Bernard Marx - Brave New World

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 Lenina 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). 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 "Sexophones" playing tunes that remind the people of all their childhood riddles. It