without soma. John thinks that by throwing out the soma he is freeing the people but he does not realize how conditioned the people are. Soma is a crucial part of society and John does …show more content…
Helmholtz seems to want something more in his world but he does not know much more than what he has been told since birth.This makes him oblivious to anything outside the world he lives in. But he does feel like something is missing in the world and shows this when he is talking to Bernard about writing piercingly but he cannot find anything to write about. He says, “That’s one of the things I try to teach my students-how to write piercingly. But what on earth’s the good of being pierced by an article about a Community Sing, or the latest improvement on scent organs.” (Huxley 60) Helmholtz tries to get his students to have effective writing but realizes that there is nothing in society that is interesting enough to write about. This realization shows he wants something more in the world so he can write but does not know of anything that could be written about because he is so oblivious to anything that is not inside the World State. Helmholtz seems to be curious but he is blind to anything he has not seen before. An example is when John is reading Shakespeare to Helmholtz and Bernard and John mentions mother in one of his passages and Helmholtz simply laughs it off and says, “You can’t expect me to keep a straight face about fathers and mothers. And who’s going to get excited about a boy having a girl or not having her?” Helmholtz mocks Shakespeare’s mention of parents and love which shows his