Isolation In Brave New World, By Aldous Huxley

Imagine living in a world that is entirely distraught and inhumane in which you are being entitled to a limited amount of freedom and no form of expression whatsoever. Where having any sense of individuality or the desire to be different is dead, and the only way to rejoice is through ingesting drugs. Not such a pleasant world, is it? This corrupt society is seen in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, where a number of different thematic concepts are explored; stranger in a strange land being one of the most significant ones. The idea of alienation and isolating one’s self whether it may be from society, from other people or self-alienation is certainly prevalent in the novel. We see this battle of constant self-pity and seclusion from three …show more content…
People who don’t conform to the normal standards of the Brave New World society are often alienated, similarly to how Bernard is looked down upon due to his general appearance. Bernard is an Alpha male but quite physically different from the other Alphas as it is rumoured that alcohol was mistakenly added to his blood surrogate, leading him to become a perpetual outsider engulfed with insecurities. Bernard’s isolation becomes evident when Huxley states,
The mockery made him feel like an outsider; and feeling like an outsider he behaved like one; which increased the prejudice against him …show more content…
John’s different and rare nature was determined before he even came into the world, and this is essentially what leads him to feeling unwanted and neglected. He is quite a unique character as he is not your typical test-tube baby but rather conceived through sexual intercourse and brought into the world by his own mother, Linda. The idea of feeling attachment to one’s parent is completely unacceptable at the reservation and unlike Linda; John was not conditioned to have the utmost hatred for his mother, which is what causes him to feel neglected in his early stages of life (Huxley 109). John’s secluded state of mind continued as he grew up around Indians at the reservation and the idea of not looking like the rest of them hampered his ability to fit in with the Savage society. This is noticed when he says “I ought to have been there… But they wouldn’t let me. They disliked me for my complexion” (Huxley 100). As the novel progresses, we learn that John grew up his entire life hearing about how great the World State was, giving him hope to finally fit into society. However, upon arriving to the World State, John is unable to find his place in society and realizes the world he had dreamt of in actuality, was a nightmare. By disapproving of non-monogamous relationships, the production of soma, and conditioning, he instantly fell into a state of depression and