xUnorthodox Characters of Brave New World
Unorthodoxy in the World State is really any form of individuality, so many of the upper caste characters of Brave New World are unorthodox on some level. A few of them stand out as fundamentally unorthodox. Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond are all unorthodox, but they vary in how and why they are unorthodox. Bernard Marx is a strongly unorthodox character, mainly because of his physical appearance; He is shorter than the other Alphas, and they find him strange. “They say somebody made a mistake when he was still in the bottle—thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood-surrogate. That’s why he’s so stunted” (Huxley, 46). Knowing that his peers find him to be odd, he feels estranged. He also knows enough to understand that the society he lives in is designed to prevent discomfort, so he feels the society of the World State is flawed and it must change. “The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him” (Huxley, 65). Bernard tries to fit in, but he is so uncomfortable with being …show more content…
Helmholtz is a foil to Bernard; both are unorthodox, but Bernard is easily contented when he becomes popular from hosting John the Savage, while Helmholtz always has popularity, yet holds onto his unorthodox beliefs. Even despite being well liked, Watson longs for meaning in his life. Unsatisfied by the shallow nature of the world state, he wishes he could write something thoughtful and original. “I wanted to do a bit of propaganda; I was trying to engineer them into feeling as I’d felt when I wrote the rhymes” (Huxley, 183). Helmholtz feels that what he usually writes is without any meaning, and therefore is worthless. He finally finds a purpose when the World Controller, Mustapha Mond sends him to an island where he can express his ideas
Unorthodoxy in the World State is really any form of individuality, so many of the upper caste characters of Brave New World are unorthodox on some level. A few of them stand out as fundamentally unorthodox. Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and Mustapha Mond are all unorthodox, but they vary in how and why they are unorthodox. Bernard Marx is a strongly unorthodox character, mainly because of his physical appearance; He is shorter than the other Alphas, and they find him strange. “They say somebody made a mistake when he was still in the bottle—thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood-surrogate. That’s why he’s so stunted” (Huxley, 46). Knowing that his peers find him to be odd, he feels estranged. He also knows enough to understand that the society he lives in is designed to prevent discomfort, so he feels the society of the World State is flawed and it must change. “The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him” (Huxley, 65). Bernard tries to fit in, but he is so uncomfortable with being …show more content…
Helmholtz is a foil to Bernard; both are unorthodox, but Bernard is easily contented when he becomes popular from hosting John the Savage, while Helmholtz always has popularity, yet holds onto his unorthodox beliefs. Even despite being well liked, Watson longs for meaning in his life. Unsatisfied by the shallow nature of the world state, he wishes he could write something thoughtful and original. “I wanted to do a bit of propaganda; I was trying to engineer them into feeling as I’d felt when I wrote the rhymes” (Huxley, 183). Helmholtz feels that what he usually writes is without any meaning, and therefore is worthless. He finally finds a purpose when the World Controller, Mustapha Mond sends him to an island where he can express his ideas