What characters do you find yourself relating to the most? Why?
When I read
Brave New World as an adolescent, I was most drawn to John the Savage. I remember thinking that Bernard was a decent guy, but the women were all unlikable. Rereading
BNW now, almost twenty years later, I am surprised at how much I sympathize with characters I found abhorrent before... I think I want to be John the Savage, but I am afraid I am more like Bernard. I have just finished chapter 17, so I don't want to offer spoilers, but I relate more to the misery of disappointment in Linda and the ignorance of apathy of Lenina. I don't feel like I AM either woman, but I don't judge them as harshly as I did when I first read
BNW. And I find myself wishing that there was at least one woman who resisted the machine of civilization, you know? Because in
BNW, Bernard, Helmholtz, John and (to an extent) Mustapha can see outside the conditioning to the higher-level issues, but none of the women can. It's depressing to see the two extremes: Lenina, who is ignorant but beautiful, and Linda, who somehow maintains ignorance even when faced with the opportunity for personal growth. It is painful to read these women. I wish there was a female John or Bernard or Helmholtz.
Aldous Huxley was a great writer and certainly this book is out of its time. So many parts of the BNW society are prevalent in our world. I think that is what makes the characters unique. I believe we all can relate to certain parts of each character, but we are made to hate certain other characteristics. I'd like to relate to Bernard and his feeling of being different and alienated, but I think his behavior once he gains popularity is detestable. I think it is a sort of commentary on human nature. We are meant to relate to this characters in many ways, and then see how they are, or can be, something undesirable.
ReplyDeleteI also love how you wish there was a female version of the male characters. Perhaps Huxley was a bit misogynistic to not include strong female characters. Even if that isn't the case, I think many women would agree that "it is painful to read these women."
I have read through your response twice--it resonates with me--it resonates with Rosenblatt--I re-read books so often as a teacher--and I never read them the same way twice--this entry demonstrates the power or RR--that we never come to a text in the same way due to the "baggage" we bring to it. I, too, no longer judge the women so harshly. But I still judge Bella in Twilight or what's her-name in Shades of Grey--I can only hope that my experience meeting them in the books would have been different when I was younger--
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