A Brave New World The futuristic society that Huxley imagines revolves around class. Its these class issues that cause most of novel’s, A Brave New World, internal conflicts. I will be looking at this novel trough the Marxist Lens. Humans are categorized into different castes, for their birth it is determined what they would be and what they can achieve when they go out invoiced. The classes are forced to be able to be distinguished as they are dressed per their class, “Alpha children wear grey …Gammas and Deltas… all wear green, … Delta children wear Khaki.” (Huxley, 27). We also learn later in the novel that Beta wear maroon and Epsilons wear Black. The different classes are taught through hypnopaedia that they are good at their place, “I’m really awfully glad I’m Beta, because I don’t work so hard” (Huxley, 27), this prevents the proletariat from rebelling against the aristocrats. The reason this system is in place because the elite were concerned that opportunities were given to those who were less influential. Therefore, the Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon embryos are poisoned. This results in them being not as intelligent as the Alphas, and Betas. Which means that the proletariats are there to severe and they can’t even change that because they like where they are in society. Bernard Marx is an alpha male who doesn’t feel that he is appreciated in society. He is disconnected from everyone in World State. Also, the surname Marx remind us of Karl Marx, who was one of the
The soundbite criticisms of capitalism are legion, yet it’s harder to offer alternatives, aside from the vague notion of 'something else'. Despite the carnage of trying to socially engineer equality in the 20th century, nevertheless the myth persists that capitalist wealth creation is superfluous and money is readily available to a small number of elitists called a government under common ownership, who distribute, or simply print more paper. Ironically, the ones shouting the loudest against capitalism are often those dependent on the profits of capitalism to provide the welfare payments needed to keep them alive.
In the novel Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk applies the view of Marxism and the Psychoanalytic theory. Marxism was developed in the late nineteenth century by Karl Marx. Karl Marx’s view of society was on social conflict and class struggles. He defined the social classes as two different societies. The two classes are the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie. The Proletariats serves under the Bourgeoisie, they produced the services and good (the majority of the people). The Bourgeoisie owns the means of productions. They are superior to the Proletariat. The Proletariat and Bourgeoisie class are against each other. Marx uses socioeconomics, consumerism, and capitalism to analyze
Bernard Marx’s dislike for the oppressive World State is solely superficial. His outrage stems from his own personal sense of injustice- although he is an Alpha, he is an outsider. Emotionally, Bernard is an enigma to others. Physically, Bernard is thin and small; a complete juxtaposition to the other Alphas. These physical and emotional defects are the root of his feelings of separation to society, and his value of individualism and non-conformity. This point is exemplified on page 56, which explains ‘The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects. Which in turn increased his sense of being alien and
Throughout John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene’s internal struggle is reflected in the war taking place. In the beginning of the story, Finny tells Gene that he was reading the paper and saw that “[the United States] bombed Central Europe...”(25). At this point in the story, it is 1942, which is the midst of World War II. This reflects Gene’s attitude toward Finny. As the war starts to escalate and the United States enters, Gene starts to loathe Finny for reasons that are entirely from Gene’s head. When Finny returns to Devon for the winter session, he has convinced himself, and soon convinces Gene, that “there isn’t any war”(115). Around this time, Gene pushes away his hateful thoughts towards Finny and convinces himself that Finny and him
This assessment of turning objects and persons into something of value is a fragmented yet archetypical manifestation of Marx’s greater philosophical works. The literary criticism that implements Marx’s theories of socialism and dialectics is the basis on interpreting literary works.
Bernard Marx’s physique is “hardly better than the average Gamma” (57). He is “eight centimeters” (57) shorter than a standard male of his caste. Marx shows immense hostility towards other members of the alpha plus assembly. Mentioning it as a sore reminder of his “physical inadequacy” (57). Other members of the world state often cite the possibility of alcohol having been put “into his blood-surrogate” (41) as a justification towards his underdeveloped growth. The mockery and “practical jokes” (58) put fourth by the men and woman make Bernard feel like “an outsider” (58) and make his “self-consciousness…acute and distressing” (57). Bernard is envious toward other members of his ladder. Men whose
Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers
When one reflects on the period during which Huxley’s novel was written and the modern world of his time, the comparison to the socialist world cannot be ignored. The whole idea of a utopia is very similar to socialism. The World State society is under the complete control of the government. Pre-destination department chooses what people will learn, what they will do and how they will look. Each caste wears a different color clothes and does different type of labor. None of these decisions are made by people themselves. In our society, even with the socialism, where government decides what products to produce, in what quantities, and how people will live, people still have a choice and opportunity to be different. Stability and individuality in utopia are reached by taking away the individuality from people. In the World State government controls desires and consumption by creating and destroying the demand for certain objects through the psychological training of infants.
on the nerve near the ear) was greater on the side of the head that the cell phone was held.[13]
Bernard Marx, one of the central characters who is an Alpha Plus but ashamed of his outlook. From his private thoughts, he has the desire to fight the system and become a popular person. His low self esteem makes him feel that he has the need to yell at the Epsilons to protect his dignity as an Alpha Plus. Even if Marx 's inner thoughts shows that he is a rebellious and indignant person, his actions show otherwise. Because of his unsatisfiable sexual desires and low self-esteem, he criticizes everyone. But the irony is that the ones he criticize are those he most desire to become. He loathes John for his barbaric characteristics. Yet, Marx has to use the "Savage" to maintain his popularity. Marx is trapped in a world which he tried so hard but failed to fit in. From his imagination, he fought his boss. But in reliality, he begged to not to be send to an island and blamed the fault to John and Watson. He critizes Lenina for taking soma. Yet, he
Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional representation of many problems faced by the world in the past and present. It follows the life of Elphaba, who later becomes the “Wicked Witch of the West”, a result from her life experiences as a rebel against the Wizard of Oz, her unfortunate appearance of green skin, and several other trials she’s faced. Maguire was born in Albany, New York and lost his mother in childbirth. His father was a writer, but was very ill at the time of Maguire’s birth, so he and his three older siblings had to stay with family and Maguire even spent time in an orphanage before moving back with his father and his new wife. His family
During the 1930s when Brave New World was being written and published, racism was still evident in the US. Huxley was trying to imply through his novel that there is a caste system in the world, but it is based off of the people’s races and economic standpoint. Huxley compares Alphas and Betas from Brave New World to the white, upper class who is extremely powerful and affluent. In the book, Alphas and Betas were the most intelligent and the leaders of the class system just like in the 1930s white people were thought to be so much smarter and only they should become our leaders of the world. Then he compares Gammas and Deltas to the middle class which consists mainly of coloured people, excluding African Americans, and the working class of the US.
Bernard Marx is an upper class Alpha who constantly struggles being different from the rest of the Alphas, and, in the beginning, tries to find a way to become more popular. By the end of the novel, Marx has come to terms with the society which he had first seemed to dislike. Marx meets a woman called Lenina Crowne, and they both travel to a savage reservation. There, Marx and Lenina meet John the savage and his mother Linda. Linda is originally from the civilized world and became pregnant which, in that society, is illegal and was sent to Reservation herself. Once brought back to the New World, John soon found the differences between the two worlds to great. All his values and morals clashed with those of the new society. It turns out, John was the only sane person left. He didn't understand how the citizens lived the way they did, with no morals or values. There, he struggled for his right to think freely. To be happy, to be sad, to be mad, to
Bernard tries explaining how he wants to be free, have his own individuality, and have his own ability to think and feel; not like everyone else, but like himself. He also explains how he wants to be happy, truly happy. He feels that in the World State, and because of his conditioning, this can never happen. Lenina’s response enables the audience to see how much she’s been brainwashed, showing how powerful the state is.
According to Marxism, there is a struggle or conflict between individual rights and social rights. In many regards, Marxism places more emphasis on societal rights than it does on individual rights. In fact, some critics even state that Marxism ignores the rights of the individual altogether. As can be observed when Marxism is implemented under the umbrella of communism. However, Marxism takes into account the inequality and unfairness that exists in society. The inevitable truth is that contrasting groups in society will always conflict with one another and will be unable to agree on the way in which resources should be distributed. Furthermore, there is also a difference between genders, specifically in terms of the equity of how the roles