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The Unseen Unhappiness in Brave New World Essay

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The Unseen Unhappiness

The novel Brave New World shows a world in which a utopian society promotes everyone to be happy and at peace, this is not always the case. There are at least three characters in the novel who present a state of unhappiness, and who want more than they have in their perfect world. Lenina Crowne, Helmholtz Watson, and Bernard Marx all show evidence of being unhappy. The society in Brave New World forces them in to a state of unhappiness which they cannot escape.

Lenina Crowne is one of the main characters in the novel, and her thoughts and actions promote one to believe she is unhappy. In the beginning of the novel Lenina is talking to a friend about how she doesnt want to have more than one guy in her life, that she is happy with just one man. In their world this is looked upon as wrong and unhealthy. Lenina shook her head. Somehow, she mused, I hadnt been feeling very keen on promiscuity lately. There are times when one doesnt. Havent you found that too, Fanny? Fanny nodded her sympathy and understanding. But ones got to make the effort, she said, sententiously, ones got to play the game. After all, everyone belongs to everyone else. Yes, everyone belongs to everyone else. (pg. 43) Lenina is being told to forget her feelings and remember the motto everyone belongs to everyone else, this motto dehumanizes everyone who lives in this world. Later on in the novel Lenina falls in love with John, a savage from a reservation outside the city, and Lenina clearly shows that she is torn between doing the right thing and forgetting about her love and giving her body away to anyone, or to let John know that she loves him. Lenina becomes unhappy because of her love for John and ends up ruining everything she has with him. This is the first form of unhappiness in the novel.

The character Bernard Marx also shows his own version of unhappiness. In the novel the idea of lovesickness is completely erased, but Bernard has these feelings. Huxley lets us into Bernards mind and shows us that he feels lovesickness, jealously over Lenina, and is sexually frustrated. He still has normal thoughts and shows the reader that he wants what he cant have. Bernard also feels that he was placed into a caste that he is too weak to fit into, thus making him even more unhappy and sad. Bernard is only unhappy until he brings back a savage from the reservation and earns popularity and fame. He then eliminates his sexual frustration by having sex with numerous women, and ignoring Lenina. Bernards unhappiness is brief but powerful and the reader is shown that not only are there people in the novel that are unhappy but that they also show very human characteristics in being able to change their feelings, not just by using soma.

Another character in the novel who is unhappy is Helmholtz Watson. Helmholtz Watson isnt a major character in the novel, but he does represent another type of unhappiness that is shown throughout the novel. Helmholtz is just the opposite of Bernard. He is respected and well liked by most people, and was placed into a highly developed caste. Helmholtz is unhappy because he feels that he is too strong and powerful for the world he is living in, and it is suppressing him and not enabling him to show his full potential. Helmholtz is extremely intelligent and understands things that many people in his world do not. He is angry that he cannot escape his caste and he wants to be greater than he already is. The world shown in the novel is set up in such a way that no one can be greater or more powerful than others.

The utopian society shown in the novel Brave New World presents a world that is supposed to be perfect in which everyone is happy. This may be true in some cases, but as shown by evidence in the analysis of three different characters, we can state that the perfect world is in actuality not a prefect world. People are in fact unhappy.

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