BNW ESSAY Draft 1

Prompt
Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a play or novel (BRAVE NEW WORLD) in which such a character plays a significant role, and show how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values.

Pre-write
What the question is asking: show how character's alienation highlights values of a society or culture.

1. Because Bernard and John are alienated,they have an external point of view of society.

2. Bernard shows how the society is: conformist, prejudice towards people that do not fit in, judgmental

3. John shows how the society is: unnatural, materialistic, ignorant, controlling

Essay
Alienation in literature can be seen as a great tool for which to describe a certain society or culture. We see this in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Huxley allows the reader to judge the society through the eyes of John and Bernard, both outcasts but for different reasons. The individuality that they bring to the table, allows the reader to dissect and judge the society which rejects both outcasts.

John is different. This difference can be relatable because his character is most like the audience Huxley was writing to, not savages but also not extreme conformists. This in itself is a reason why readers can judge the BNW society. John shared values with the reader include creativity, monogamy, love, and nature.  Through John we see that the society is unnatural because of the artificiality that it revolves around. He is disgusted by this just as the reader is. Because of his knowledge of Shakespeare, John values love, which is something that is unnecessary in the BNW culture because of its science and technology based culture. The reader can see this when he professes his love to Lenina and she's basically freaked out and really just wanted to have sex with him. The ignorance of the BNW society is also highlighted because of John's real knowledge and the creativity that comes with knowledge.

Because of the external point of view that Bernard also offers, readers are left with a greater understanding of the BNW society. Bernard feels most alive when he is defying authority and because of the way others react, we are left with the viewing the society as conformist and controlled. Because the society values community, individuality is left in the shadows. This is why Bernard is also left within those shadows because he values individuality or even forced to value it since he is alienated by the community of Alphas.

Through the eyes of outcasted individuals, a society's values and culture can be judged by the reader. John and Bernard both offer a fresh perspective in a society that really doesn't have a diverse range of perspectives because they don't value individuality. Other aspects are highlighted as valuable by the society like science,  technology, conformity, sex, community, and ignorance. These values can be seen through the eyes of both Bernard and John because of their established individuality and their diverse values