Brave New World Essay (Draft)

                The novel Brave New World reveals through the main character of Bernard that the utopian society portrayed in the novel is not what it seems.  Through Bernard’s alienation from the rest of society the reader is given insight into a world that might become a reality sooner than we think.

                Bernard is constantly troubled by society’s belief of immediate satisfaction.  Most satisfaction in the novel is derived from the use of a hallucinogenic drug known as “Soma”.  For most as it seems the drug provides happiness, pleasure, and even relief from their lives that include no obvious hardships.  However without a second thought to what their lives could be without “Soma” they indulge in the artificial bliss, with the exception of Bernard.  When Bernard is first confronted by sexual relations with Lenina he is very hesitant to use “Soma”.  Yet after what seems like modern peer pressure he gives in and takes an extremely larger dose.  The next day Bernard admits to the fact that he is disappointed with taking the “Soma” and that therefore led him to speed up the relationship with Lenina, adhering once again to the idea of immediate satisfaction.

                When Bernard visits the Savage Reservation he is somewhat at ease and nearly feels at home even among a foreign setting.  Although quickly disgusted by Bernard’s attitude as Lenina is, the reader understands that Bernard knows how much different he is from the world he came from and how the world he has just entered could seem more welcoming.  Lenina serves as a counterexample to the idea of Bernard’s alienation from the rest of society.  She immediately begins to make crude comments about the Savages, disregarding the fact that they are just as human as she.  Lenina also represents a being who feels stronger within her own caste than as a separate individual.  This is where Lenina and Bernard/Savages greatly differ.  The intended utopian society makes individuals need the stability and comfort of a caste in order to prosper in the new world.  Bernard and the Savages obviously contradict this idea in that the Savages have no apparent social structure and Bernard, in part because of rumors and in part because of his own beliefs, seems to be always on a path to find his true self.

                Earlier in the novel the reader is introduced to the experience of an “Orgy Porgy”, an event that does the job to adequately summarize Bernard’s quest to fit in.  When Bernard attends the “Orgy Porgy” he finds himself lost among all of the sexual emotions.  He wants to believe that he feels the power of “Ford” rushing through him, yet instead he feels a great emptiness by the time the event is finished.  Moving to the near end of the novel after Bernard introduces John to his own world the reader finds that Bernard has made a grand effort to find his place among society, or so he thinks.  When comparing the time of the “Orgy Porgy” and the time after Bernard introduces John to the world, it merely seems like the time after the introduction is just an extended “Orgy Porgy”.  Bernard feels as if he is finally among the rest of society but in reality he is not.  Most people still talk badly about him behind is back and his new found fame is only due to his finding of John.  While the time after John seemed promising, in the end it was a cruel reminder that Bernard’s alienation was not ending anytime soon.

                Sadly Bernard is a character used to reveal the evils of a society that depends too much on the belief that every aspect of life can be controlled.  Bernard’s isolation is spawned by his disgust with immediate satisfaction, his acception of the Savages, and finally his quest to simply fit in.  Through Bernard’s struggles it is hoped that future societies might learn from this insightful yet looming path of a Brave New World.