Bernard and John identify with each other as outcasts in their societies. To what extent are they similar?

Bernard and John identify with each other as outcasts in their societies. To what extent are they similar?

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, is a novel which talks about the future and the way that people lived in these years. It also illustrates the life of completely different characters in the upcoming times under this type of regime, and their different reactions towards society. In the novel, two entirely different characters are presented which are Bernard and John. These two come from totally different places, but still they both show some similarities and differences amongst them. This makes them be important at different parts of the novel, being the main characters in it. Their similarities and differences are all going to be described in this essay, showing to what extent they are similar.

The main similarity that is found between these two characters is that they are both seen as outcasts in their respective societies. On one side, Bernard is rejected in the World State, as he is found as a revolutionary being, by having completely different thoughts and mind than the other civilians living with him. He thinks that people should obey much more their feelings and avoid having sex with everyone in society, just by the pleasure. He is much more human than the other characters that live in the World State as he wants things that he just can have, such as changing the way society works, being hated by other characters. He is seen as an outcast as he wants to feel unique and special, and not as another person in the social body. “He laughed, "Yes, 'Everybody's happy nowadays.' …But wouldn't you like to be free to be happy in some other way, Lenina? In your own way, for example; not in everybody else's way."” On the other hand, John the Savage is seen as an outcast in the Reservation as well. This is because he is completely different from the people that live there as he is the son of Linda which lived in the World State before, meaning that she has the traditions of a conditioned person and not of the Indians on the Reservation. Because Linda has sex with a lot of men, she is seen as a bad person and because John is her son, he is found different too. John notices this and says to Bernard “Do you know, they shut me out of absolutely everything?”

Another similarity between Bernard and John, is that the two of them are different physically compared to the other citizens they live with. While all the Alphas on the World State are big and stunning, Bernard Marx, who is an Alpha Plus, is small and thin, generating no respect towards him. This is confirmed as Lenina describes the Alphas as “…dear boys, she thought, as she returned their salutations. Charming boys!” while she sees Bernard completely different. “She saw in a corner the small thin body, the melancholy face of Bernard Marx.” This was an example of bad conditioning as Bernard doesn’t cause reverence or admiration towards her like other Alphas did. John was also physically different to the typical Reservation population. This is because he had the genes of a person who had lived in the World State, while the people in the Reservation were all Indians. This means they were much darker, smaller and had a much wilder attitude. “Naked from throat to navel, their dark brown bodies painted with white lines…, Their black hair was braided with fox fur and red flannel…their dark eyes looked at her…” These were all the descriptions of the typical Indians, while John was described as having the characteristics of a civilised person, having a greater resemblance with Lenina and Bernard. “…his plaited hair was straw-coloured, his eyes a pale blue, and his skin a white skin, bronzed.”

On the other hand, Bernard and John also present differences between them. These differences start from their origins, as that they both come from different places. Bernard was born in London, in the World State and resided all his life there. He was an Alpha Plus, meaning that his creation was due to the Bokanovsky process, having no direct relatives as the majority of the World State. “Bernard's an Alpha Plus.” In contrast, John comes from the Savage Reservation, meaning that he had lived all his life amongst Indians and unconditioned people. He had a mother and father as Linda and the Director were his parents, which was unusual in the World State. As they had totally different lives, they were totally different persons, developing all the other differences amongst them.

Another difference that can be found between these two characters, is the bravery they both present,

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