Bernard Marx, being a male Alpha, is the type of person who just doesn’t really fit in. While just about all people are very open about their thoughts and personal feelings, Bernard is very secretive about many of his thoughts and actions. For instance, when Lenin a tries to talk to him about “having her,” his face goes pale and he insists that they discuss it in private (pg 58).
He seems to be very concerned about what people would think if he started talking about that kind of stuff in front of them. Frequently Bernard sets himself off from the rest of the Alphas because he believes he is very different than the rest of them. It is rumored that he accidentally got alcohol while he was being born causing his stunted growth.
Because of this, he is constantly extremely frustrated with his craving to fit in with the rest of the Alphas and not be considered different. His most distressing experiences come when he has to give orders to members of lower castes (pg 64).
Having the physique of the average Gamma, he frequently finds himself having hard times getting the lower caste members to listen to him. His physical inadequacy caused woman to laugh at him if he made a proposal to “have” her, men would joke to one another, and constant mockery caused him to feel like an outsider. Another interesting oddity in Bernard is his dislike of soma.
When meeting with Benito Hoover, he was offered a gramme of soma, to which he quickly turned and walked away (pg 60).
The Term Paper on World State Bernard Society John
... he is inferior to the other members of his Alpha-plus caste. Bernard treats himself unfairly at other times as well. He ... his Alpha-plus caste. She says, "He's so ugly! ... And then so small." (Huxley 41). Bernard himself feels inferior to the rest of ... exist at all. During this conversation, Bernard shows us how different he is to the rest of society. They talk about Lenina, ...
All of these oddities cause Bernard to seem as a “not-so-average” Alpha, in turn making him feel like an outsider who was constantly ridiculed and teased just because he didn’t fit into the standard Alpha criteria. The community events are far from normal… at least in our current society they are. Each and every person has been programmed since birth to recognize sexual gatherings as normal.
They have been told over and over that no one needs to keep anything private. Sex is considered to be a community event in which about four hundred couples dance around and about (pg 76).
In order for the community events to seem less intrusive and more easygoing, it is common for each and every person to be highly dosed with soma. There are all sorts of places where people gather to have large community meetings.
At most of these gatherings there are “Sexo phones” playing tunes that remind the people of all their childhood riddles. It is not abnormal for all these people to “have” each other. Another community activity and form of entertainment comes from the Electromagnetic Golf frequently played. Though, even golfing separated the higher and lower caste individuals from each other; higher ranked castes would leave in helicopters while the lower caste members would leave in monorail trains (pg 72).
There are also country clubs where people can go swimming. Many sport gatherings were held including the Women’s Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. However, those are about the only available events for people to do. Just about all of a person’s time is done working, having sexual gatherings, or buying consumer products.
All of this is just a simple form of control. It helps to eliminate the time for people to think and question the system.
