In the novel Brave New World, to what extent does Bernard Marx overcome the utopian efforts to strip him of his individuality and identity?.
One of the major themes in the novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley is that of identity. The plot explorers the struggle by the protagonist, Bernard Marx, to develop his own identity, which has been suppressed as part of the utopian policies in the Brave New World. .
The World State has a paradoxical stance on identity; while it outwardly promotes the identity of the community, individual identity is suppressed at extreme costs. This is to avoid conflict and inconsistency in the flawless utopia. The mass production of human beings is an example of how people are standardized right from, and even before, birth, to the point where they are separate into castes, and often produced in identical groups of up to a hundred.
Bernard unintentionally breaks the barrier between classes owing to his own birth defects. A rumored accident during his production caused Bernard to be physically inferior to others of his caste - "Bernard's physique was hardly better than the average Gamma." This makes him an outsider among other Alpha's, which makes it easier for him to separate himself from the masses and develop his own character, although he is not keen to do so: "I am I, and I wish I wasn't".
Those who live in the "Brave New World" also have their historical identity taken from them: "History is bunk". The only historical events that have not been forgotten are those involving Ford (the deity of the Brave New World) and those that are necessary for the stability of the state, for example the "nine years war". With no historical facts to influence, for example, the behavior of one caste towards another, conflict is avoided at great cost to personal identity for the population.
Bernard makes an effort to overcome this in his journey to the savage reservation, where history is preserved and historical identity is still present.
