Question

The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning has decided to get rid of Bernard Marx by sending him to Iceland. He says, "The greater a man’s talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior. Murder kills only one individual—and after all, what is an individual?" With a sweeping gesture he indicated the rows of microscopes, the test tubes, the incubators. "We can make a new one with the greatest of ease—as many as we like. Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself." (148) The Director accuses Bernard of being an "enemy of Society" because of "his heretical views on sport and soma, by the scandalous unorthodoxy of his sexlife, and by his refusal to obey the teachings of Our Ford." Are these accusations true? What does the Director mean by "unorthodoxy of behavior"? Is Bernard an enemy of the World State? Do you agree with the Director that the society is more important than the individual?

Answer 1

Bernard Marx changes a lot throughout the novel "Brave New World," and because of this, it is difficult to establish whether Bernard is really an enemy of the World State. However, the most likely answer is that he is.

The greatest threat to the system, according to this society, is an individual that is unorthodox. This means, an individual that is different from all others and who thinks in a way that is uncommon. This is certainly the case with Bernard, as he is able to feel jealousy, lovesickness and frustrated desire in a society that has "eliminated" it. No one else seems to share these feelings. Therefore, the accusations are true, as Bernard does exhibit an unorthodox behaviour.

The reason why the World State considers this kind of thinking to be dangerous is because it has the possibility of extending to others. If Bernard were to convince people to think like him, many of the assumptions of society would collapse, leading to chaos among people and to the end of the World State regime. I believe that, in some occasions, society is more important than an individual. For example, we create laws that restrict individual freedom in order to protect the interests of society. However, the World State takes this belief too far by completely ignoring the importance of a human life.