Bernard Marx

This is our character page for Bernard Marx:

  • first appearance in chapter 3 (page 31)
  • works in the Psychology Bureau of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre (p. 31)
  • is an Alpha Plus (p.41)
  • does not like Obstacle Golf (something really odd for those times; p. 41)
  • wants to be alone all the time -> hates crowds (p.41)
  • really shy -> because of him being too short for his 'status' (p.41)
  • does not like the fact that the other men degrade women so much (calling them "meat"; p.42)
  • people think that during the time of his 'growth', someone put alcohol in his blood-surrogate ->making him smaller (p.42)
  • is a specialist for hypnopeadia -> really intelligent (p.43)
  • feels embarrassed when Lenina confirms his invitation -> would rather talk in private; feels humiliated (p.51)
  • seems to be an outsider, but still needs his friend Helmholtz Watson to talk to (p.57)
  • him showing emotions is something really odd and unusual, even for his good friend Watson -> does not show enough pride(p.61)
  • goes to a "Solidarity Service" to feel united to some people (p.69)
  • even if he just had a really intimate time with some people, he feels even more lonely and not satisfied (p.73f) (Steffi)

The charcter Bernard Marx is one of the major characters of the novel "Brave New World". Especially in chapter 4 Huxley uses the example of Bernard to show the reader the privacy of people in the World State. Bernard seems to be different than the other Alphas. He is not as perfect as the others appear to be and suffers from this fact. He does not fit in the system and appears very ironic. Just after the Director has explained that the World State has eliminated lovesickness, Bernard shows symptoms of exact that illness. (Jonas Claßen)

Furthermore Bernard and his friend Helmholtz Watson share the same idea of being individuals, although they are artificially fertilized from the same basis (p. 58, l. 24). This idea makes them being friends, because there is no other one to talk to about this topic. They both dislike the system they are living in, Bernard dislikes the fact that he cannot get other women as easy as the other alphas, what is the reason for the boast in front of Helmholtz, who shows little interest. because he just cannot understand his problems (p. 59, ll.21-24). (Fabian Jacob)

Because of the fact that he is not perfect like the others he hasn´t much self-esteem, also the mockery of the others make him feel like an outsider (p.56).
His missing self-esteem gets obvious in Bernard's behaviour as Lenina asks him if he is already willing to go on excursion with her (p. 50-51).
(Alena Myschkin)

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