The writing of this eras writers (including Hexley) were very much influenced by the events occurring around them. Huxley lived through a great depression, the First World War that devastated Europe, and was beginning to see the workings of another world war brewing in Europe. With all horrific events people were scarred man kind would be responsible for its own devastation. Brave New World is a political novel tied closely to its historical context. The Great Depression has begun; the horrific specter of World War I still loomed. (Bryfonski) Huxley s novel was a warning to mankind of what could happen if we did not change the way things were presently happening.
Throughout Huxley s lifetime he experienced much despair and unfortunate events. An Event that marked Huxley was his mother s death from cancer when he was 14. This he said later gave him a sense of the transience of human happiness. (somaweb) If this wasn t enough Huxley had to deal with a two-year period of blindness in his teens due to drug experimentation. Shortly following this period of his life his brother committed suicide. Human suffering was not something unknown to Huxley. He was a hard worker and went to Oxford on scholarship. Following his graduation from Oxford he found dwelling at the Garingstons. A Family friends place where he enjoyed the company of many intellectually stimulation people who inspired his first four novels. From the fears and theories he acquired at the Garingston s he developed his theory on self destruction portrayed in the novel Brave New World. He perhaps was much similar to the character of Bernard. He was a smart individual who new what was happening around him. He avoided the draft however and feared World War One while it happened around him.
Brave New World is an example of a satire. Everything that occurs is a demonstration of how Huxley believes things should not be. Bernard s character is very satiric because he is an example of an ant-hero. He is a person who you would probably prefer not to be. The world will come to an end unless individuals are able to stand up against it and fight it. Bernard is an example of this type of person however you must succeed unlike Bernard who was too weak. While only a few characters learn the depravity of their society s values, one of the novel s chief rhetorical strategies is to make all readers recognize what a few characters can comprehend: that preserving freedom and diversity is necessary to avoid suffering the repression fostered by shallow ideas of progress. (Riley)
Everyone character that has been discussed has failed. They are unable to reach their full potential before either death or fear overcame them. If the hero lost perfection by failing or if by failing the hero s life is completed is questionable. In order to die in honor, one of the best ways to go out would be fighting in battle. Which both Beowulf and Arcitate did. Jast as in Reality, literature has proven the equivalent, no perfect hero exists. There is always a problem found in the hero s behavior, whether it be greed, or failure to fill its expectations. Beowulf, Arcitate, and Bernard all failed because none attained every one of their goals, or the goals that the reader has set for them. In failing to accomplish these they prove no true hero exists.
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