Mild K.

11-01

October 14,2016

From the other side of the world

Every word you say, every decision you make, every thought you have, all are influenced by

your subconsciousness that works without your awareness. It creates a strong motivation which

greatly controls your behaviour. In Aldous Huxleys novel, Brave New World, Bernard Marx is a

high-caste man with a lower-caste appearance. As a result, he becomes an isolated outsider. His

behaviours and thoughts are always different from others due to his motivations. The main

motivations of Bernard Marx's actions include the humiliation from his physical appearance, his

instability in his position, and his hidden desire of fitting into the society

Marxs first motivation is the ashamed feeling in his abnormal physical appearance. In the

world state, people will be created with specific appearance. The higher caste will look great while

the lower caste will look ugly. Bernard Marx is in the highest caste, alpha, nevertheless his

appearance is horrible and there is a rumour that while he is being produced, his caste is mistaken.

This is a big obstacle for him when he wants to ask Lenina for a date. When Lenina asks him about

the vacation in a crowd, he feels embarrassed Bernards pale face flushed. What on earth for?

Handt we better talk about it somewhere else? he stammered, looking horribly

uncomfortable. (Huxley, p. 50) In this world, its normal when people want to ask someone to have

sex or hang out. However, Marx isnt courage in doing so. He is always mocked about his awful

appearance. As a result, his self- confidence is ruined and he is afraid of asking girls out. Other than

his appearance, Marx is also influenced by his insecurity.

Marxs second motivation is because hes not secure enough. In the world state, its better to

act as an infant than as an adult. Nevertheless, Marx always acts maturely and he always thinks

differently. Consequently, the director of Hatcheries and Conditioning has an idea of sending him to

Iceland. This is a big trouble for him. As he visits the Savage Reservation, he meets Linda and John
and finds out that Linda is a woman who the director loses in the savage and John is his son. This is

big news for him since having baby is something disgusting in the civilised world. He decides to

use them as a tool to humiliate the director. He asks John whether he wants to go to the civilised

world, I wonder if youd like to come back to London with us? he asks, making the first move in

a campaign whose strategy he had been secretly elaborating ever since, in the little house, he had

realised who the father of this young savage must be. (Huxley, p.120) It reveals that Marxs

position is really insecure. This drives him to bring both of them to the civilised world in order to

preserve his position. Another important motivation is that he wants to fit into the society.

Marxs third motivation is that he wants to be a part of the society and makes people accept

in him. In the beginning of the novel, Marx is always alone and his only friend is Helmholtz

Watson. He always criticizes about this civilized world. However, after he comes back from Savage

Reservation, he gets popular and a lot more attention because he brings the savage, John. As a

result, he starts to think and act like others, as he says, And I had six girls last week. he confided

to Helmholtz Watson. One on Monday, two on Tuesday, two more on Friday, and one on

Saturday. (Huxley, p.136 ). The reason why Marx always criticizes about the civilized world is

that it never fulfils his happiness and it creates the emptiness within himself. But right after he is

treated like others, he feels better and starts to act like what he used to criticize.

Throughout the novel, there are three factors motivated Marxs actions. Firstly, due to his

awful appearance, he becomes humiliated, so he feels embarrassed when he asks girls on date.

Secondly, he has an insecure position in the world state so he decides to use Linda and John as a

tool to secure himself. Thirdly, he cannot fit into the society, so he always criticizes about it. All of

these are the nature of every human being. Everyone decides, acts, and be in the way that makes

themselves become fulfilled.