In the controlled society of Brave New World, Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson are misfits because they are different from other Alphas.
Both Bernard and Helmholtz are independent thinkers—anachronisms in their society—and they are suspicious of aspects of society. This individualism of the two men makes them threats to a social system that has been devised to limit the intelligence of each group and to breed conformity.
During incubation, some alcohol mixed with Bernard's blood surrogate and produced in him sensibilities similar to people who lived during the time of Henry Ford. So, what is perceived in him as a mental excess separates Bernard from others; his emotionalism also isolates him. For example, he displays much anger and impatience with people, as, for instance, in his attendance at the Solidarity Service. While the others believe that they feel the coming of the "Greater Being," despite having ingested the soma, Bernard has no profound stirrings like the others. "He heard nothing and, for him, nobody was coming." Only real emotion stirs Bernard.
On his date with Lenina in Chapter 6, Bernard is persuaded to take Lenina to the Semi-Demi-Finals of a wrestling championship. Unlike other people, Bernard hates crowds. As a result, he is grumpy the rest of the afternoon and refuses to talk with Lenina's friends. In spite of his discomfort, Bernard refuses any soma, even though Lenina presses him.
"I’d rather be myself,” he said. “Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly.”
Unlike others, Bernard values emotional involvement with a woman, and is disgusted by the indiscriminate acts of sexual conduct by members of his society that involve no genuine feeling. On his date with Lenina, for instance, he wants to enjoy nature, but she does not understand why he would rather look at the moon and sky and trees instead of engage in sexual acts with her.
Unfortunately, however, Bernard also succumbs to other emotions of the obsolete time of Henry Ford, such as jealousy and pettiness. For, when he learns that John the Savage is the son of the former lover of the Director, Bernard becomes hypocritical as he returns with John and his mother Linda in order to humiliate the Director. His plan backfires on him, however, and Bernard is expelled from his society.
Like Bernard, Helmholtz Watson is an individual. However, he presents himself as a more appropriate Alpha, handsome and in control. Still, he senses there is something more about life that he is missing. When, for example, he responds to John the Savage's reading from Romeo and Juliet—
"Why was that old fellow [Shakespeare] such a marvelous propaganda technician? Because he had so many insane, excruciating things to get excited about. You've got to be hurt and upset; otherwise you can't think of the really good, penetrating X-rayish phrases..."
—Helmholtz realizes that, although he has the intellectual prowess, he lacks the emotion to express himself as Shakespeare does. In this respect, he is like Bernard: frustrated with his make-up and its limitations. He knows that he cannot overcome his conditioning to become a whole man in the traditional sense because he is defined by his culture.
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