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JamieKennedy |1P a g e

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Ifonesdifferent,onesboundtobelonely

BNWisafuturisticutopiasetaround2500ADwhereeveryoneisconditionedtoacceptwhat

thestatetellsthemtothereisnosenseofselfidentityandeveryoneistoldwhatsocialgroup

theybelongto,beitAlphas,Betas,Gammas,DeltaorEpsilons.Theworldstatemottois

Identity,Community,

Stability

which

the

reader

realises

is

very

ironic

when

they

have

read

furtherintothebookandthephraseisrepeatedoverandoveragain.Theworldisbased

aroundconsumptionandthosewhothinkanddodifferentlytoothersdonotbelong,those

whohavegottooselfconsciouslyindividualtofitintocommunitylifearesocialoutcasts.

Thenovelbeginsbydescribingtheprocessofhumancreation.Here,eachpersonisstrippedof

anythingthatwouldmakethemanindividualandtheyareconditionedtobelieveanything

thattheworldstatewantsthemto.Bydoingso,theywillbelongpersetotheworldhowever

theywilllackanyformofindividualism.

Thenovel

explores

belonging

and

alienation

through

3key

characters.

BernardMarx,anAlphamalewiththebodyofaGammahasneverfitintothecasteforwhich

hewasconditionedbecausehesimplylooksdifferent.Asaresultofhisexclusion,Bernardisa

thinker,arebelagainstsociety.Hedoesnotpartakeinnormalactivitiessuchassportand

thefeelies,heisnotverypublicaboutthingsandwouldbedescribedasintroverted.

Bernardisarebelagainstsociety,theestablishmentbecauseheresentsthatfactthatheisnot

acceptedanddoesnotbelong.InalettertotheWorldController,hestatesthesocietythat

hasbeencreatedistooinfantileandcheap.Herejectstheideathateverybodyshappy

nowadays.WeseeaninterestingchangeinBernardasthebookprogresses.WhenBernard

gainsfamethroughtheguardianshipoftheSavage,hesuddenlybecomesverypopularwith

prominentpeoplecurryinghisfavour.Thismakeshimfeelacceptedintosocietyaspeopleare

nowtalkingtohimfeelsasifhefinallybelongssomewhereandmostimportantly,hesgetting

allthegirlshewants.

However,whentheSavagerefusestofollowBernardsorder,Bernardoneagainbecomes

unpopular.Peopletreathimdifferentlyagainbecausehedidnotgrantthemaccesstothe

Savage.Heisonceagainalienated.

AnothercharacterthroughwhichHuxleyexploresbelongingisHelmholtzWatson.Helmholtz

andBernard

share

the

fact

that

they

both

know

that

they

dont

belong

however

they

are

for

completelydifferentreasons.

Bernardisunhappybecauseheisnotacceptedbyhisfellowhumansandthereforedoesnotfit

in.Helmholtzchallengessocietyandquestionswhetherhereallybelongsandfitsinduetohis

higherthanaverageintelligence.

TheSavageisaninterestingcharacterashehasbeenraisedontheReservationbuttaughtby

hismotherwhocamefromCivilisation.Thenoveldocumentshisstruggletofindwherehe

reallybelongsandwhoto.

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JamieKennedy |2P a g e

2 D:\Documents\School\SchoolWork\English\SpeechPalmCards.docx

ItexploreshisattemptstobelongtoapersonwhenheisinfatuatedwithLenina.Thisis

demonstratedwhenJohnwantstohaveitwithLenina(andviceversa)howeverhismorals

andvaluesthathehasbeenbroughtupwithtellhimno,waituntilmarriagewhereasLenina

believesintheideathateveryonebelongstoeveryoneelse.ThisshowsaconflictinJohns

belonging,doeshebelongtothesocietyinwhichhewasraisedortotheOtherWorld?

Thephrasethateveryonebelongstoeveryoneelse,aswellasmanyothers,isrepeated

throughoutthenovelasthebasisofthemoraleducationprocesshypnopaediawith

repetitionakeylanguagetechniqueinthebook.Usuallythesephrasesarejuxtaposedwithan

actionorphrasethatclearlyshowsthephrasetobefalsecreatingasenseofirony.Beinga

satiricalnovel,Huxleyusesironysignificantlyinthenoveltoemphasishispoint.

Johnalsostruggleswithbelongingtosocietyandtheworldatlarge.Whenyoucannotbelong

toanysinglesocietyonthisworld,whatareyoutodo?Johndoesnotbelongonthe

Reservationbecauseheiswhiteandhismotherwasnotofthatplace,helongsforthatOther

Place,that

Brave

New

World.

After

having

tasted

civilisation

and

finding

it

unpalatable,

the

Savagedecidestolivehisownlife,awayfromthehubbubofLondon,hecannotandwillnot

acceptthevaluesandmoralsofthenewworld.JohnfeelsasifthereisnoplaceintheWorld

wherehebelongs.

Aswellasshowingastrugglewithbelongingtosociety,thisactionclearlydemonstratesan

individualsdecisionnottobelong.JohndoesnotfitinontheReservationandhehasrejected

thenewworldmakingaconsciousdecisiontobealienatedfortherestofhislife.

BNWalsoexploresbelongingovertime.TheSavage,havingexperiencedbothworldscanuse

thisunderstanding

and

knowledge

of

his

to

contrast

how

belonging

has

changed

over

time.

ThroughShakespeare,theSavagecanseethegreatdifferencesthathavehappenedovernearly

athousandyearsashumansadapttheirsocietytoreflecttheirnewvalues.

Ithinkitisimportanttorecognisethecontextthatthisnovelwaswrittenin.Huxleyhimself

wasanintrovertedchildandaneyeinfectionlefthimnearlyblind,thiscausedhimto

withdrawevenmore.Huxleywouldhaveunderstoodwhatitfeltliketonotbelong,beisolated

andalienatedandthesefeelingsarerevealedinsomeofhischaracters,notablytheSavage.

Huxleywasnotinterestedindevelopingcharacters,moresogettinghismessageoutthere

whichmaycausesomereadersdifficultyinunderstandinghismessage.

ThenovelendswithJohnssuicidesimplybecausehedoesnotfitinanywhere.Thelast

paragraphslowly,veryslowly,liketwounhurriedcompassneedles,thefeetturnedtowards

theright;north,northeast,east,southeast,south,southsouthwestthiscompasssimileto

mesuggeststhatperhapstheSavageisseekingdirection,findingaplacewherehemay,atlast,

belongto.